Early in pregnancy and just got a job offer

[MeldogRN]

I know there is going to besome eye rolling here, but I do need some advice! I relocated in late September due to my (then) fiance's job. I began seriously job hunting in July, but had little luck. Our lives have been extremely busy since we moved, and I admit now that was really only half heartedly job searching, not because I didn't want to work, but because the chaos was making it difficult to get interviews and I was finding that navigating this new job market was far more complicated than any job hunt I'd ever performed before. After the hubub died down and the holidays were over, I renewed my job search in earnest, sending out dozens of applications last week. I had a couple of interviews and a job offer for what is quite honestly my dream job.

The big hitch is that my husband and I recently were surprised and happy to find out that we are expecting our first child. I am 9 weeks today, and our families don't even know yet. My husband and I discussed what I should do during my job search. We decided that I should wait until I get a job offer to discuss my pregnancy with my future employer, especially since it is so early on, and anything could still happen at this point (I hate to think about the bad stuff, but there is still a pretty big risk of miscarriage at this point since it's early and we haven't yet heard the heartbeat.) So, when they called and offered me the position, I promptly told the HR person that I was expecting, that it was early on in my pregnancy, and I wanted to talk to someone about it before I accepted the job because I know I won't be covered under FMLA. Basically, she said congratulations, I wouldn't worry about it, they wouldn't waste their money to train you and then not take you back after your maternity leave. She then proceeded to process my pre-employment paperwork and set up my employee health evaluation for next Monday, with a potential start date of next Friday.

In a way I feel a little relieved having told them, but I still feel like it is going to be a big surprise to the department when I start, and I don't want to get off on the wrong foot. The job is in the NICU, and I know pregnancies don't stay secret for long in NICU's for plenty of reasons. The department has one nursing director and SIX clinical managers. I have never met the director, I met two of the clinical managers and have contact information for one of them, and the HR department sent me contact information for another one of the clinical managers who I have never met. I feel pretty weird just calling up and discussing this information with a stranger over the phone. I was rather hoping that a manager would be the one calling me to offer me the position in the first place.

I killed in my interview. I have qualifications that few people who apply for jobs in that unit have (9 years NICU experience and a Master's degree.) They offered me a job less than 24 hours after my interview. In hind sight, I am pretty sure they would have hired me if I put on the top of my application WARNING: I'M PREGNANT! But now, I don't know what the right thing to do is.

Any advice is welcome, but if you think I'm a jerk for not telling them in my interview, please keep it to yourself, especially since I can't do anything about that now!

[lily1289]

Congratulations on your pregnancy and the new job! Btw, don't worry so much about not informing the nurse managers about your pregnancy during your interview. You already informed HR (even though you didn't have to) so just wait to speak to the nurse manager in person and discuss your situation with them if you want to. Believe me, they will not hold this against you. Goodluck!