This is my first post here, but I feel like I need some more feedback about my work issues. I work at a veterinary hospital as a tech assistant so I do a lot of things that a tech does minus controlled drugs. I am on my feet 10 hours a day, and I used to work on the surgery team, prepping and monitoring patients for surgical procedures. Once I found out I was pregnant at 7 weeks, I immediately told everyone that needed to know at work. This included my team leader, the owners of the practice and our practice manager. I was moved that day to a different team because of the dangers or anesthesia waste gases to unborn children. The team I was moved to involved checking patients and clients into rooms, taking vitals on the patients, getting them set up for their exams and directing the doctors. I’ve worked on this team once before, I am what is called a ‘flexible’ team member because I can fill in on any team at any time. I’ve worked all teams and know how the hospital is run.

Now, here is the issue. I was extremely sick between 6 and about... 13 weeks. My doctor wouldn’t see me until 9 weeks, so I missed quite a bit of work or spent a majority of my day trying to do paperwork while puking into a trash can next to me. So, I was, naturally, not bouncing up and down the hallway throwing rose petals at everyone’s feet. We used to get weekly report cards, commenting on our strengths and weaknesses for the previous week. The week before my first doctors visit, my practice manager wrote on my report card that I was unpleasant since becoming pregnant and should see the gift I’ve been given as others do. Not a direct quote but you get the gist. I was floored, no one had said anything to me about my behavior and I thought that it was because they knew I was so sick. So I went to my practice manager and told her that the comment was inappropriate, she responded by saying that people were afraid to approach me with their concerns because I was acting ‘angry’ about being pregnant. Asked if I was going to terminate AND there were girls in the hospital who had miscarriages and they did not need to be exposed to ‘that kind of behavior’. Again, I was floored, I told her that in the future if there was a problem she needed to come to me directly and that this comment was not appropriate for the platform she chose. She did not apologize for her comment, but said that in the future she would pull me aside and speak with me in person as requested.

(Sorry this is so long)

I told a few of the team leaders about this comment, one explained to me how she could see the first part of the comment, and that some of the girls were afraid to ask how I was doing because they didnt want to hear me say that I was going to terminate. But she agreed that the comment was inappropriate. The other team leader was as floored as I was and vowed to take the comment to the owners of the practice. Due to unforeseen circumstances, this was not done. However, a few weeks after, I went back to the practice manager and asked if I could change my schedule. Right now I work four days a week ten hours a day and I am exhausted at the end of the day. I am extremely behind on school work and I asked to be switched to five days a week eight hours a day. I was told that it may not happen due to the needs of the hospital, but she would look into it. Almost a month later, I am pulled into a meeting. Practice manager informs me and my team leader, that I will be moving ‘temporarily’ to the client relations team. Front desk. This is the busiest time of year for us and the team I was working on loading rooms was already struggling. We were all shocked. PLUS, practice manager and I had already discussed me being on that team for the duration of my pregnancy but decided it was a bad idea because I can’t go more than a few hours without eating or I vomit violently. I brought this up and asked about water as well because water is not allowed at the front desk. My practice manager said I would have to ‘deal with it’ and that I could drink from the public water fountain. Now I’m not a clean freak, or a germaphobe or whatever, but I’ve seen people let their dogs drink from there I’ve seen people wash their hands in that thing, I’m sorry that is not happening. Meeting is over, I take the issue to the team leaders and they take it all the way to the top. Finally some justice, the law is changed to where all staff members are allowed a water bottle with a lid in the hallway and ‘due to my condition’ I am allowed a small snack item in her office which I can eat when I am feeling nauseous. Apparently the owners of the practice were furious, I was not a part of that meeting but I would have loved to be. Now, the practice manager will not speak directly to me, and avoids contact at any cost. I’m not complaining exactly because she is not my favorite person right now but when she needs to ask me a question I would rather answer her directly. There is no word on a schedule change for me, I still work 4 10s, and am still exhausted, I haven’t worked on school work in months and am falling behind. My doctor checked my thyroid and for anemia because of my complaints but everything was normal, My legs are swollen at night, every night, and I have to take Benadryl to get a full nights sleep. Because of restless limbs.

I can’t help but feel like all of this is personal, I live in a small town and the practice manager and I knew each other before I started working there. There was big drama with my best friend and her nephew, when the drama was released I did not take sides, but was there for both of them if they needed it. However, it is not a secret that I still talk with my best friend and not her nephew. Her nephew has tried to contact me, asked me on several dates right after the drama unfolded and I declined. So I no longer speak with him. She used to ask if I had spoken with him often, and I would say that I hadn’t, but didn’t bring up the issues to her because I didn’t think it was relevant.

Now all of this is happening, where other girls have not been treated this way while pregnant, and have had their schedules changed for lesser reasons.

So, am I overreacting to all of this? Or is this normal from a manager?

Thanks for reading ladies 😊 made anonymous because I dont want someone from work to stumble over this and make a huge scene.. again.