what are you?

gabiT09 · February 2011

I was just wondering how many stay at home moms, working moms, and student moms were out there. There all 3 so different categories but ALL so difficult jobs. I appluade all of them for doing what they do. I am curently a student still I wont graduate with my RN untill May of this year. So I imagine by the time LO gets here I will be a working mom. Kinda nervous about trying to juggle the 2. So I was just wondering what are you? And how it works out for you.

TheFannins729 · February 2011

i'm a sahm/wahm/soon to be student mom on top of all of that. yeah. i'm a glutton for punishment or something.

LupeVallejo · February 2011

I am what I like to call a "half ass worker". Hah, just kidding, but I do hold a job, I am a hair stylist and since becoming pregnant, I am appointment only.... so I really just go in when I have a client, however it shows on my paycheck!

bellabloo · February 2011

I work full time, usually about 9-10 hours a day. After baby is born, I'm taking a month vacation/time off and then switching to 2 days from home.

gabiT09 · February 2011

wow... your all 3!! ahhh! i dont know how you do it but i give you a definate double thumbs up to you. is it stressfull?

krahgozar · February 2011

I work full time and am finishing up my MBA this spring. I really don't like my job that much or the commute so I may take some time off after the baby is born.

daydreamer1802 · February 2011

I work full time, but in the education field, so I am off on school holidays. I don't get paid maternity time so I plan on going back to work after 8 weeks. Appx the beginning of Nov.

bre86ann · February 2011

I'm a working mom but I use the term "working" very loosely lol. I am very well taken care of at work. Full time (for insurance purposes) is only 30 hr. per week. Right now i'm M-F from 9-3. Not sure what will happen with that once baby is born. We NEED my job solely for the health benefits. Once we add baby to our insurance, my take-home pay will be about $300 a month LOL.

between my mom, my dad and my MIL we're covered as far as childcare goes for the few hours that I go in to work. DH and I keep having a "discussion" about us paying his mom $1000 a month to watch the baby Huh? makes no sense to me AT ALL but we continue to have the "discussion" I am obviously COMPLETE against it and think it is ABSOLUTELY ridiculous when my mom is off work 3 days a week that i work and more than willing to do it and my dad wants 1 day a week (he's a truck driver and works different hours). If we have my mom 2 days, his mom 2 days and my dad one day we are covered. if we're paying my MIL $1000 a month I may as well quit my job and stay home. it's insanity. and we had this argument during the ENTIRE pregnancy with Madeline..getting off soap box now. (PS my mom was outraged when she found out that my MIL would charge us for childcare)

Now, I MIGHT be getting a full time work from home job, in which case i'll send baby over to my mom's or MIL's for a few hours a week for some grandma time but won't be needing them on a regular basis. This situation is ideal because my benefits stay the same (get a LITTLE bit better) and my salary goes from $16k a year to 60k a year and there is NO paying anyone for ANYTHING. My sisters wouldn't even charge me for a night out if i asked them once in a blue moon...i mean seriously....WTF?? LOL sorry.

TheFannins729 · February 2011

gabiT09:
wow... your all 3!! ahhh! i dont know how you do it but i give you a definate double thumbs up to you. is it stressfull?

yes. lol. but, i only work part time. and in the fall, ds will be going to school 3 days a week instead of the 2 days he goes now, so that will help. and dh's office is in our basement. he's gone most of the day, but i at least get help until around 9 am and he's home by 4. my plan is that by the time he's 4 and this baby is 2, i'll be working full time in an office again.

BlondeBride123 · February 2011

I'm a full time, working (step)mom currently. This is mine and DH's first child together, and I am still adapting to being a mom to the boys (12 & 10 yrs). Luckily since they are both in school, work schedules haven't really been a problem as I am fortunate to have my mom living downstairs and she works from home and is here for them in the afternoon. School vaca's work out well when they go to their mom's. We are in the process of figuring out what we will do with LO once maternity leave is over. It will be day care of some sort, but I believe my mom is contemplating working 4 days a week so that will definitely help us out!

