Pregnancy/Maternity Questions

[mudskipper]

I've worked with a number of women who went back to work quickly after having babies - I was talking to one of them about your posts (she went back after 3 weeks because she had the only wage coming in). Her advice is;

- set ground rules at home so everyone knows who is doing what and you have the support structure in place from the outset.
- let the client know when you will / will not be available and absolutely make sure that you are there when you say you will be even if you are surrounded by chaos (her example was vomiting baby whilst on conference call).
- if it really isn't working then let the client know and help them plan to replace you, so that you leave with your professional reputation intact.

Good luck!

Did it work for her?

[MaryPoppins]

Or maybe not have a baby. Making babies and being ambitious dont go together.

Completely disagree. I can see that the OP is trying to make the best of her situation, and wish her luck. Even I managed to continue up the ladder as a single parent (while having to go back to work earlier than I'd liked at the time), so I'm sure she will be fine.

[Zippy]

Completely disagree. I can see that the OP is trying to make the best of her situation, and wish her luck. Even I managed to continue up the ladder as a single parent (while having to go back to work earlier than I'd liked at the time), so I'm sure she will be fine.

Well said.
(And OP - when the going gets tough read up on what MP has managed. Awesome.)

[formant]

I've worked with a number of women who went back to work quickly after having babies - I was talking to one of them about your posts (she went back after 3 weeks because she had the only wage coming in). Her advice is;

- set ground rules at home so everyone knows who is doing what and you have the support structure in place from the outset.
- let the client know when you will / will not be available and absolutely make sure that you are there when you say you will be even if you are surrounded by chaos (her example was vomiting baby whilst on conference call).
- if it really isn't working then let the client know and help them plan to replace you, so that you leave with your professional reputation intact.

Good luck!

Thank you! I think I've got the first point covered, although I'm sure that'll need fine-tuning once the baby is there. Regarding number 2 ('vomiting baby whilst on conference call'), that's why I want to use a childminder rather than a nanny - so that the baby won't be in my house while I'm working, because that would distract me like crazy. I definitely want to make sure I can commit to the job no less than my pre-baby self. Regarding 3 - yes, I generally don't leave anywhere without at least offering to train my replacement in person or at least write their training materials.

[formant]

Completely disagree. I can see that the OP is trying to make the best of her situation, and wish her luck. Even I managed to continue up the ladder as a single parent (while having to go back to work earlier than I'd liked at the time), so I'm sure she will be fine.

Thank you.

And wow, as a single parent? Wow. Just, wow.

[fullyautomatix]

Completely disagree. I can see that the OP is trying to make the best of her situation, and wish her luck. Even I managed to continue up the ladder as a single parent (while having to go back to work earlier than I'd liked at the time), so I'm sure she will be fine.

Well you are just a super mom. I cant remember but did you start working immediately straight after or took a break of a few months ?

Your case is a bit different, you are already a seasoned contractor and took a small break unlike OP who has just started a new gig and wants to hide the entire maternity affair from the client.

[formant]

and wants to hide the entire maternity affair from the client.

Someone clearly can't read.

[mudskipper]

OK - I've had a glass of wine or three, (which presumably OP is laying off...)

Can men breastfeed? | BabyCenter

Get him squeezing those nips!

[formant]

OK - I've had a glass of wine or three, (which presumably OP is laying off...)

Can men breastfeed? | BabyCenter

Get him squeezing those nips!

The images that article put into my head absolutely made my day.

[NonnyMouse]

To many posts in the last 24 hours to read back though but good to see that MP has posted.

Early on in my pregnancy, I got very anxious and depressed, I assumed that my life and career was going to be over - I was also doing a killer 2 hour each way commute at that point. I looked around at the other female contractors and perm's that had small children and that had recently come back from maternity leave and got some hope/faith that it would all work out and it did.

You will be fine, but I don't think things will quite pan out to your timescales - I know you think that a CM is better, and if you have the best CM in the world then great, but if your CM is busy on facebook whilst your newborn is being tortured by a naughty 10 year old mindee, how will you ever know? Your priority has to be getting the best childcare that you can - a nanny will have a minimum of 2 years training and a CM around 6 hours. I personally went down the nursery route, with a lot of recommendations for a particular nursery from the local NCT group - btw the NCT are there to support you, just ignore the breast feeding police.