I work for the state doing employee engagement events/initiatives and a few other randoms, but I'm also trying to get a consulting business off the ground on the side. I will not return to my day job after my mat. leave. I'll just take the FML and short term disability for as long as I can stretch it.
I work (right now) as a sales and marketing support for a co-op near me. I am getting a new role this summer as a forage specialist! I'm super excited I get to be outside all summer! I also have my own calf raising business. Right now I have 5 bull calves, all drinking milk still. It's a lot of fun, but also a lot of work... Good thing DH is good with helping me
This is such a diverse and well educated group of women, so awesome!
I am a full time RN in a crazy ICU at a major medical center. I have already had to tell a few people at work I'm expecting due to me not being able to give Chemotherapy or take care of patients with certain diseases etc, but we knew people at work would know early due to this so oh well. I am also in school and graduate in May and will be a Family Nurse Practitioner. I'm a bit nervous about searching for jobs this summer knowing I will need a maternity leave a few months after I start, but they're not supposed to discriminate right? I guess it will all work itself out in the end!
@safinn21 that's so awesome that your work excuses you from the stuff! During my first pregnancy I was a peds hem/onc nurse and had to give chemo all the time!
@heatherdubrow they're super accommodating to pregnant women which is so nice! Were there certain chemo medications you weren't allowed to give or did you hang everything? I had planned on calling our heme/onc floor to ask what they did about pregnant nurses, but we don't hang chemo that often so it hasn't been a big issue yet.
@safinn21 I hung everything...we just followed hazardous drug precautions. That's really nice that they are so supportive where you work! Why be exposed unnecessarily?
Such amazing women here! I work with high school student as a college advisor, specifically first gen students who don't know the ropes and deserve the opportunity. We run on grant funds and I find out in May if we get refunded. Not great timing but I am confident I'd find other work. Brought up the SAHM scenario to DH but right now the benefits of two incomes and my benefits out weigh the option. It may be an option down the road but just not right now.
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" - Philippians 4:13
Wow. Amazingly talented ladies here! Go us! I am currently a sales and design rep for a local flooring and home store in my town. Since we are small business, I will only get 6 weeks unpaid maternity leave. So I'm working on saving up my salary now so I won't miss anything during those 6 weeks. Once LO arrives, I'm not sure what will change. My husband also owns a small business that is rapidly growing and expanding, and there's the possibility of me staying home with the baby while working for him as an office manager part time, but I'm not sure if we will go that route or not.
Me: 33 DH: 36 Together since 2007 Happily Ever After 4.30.2015 ~~One Beautiful Daughter~~ Born: 11.6.2017 Trying for #2!!
I work in Supply Chain for a manufacturing company that produces baked goods. I plan on coming back to work after my maternity leave is up. I would love to be a SAHM, but I'm not capable of handling it. I love my children, but I couldn't imagine not going to work. Working is my "me" time and I would go BSC staying home. Kudos to all SAHM's. It's hard work!
My husband and I own our own buisness so I plan on being a SAHM and helping him with the paperwork side of things. I worked as a chef until begining of this month when I quit my job because we moved.
@safinn21 I'm scared for job searching this spring/summer too. I know I won't qualify for maternity leave, as you generally need to work at the place for a year before benefits kick in, but I hope I can work something out with them. We could financially handle me being a SAHM but it would be stressful.
I am a preschool teacher at the moment full time with intentions at least for now to remain there when LO arrives. My center has 6 weeks through preschool and I look forward to at least being in the same building with my LO. I also am in direct sales to help earn a little extra money.
Shout out to all the teachers! I currently teach fifth grade literacy. @safinn21@slaven DH just interviewed for a job on a naval base overseas so if that pans out I'll be job searching this spring/summer, too. Definitely nervous about having to go through that process while pregnant.
@LadyMeowMeow Obviously overseas can mean anywhere, but generally finding a job can be difficult. Luckily as a teacher you'll have better options as either a full time teacher or a sub if there is a school on base for American kids. Here in Korea there are also a lot of opportunities to teach English but the hours are weird usually since they're mostly after school and evening programs, so like 2pm-10pm.