Traycee1242 · February 2011

I'm a SAHM but 3 days a week I nanny PT. I don't consider it a job (though I get paid very well for it!) bring DS with me of course. Ive been with the family for 6 years.. I used to watch the kids 2 days a week in addition to my corporate job (I worked from home 2 days a week but had little work to do so picked up the nanny job to fill my days)
I quit corporate job right after I had DS and after maternity leave went back to nanny job 3 days.. I seriously couldn't leave. I am SO attached to the kids. The 6yr old is in all day kindergarten so I mostly just have the 2.5yr old who DS loves to play with. It's a total win-win situation for us. I might go back down to 2 days after the baby is born.. Just will depend how challenging it is. Lucky for me the Mom only works PT and the kids grandma can always help and take a day.

gabiT09 · February 2011

@bre86ann... OMG! $1000 for a grandmother to watch her grandchild! you could seriously find a childcare provider that would charge half of that for a month, and thats if you took your child there everyday for 8 hours. wow! i hope you situation works out!

hisaak · February 2011

Right now I am a SAHM. It wasn't the original plan, but I wouldn't change it for the world. Although there are definitely days that I tell DH we are switching roles for a week or so

gabiT09 · February 2011

@ traycee , thats awesome. I use to baby sit for a family in highschool and i got so attached to their kids, so i understand that feeling you have. but you of course have been doing it for years! i have this rude friend who think that being a SAHM isnt hard, but being a SAHM is a job all its own. seriously. I dont think she understands how difficult it really is. I would love to be a Nanny, because i love being around kids, and it would be easier then having to worry about who you can find to watch your child , when you could just take them with you.

msmarsh · February 2011

H and I both work FT. I'm a news anchor and work 2:30 to 10:30; he is a financial adviser and owns his own business (ie: makes his own schedule).

I've already started the conversation with my boss about moving to days but I'm not 100% sure they will be able to swing it. No matter what, we will need childcare and looking at our options is already stressing me out even though I did a lot of homework before we started TTC.

futureswene · February 2011

I will be a working mom once baby comes. I am an RN, working part time right now. In a few months I will be moving to 12 hour night shifts, 2 days per week---should be a blast when I'm hugely pregnant It's funny, we need to keep my job for the $, but DH's job has the better benefits!

Congrats to OP for going to nursing school-I'm a new graduate RN (graduated mid-semester this past Fall). It's a tough but rewarding career! I just can't wait til I can tell my work about the pregnancy, they must think I'm a lazy germ factory, I've been moving so slow at work lately and I'm on my 2nd cold/flu since I found out I was pregnant!

msmarsh · February 2011

gabiT09:
@bre86ann... OMG! $1000 for a grandmother to watch her grandchild! you could seriously find a childcare provider that would charge half of that for a month, and thats if you took your child there everyday for 8 hours. wow! i hope you situation works out!

It really depends on where you live. $1000/month is the standard around here unfortunately and I know other areas are much higher.

TeacherVicky · February 2011

I am a working woman... and will be a working mom.

I live in Canada so I get 12 months of mat leave and will definitely be going back to work after that. I don't think I'll be as involved as I am now once we have LO (extra curricular, coaching), but I'll definitely be back at work.

bre86ann · February 2011

gabiT09:
@bre86ann... OMG! $1000 for a grandmother to watch her grandchild! you could seriously find a childcare provider that would charge half of that for a month, and thats if you took your child there everyday for 8 hours. wow! i hope you situation works out!

That's what I SAID!!! lol. but i'm not okay with someone i don't know watching my child either. AND THEN my MIL would be pissed that we're paying someone and it wasn't her...but that's what she gets paid to watch the baby she watches now and if she has to watch our baby then she apparently can't watch the other kid. so 2 days a week is what she's gonna get and she's gonna have to deal with it lol. and no money LOL like i said my mom was outraged! she is obviously not a big fan of my MIL (for other reason along with that one---most of which have to do with my daughter and her funeral and her hospital stay and that stuff...all reasons that i also have issues with my MIL----but we don't talk about any of this with DH. I just deal with it and let it go and just scream into a pillow after dinner at their house). My mom's parents are the cheapest people alive and even THEY never charged for childcare. They also offered to pay for hospital bills and funeral expenses, which we turned down because my in laws were helping us out and then a month later my FIL told DH he needed the money back because he "needed to put it back in the account". But these are all issues that will never be resolved. I'll probably just sit back and deal with it all forever lol. or until something happens and i blow up on everyone...one of the two lol.

