Very unique situation. Maternity leave from working out of home?? please help

kitkatbird · October 2015

I wasn't sure where to post this but here goes.
I work for a VERY small dog training/ service dog training company where my location is only 3 people. I am basically the only trainer and I am due end of Feb early March. They are a new company so have never had to think about maternity leave before and it is such that dogs stay with me where I am living and rent is split between my husband and I and the company. I do several lessons in home and some I drive to locally but some lessons are over 2 hours away, one way. I will be a FTM and my question is how easy is it to work from home ( not just computer work) 3-4 weeks after giving birth. Does the idea of being away from the baby for 1-2 hours at a time 1-3 times a day seem feasible. When would I probably be able to up that to 5-6 hours. My husband also works from home BUT he really has to focus on work to make a quota but he works 4, 10-hour days that rotate bi weekly such that he has off every other weekend and two days of during the week that change. So he would be able take care of the LO while I'm gone on those days but the big question is is it feasible to care for 2-3 dogs staying with me that need training. The company can't really afford to help pay the rent on the house if they aren't making income from dogs staying with me and being trained.
Sorry it's so long but if anyone could give me any advice or rough estimate of timeline and what to expect that would help so much.

delujm0 · October 2015

I had to basically completely stop caring for my cats after giving birth, for several weeks. DH had 100% of the cat duty for almost my entire 12 week leave.

Newborns will sleep a lot the first week or two but you will not feel like moving around much, especially if you wind up needing a c section. And by the time you feel like being more active, the baby will be awake more and requiring more attention. I'm not sure a physically demanding job like training dogs is feasible immediately after birth. But you gotta do what you gotta do...and if you see no other way to make enough money to stay in your home and afford basic expenses you will have to make it work.

NurseRieger · October 2015

Breastfeeding will probably be impossible if you wanted to do that. New babies do sleep a lot but also need to eat every 2 hours along with diaper change every 2 hours. This doesn't stop at night either so even if you FF the sleep deprivation is rough. If you really need to work that soon consider hiring temporary help for the baby or the dogs.

Bigboobsmcgee · October 2015

NurseRieger said:

Breastfeeding will probably be impossible if you wanted to do that. New babies do sleep a lot but also need to eat every 2 hours along with diaper change every 2 hours. This doesn't stop at night either so even if you FF the sleep deprivation is rough. If you really need to work that soon consider hiring temporary help for the baby or the dogs.

Yep. I truly don't think any mom can work for 6 weeks after giving birth. Besides being hormonal, in pain, exhausted, and just drained, you don't have time for anything else but the baby.

I have a dog and 2 cats and they basically got ignored for weeks after my second child was born. My husband walked the dog but that's it. They take a back seat to a new baby.

NurseRieger · October 2015

Bigboobsmcgee said:

NurseRieger said:

Breastfeeding will probably be impossible if you wanted to do that. New babies do sleep a lot but also need to eat every 2 hours along with diaper change every 2 hours. This doesn't stop at night either so even if you FF the sleep deprivation is rough. If you really need to work that soon consider hiring temporary help for the baby or the dogs.

Yep. I truly don't think any mom can work for 6 weeks after giving birth. Besides being hormonal, in pain, exhausted, and just drained, you don't have time for anything else but the baby.

I have a dog and 2 cats and they basically got ignored for weeks after my second child was born. My husband walked the dog but that's it. They take a back seat to a new baby.

Now that you mention it my dog is like a jealous older sibling! Luckily we have a fenced in back yard and I just open a door for him. And I'm almost certain I fed him twice last night because most nights I can't remember if I fed him and put food down just incase I forgot (my husband works nightshift and when he's home the dog is his job) everything really does take a backseat to a new baby.

allstagg · October 2015

so i work remotely and my work is all done virtually over the phone and computer and a lot of travel but i told my boss i am not traveling for at least 4 months after i give birth. it has been extremely challenging to get ANY work done. i am basically a zombie.

my newborn isn't big on sleeping anywhere but on me and when he isn't sleeping he is colicky and wide awake and i dont have the heart to put him down. i get in maybe 2 hours of work in per day but i am just handling reactive requests and not really managing my open accounts or looking for new business (i am in sales), so this has hurt my commissionable income. my company is predominantly men and they do not offer maternity leave so i resumed worked 2 weeks post delivery and i had a c-section. it was really rough and if i had to do it all over again i would have taken more vacation time. through all of this, i have grown to be very resentful of my family members who promised to help but have not been here to help and also resentful towards my husband who gets to sleep through the night while i am up 75% of the night and still have to work in the morning ON TOP of taking care of the baby, letting the stupid dog out and deal with a mentally challenged cat that wont stop screaming. i probably sound like the most hateful person right now but the reality is, that i function on maybe 3 hours of sleep a day and i still have to do everything around the house, work and take care of the baby. it isn't easy. hopefully you will be in a better situation and your baby will be a good sleeper and wont have colic but these things are unpredictable.

also, you dont know how the dogs will react around your baby. you can always put your baby in a sling and get around the house and walk a dog here and there but what i find challenging is bending over with the baby in the sling. you basically need to have a hand supporting his/her head at all times because the slings dont offer the best support.

our dog, who i adore but have come to be very annoyed with is extremely clingy now and attached to me. she sleeps ontop of me so when i have to get up to change a diaper or feed the baby or re-position myself and the baby, i have to literally fight the dog. there is nothing worse than having a dog crush you all day and jump all over your c-section incision site.

Bigboobsmcgee · October 2015

allstagg said:

so i work remotely and my work is all done virtually over the phone and computer and a lot of travel but i told my boss i am not traveling for at least 4 months after i give birth. it has been extremely challenging to get ANY work done. i am basically a zombie.

my newborn isn't big on sleeping anywhere but on me and when he isn't sleeping he is colicky and wide awake and i dont have the heart to put him down. i get in maybe 2 hours of work in per day but i am just handling reactive requests and not really managing my open accounts or looking for new business (i am in sales), so this has hurt my commissionable income. my company is predominantly men and they do not offer maternity leave so i resumed worked 2 weeks post delivery and i had a c-section. it was really rough and if i had to do it all over again i would have taken more vacation time. through all of this, i have grown to be very resentful of my family members who promised to help but have not been here to help and also resentful towards my husband who gets to sleep through the night while i am up 75% of the night and still have to work in the morning ON TOP of taking care of the baby, letting the stupid dog out and deal with a mentally challenged cat that wont stop screaming. i probably sound like the most hateful person right now but the reality is, that i function on maybe 3 hours of sleep a day and i still have to do everything around the house, work and take care of the baby. it isn't easy. hopefully you will be in a better situation and your baby will be a good sleeper and wont have colic but these things are unpredictable.

also, you dont know how the dogs will react around your baby. you can always put your baby in a sling and get around the house and walk a dog here and there but what i find challenging is bending over with the baby in the sling. you basically need to have a hand supporting his/her head at all times because the slings dont offer the best support.

our dog, who i adore but have come to be very annoyed with is extremely clingy now and attached to me. she sleeps ontop of me so when i have to get up to change a diaper or feed the baby or re-position myself and the baby, i have to literally fight the dog. there is nothing worse than having a dog crush you all day and jump all over your c-section incision site.

God this is the most accurate description of life with a newborn that I have ever read. You really nailed it. I'm sorry it's a struggle...I've been through it twice so I can relate but every new mom should read this so they know they aren't alone. Every pregnant woman should read this and those thinking about getting pregnant! There are wonderful times but most of it is just hard.

Very unique situation. Maternity leave from working out of home?? please help

Re: Very unique situation. Maternity leave from working out of home?? please help

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