Preparations

The months passed by and Jenny was impressing more and more people at work by her vast knowledge of the human body and her even more astounding ability to absorb that knowledge. Be it theoretical or practical knowledge, seeing it only once, taught her almost all she needed to know. Her big lead made colleagues new and old wonder how they were ever going to catch up or how long it would be before she would surpass them. Not even her fast approaching maternity leave-date and the fact that she would be out of the running for four months gave them any hope in overtaking her.

By now her belly was a lot bigger. But just like when she was pregnant with Charlie, compared to other pregnant women who were as far along in the pregnancy as she was, her belly was quite small. Allowing her a lot of freedom of movement. Something most women who were almost eight months pregnant didn't have. So, despite her carrying along nearly thirteen kilo's extra in bodyweight, she was still quick on her feet and running along with the other doctors. Walking the halls like it was just the sniffles and not her growing and carrying an almost full grown human baby. A thing neither her competition nor her superiors had counted on. While one party was very happy with this unexpected development as they had expected her to be mostly deskbound from the sixth or seventh month, the other was greatly disappointed as her can do work mentality and her level of commitment to the job made her stand out even more during this stage of her pregnancy. And contrary to what her competition had hoped, it wasn't in a negative way.

From her first day at the hospital, Jenny had now reached her last few days at the hospital as by the end of this week, Jason would pick her up after work and she wouldn't be allowed to return until four months later. Though she was disappointed that she had to stop her work already as it felt like it was just yesterday when she had that first day but she too was noticing that she was getting more tired with each week that her pregnancy got further along. The baby was growing well and was doing great but that 'growing well' wasn't going unnoticed by her body nor her stamina. Of course this was a price she was very willing to pay for her sweet child.

Her little girl was giving her an even more trouble-free pregnancy than Charlie had done. The number of times she had kicked could be counted on one hand and even then Jenny felt like it was an accident instead of a deliberate action. She could almost hear her apologizing for it immediately after. Which made Jenny look very forward to meeting her little girl and see how angel-like she really was. If these were just the hormones making her biased or if it was possible for her to have another child as perfect as Charlie.

With each visit to the gynaecologist's office and each ultrasound, Charlie too became more excited for her arrival. Since, his attitude towards gaining a sibling had changed so drastically from his initial reaction, Jenny and Jason had decided to make use of the dividing door in Charlie's room. This used to be their room, where the divider door was used to separate the bedroom from the rest of the room. When Charlie was born they turned what used to be Jenny's room into Charlie's nursery. Now that they were about to have a second child, they decided to unlock the dividing door and turn the other side into their daughter's nursery. That way Charlie could go visit his sister any time he wants and they could build a strong bond with each other.

Though during the first few months she would be sleeping upstairs with them, in order to not disturb Charlie's sleep too much. But once she would sleep through most of the night, they would move her downstairs next to her big brother. Since, Charlie's room was long overdue for a renovation as well, as he was more than ready for a big boy room, Jenny and Jason had a big project ahead of them. To let everything run as smoothly as possible, Charlie would temporarily move upstairs to their room during the first few weeks of Jenny's leave. That way they could work on both rooms at the same time and have it all be a big surprise for Charlie, who didn't know yet that he was about to have a very cute neighbour. Plus, it would provide Jenny with some company as Jason and her in-laws couldn't be with her all the time to keep an eye on her or get into action should she go into labour. So, having a pair of extra eyes in the house to take over some of the shifts, seemed like a win-win for all those involved.

But right now Jenny's mind wasn't with the arrival of her girl nor the preparations for the renovations that were coming up, as it was her last week. During this final week, Jenny was mostly busy completing her notes for her treatment plans and handing over her files to the other doctors that would be taking over her patients during her leave. Aside from the paperwork, she tried to try assist in as many procedures, watch as many bigger operations, in order to maximize her remaining time at the hospital. Her last day was reserved for saying goodbye to all her patients one by one in person and for striking a deal with some of the doctors to allow her to watch interesting procedures or patient interviews from home using a live feed. Though not all agreed, she was well liked by most higher ranking staff. So, most of them were very willing to help such a diligent young doctor with a clear passion for her profession. Making sure that Jenny would have a very uncommon yet interesting pastime for her four months of leave!