TTnoles · February 2011

Currently I work full time at a high stress job that I don't like. The light at the end of the tunnel is the DH is going to start his PH.d program inthe fall and we are moving

It is perfec ttiming bc I can leave my job right around the time to deliver and get to take off. the only thing is benefits...we are still trying to figure out how to work with insurance since COBRA is like 1200 a month but the student insurance is expensive also. We're saving as much as we can but its still a challenge. We are literally cutting our income by 3/4's! This LO wasn't planned but we know we can figure it out.

lily87 · February 2011

I am a PhD student, and I am currently in my 5th year. I won't be done with my dissertation before LO arrives...and that is a full-time job in and of itself.

But, I also work 17.5 hours a week at Harvard University on top of school. This is actually really unusual for people in a PhD program, especially if you get a stipend through school. But, I worked at Harvard for 7 years before going back and the job is so flexible that it is really hard to leave. And, I was able to swing full-time school with part-time work all through my masters and the first 5 years that I hope it will continue to work out.

The plan is to go back to work after the baby is born. I don't take classes now, I am just writing my dissertaton..so that is always a work in progress. But, I also have to teach my own class spring semester next year, so that will be on top of everything else. Ugh. Bad timing for that, but it is only 3 hours a week.

DH owns his own business and works from home. So luckily we will not have to do daycare. And, this also means, that I don't need my job. (It is really just my spending money and awesome benefits). So, if it doesn't work out, I guess the job will go. I hope not, but it is nice that we don't have to rely on it if it becomes too much.

Also, I am still hoping to finish my PhD on time...but if it gets delayed a year that is alright too.

dianamcu · February 2011

I currently work FT and will continue to work FT after 3 months of maternity leave.

lily87 · February 2011

TTnoles:
Currently I work full time at a high stress job that I don't like. The light at the end of the tunnel is the DH is going to start his PH.d program inthe fall and we are moving It is perfec ttiming bc I can leave my job right around the time to deliver and get to take off. the only thing is benefits...we are still trying to figure out how to work with insurance since COBRA is like 1200 a month but the student insurance is expensive also. We're saving as much as we can but its still a challenge. We are literally cutting our income by 3/4's! This LO wasn't planned but we know we can figure it out.

What is your DH doing his PhD in? Are you leaving the ville?? We are moving too, but just to a bigger place.

gabiT09 · February 2011

@msmarsh, yeah I see where your coming from, but geesh $1000 for 2 days out of the week!?! That just seems insane to me, especially if it's the childs grandmother!.. Thats pretty cool that your a new anchor though. I'd love to have a job like that. Is is exciting?

gabiT09 · February 2011

I just want to say you all do amazing things whethers your SAHM, working moms, students, or all 3. Kudos to you all! I was seriously just freaking out about working after LO arrived ( because my boyfriend is a welder and his days are usually 12+ hours) but now that I see what all of you do I have alot more confidence in myself.

Mereou12 · February 2011

I'm an RN turned SAHM.

I graduated from nursing school in August of '09 at 22 weeks pregnant. Passed boards and started working in an ICU at 32 weeks pregnant....took 10 weeks of maternity leave, went back for 2 weeks and then resigned to SAH. The reasons I quit are long and complicated (my DH was deployed and I was battling PPD), but it was the right thing to do at the time.

I desperately miss nursing and can't WAIT to go back to work. Hopefully around this time next year I'll be back at it.

tartara623 · February 2011

I'm also a PhD student - I'm finishing up my 3rd year (i.e. first year post-MA) which means that when baby comes I'll be "reading" for my exams. LO wasn't planned but the timing works out perfectly--i'm on break between quarters so even if I need to teach in the fall to keep the money coming in, I can still have a month at home to get used to things. Hubs works at home so daycare for when i'm teaching won't be necessary.

The thing for me that has been killer is the exhaustion of early pregnancy and trying to do anything intellectual. I'm behind in grading, my own coursework, everything! Can't wait for the 2nd trimester burst of energy!!

OUKap · February 2011

I work right now as an engineering manager and plan to continue to work after the baby is born. I am planning to take a 3 month leave since December will be slow at work.

aLsMay24 · February 2011

I am currently a FT working woman. I just picked up some hours as a massage therapist so I am going to be doing that part time as well. I am hoping to be able to continue that while on maternity leave but I will be going back to work since DH still has 2 years of med school left. Hopefully once he is out of school and bringing in an income I will be more of a SAHM with massage on the side.

sjk5578 · February 2011

DH and I both work full-time, and we actually work at the same company. I get two months maternity leave, and haven't decide if I'll take a third month unpaid, but after that it's back to work. We are trying to figure out the day care situation, but where we live "cheap" daycare is $1200/month.

jgiles · February 2011

i'm an RN and working in a clinic. My DH and I work opposite schedules and will be flip flopping baby duty as well as a mom's day out 4 days a week. Life is going to be fun!!

TinaL99 · February 2011

I am a FT working Mom. Not spending enough time with DD really sucks but I've never had the desire to be a SAHM. I need to get out of the house and have adult interaction, not to mention use the degree I paid a sh!t ton of money for!

Mrs. Alice · February 2011

Wow lots of fellow nurses out there! I've been a LVN for 5 years. I recently went from full time to PRN in a hospital. Still doing 3-4 12 hours shifts/week. Once the baby comes I think I will just start by doing just 1-2 12 hour shifts per week. I would like to go back to school for my RN bridge. So possibly part time SAHM/working mom/student mom in the future.

xokell2 · February 2011

Another RN here, I'm a full time weekender so I work every sat & sun then one day during the week. 12 hr days. After this one is born, I'll cut back to two 12 hr shifts but keep my weekender status since the differential is so high

ciarhwyfar · February 2011

Another stay at home mom here. However, this is my second and they are 19 years apart. I went back to school and back to work and all for years with my first one. I was lucky enough to be able to wait until she was around 2 1/2 but I still missed out on so much with her.

Child care has only gotten more expensive and less dependable in that time and we decided that it just wasn't worth it for our family. It is also important to note that we are a non-traditional household and still have two full time incomes that manage to keep our heads above water most of the time.

laurasuzanne2006 · February 2011

I'm an RN in an ICU. Working full time. Will definatly work after the baby is born but i'm on the list to go to weekend nights. Will be 3 twelve hour shifts a week.

KatKan · February 2011

I work full time and my DH works full time. I'm also trying to get my master's so taking one online class per semester. Once LO comes, I will take a 12 week leave and then LO will go to daycare. We really don't have another option. I'm fine with this right now, and hopefully once LO comes I will still be ok with it!

lily87 · February 2011

tartara623:
I'm also a PhD student - I'm finishing up my 3rd year (i.e. first year post-MA) which means that when baby comes I'll be "reading" for my exams. LO wasn't planned but the timing works out perfectly--i'm on break between quarters so even if I need to teach in the fall to keep the money coming in, I can still have a month at home to get used to things. Hubs works at home so daycare for when i'm teaching won't be necessary.
The thing for me that has been killer is the exhaustion of early pregnancy and trying to do anything intellectual. I'm behind in grading, my own coursework, everything! Can't wait for the 2nd trimester burst of energy!!

I hear you lady. With my m/s no dissertation work is happening at all What is your subject?

faithhopeinlove · February 2011

Currently, I am a part time worker and part time student. I had been a full time student for the past 3 years and a full time worker as well, but my classes were no longer being offered at night and my last employer treated me like absolute crap, so i up and quit. When baby comes, I will take a short period off of work and am taking the semester off of school (I can't really miss the first 5 weeks or so) and will continue my part time job for now. Eventually I will be graduated and will have a full time job, but until then we are considering a career change for myself in the near future to being a waitress in the evenings so DH can work during the day and babysit at night and I'll do the opposite.