@slaven Thanks for the info. As a longtime TTGP lurker I've read a bit about your experience. It's a large base and there is an elementary school, so I guess that's good news, though I think I'm too late for next school year. Finding a job for me on base is my biggest concern. I have student loans so not working isn't an option. And I've enrolled in the Federal Service Loan Forgiveness program but have 5 more years to go, but I believe I'd need to get a full-time job on base for any work I do over there to count. Living abroad is something I've always wanted to do, but between expecting a baby and my potential job challenges, I'm not exactly thrilled about the prospect of this move
@LadyMeowMeow You'd be surprised how often they need teachers. Here we just had a kindergarten teacher quit with no notice with 3 months left of the year, one teacher needed 6 weeks of leave, another needs a month to go back for a family emergency, etc. Even as a sub you can get long term placements. The pay isn't great (compared to my "real" part time job) but it's better than nothing.
eta: The background check took forever though because they took so long to start processing it. That's for all DoD schools in the pacific region.
I love reading about all the different work everyone here does!
I am a federal employee and work in public relations; my responsibilities include providing outreach, training and education to the public about my agency's programs. Fortunately, my work is very self-directed, and I have a lot of control over my own schedule, so that has been extremely helpful when needing to pop out of the office for fertility appointments and being there for my wife's IUIs.
My wife is a microbiologist for a large laboratory, and she works in research and development in the field of testing for pathogens in drinking water. She really enjoys her work.
Neither of us is sure how long we'll take for maternity. Her employer is much more generous with maternity leave, and that works out well for us, since she is the one carrying Baby and will be (hopefully) breastfeeding.
This is our first baby, so we don't really know what to expect or how we'll feel upon returning to work. I think I know myself well enough that I think I would be a better mother if I continue working outside the home. Who knows how I'll feel after Baby arrives, though?
We cannot afford to have either of us be stay-at-home Moms, though, and that is unfortunate, because my wife would like to, and she would be good at it.
I'm a pediatric speech therapist..work mostly with toddlers and preschoolers. So much fun. I'm lucky to kind of have the best of both worlds. I work 3 half days doing therapy and those 3 afternoons I can do paperwork from home. Perfect balance for me. I'll Def be going back after my very short 8 week maternity leave. We're a small company so not covered by FMLA.
I'm a firefighter/ paramedic, I would love to be a SAHM but we need two incomes right now and with my job I work 24 hour shifts and then I'm off for two days so it's kinda the best of both worlds. When my DD was a newborn she was super fussy and had a lot of colic and spitting up things going on, although of course I love her dearly it was nice to get out of the house and have other adult interaction and then I was able to come home refreshed and give her the best of me. I am very lucky to have the schedule I have!
I will be going on light duty at work around the middle to end of May if I can make it that long, I'm usually on the medic unit so I don't have to worry about toxic exposures.
@slaven@LadyMeowMeow Well at least we will be in this search together! DH and I are planning to move this summer as well after I graduate so it will be a busy and stressful time, hopefully the job search isn't too bad. I'm sure there's plenty of info on interviewing while pregnant and I plan on googling it all!
I'm a school psychologist. I could never do SAHM ...wayyy too hard!! Serious props to those of you who do. I work part time in the summer. Don't have much leave saved up because my 2yo has lots of appointments (he may have high functioning autism and has therapies and evaluations). We will figure it out though, I'm sure. love hearing about what everyone else does. Such a diverse group!
I'm currently in nurse practitioner school and work in the operating room/outpatient surgery/PACU/GI lab. I have another year left of school. Thankfully, I will be almost finished with the fall semester when the baby comes and have a break over Christmas before starting clinical again. The new baby will go to the same daycare his brother goes to. We are so blessed to have an excellent daycare with teachers that have had all three of my kids. I have been kind of a SAHM while in school. I have clinical or work the days my husband is off (also a nurse), but I can't get all of my homework/studying completed and still keep the house clean and all of the laundry washed and put away. I handle all of the money/bills and kid stuff and I'm thinking it's time to delegate some of that lol. I'm excited though. I like new adventures and don't need much sleep to function
@fiddleRN79 - sounds really rewarding. My son's home care RN is his best friend. He's admitted to the hospital right now on the GI service and they're talking about starting TPN on Monday, which makes me a little miserable for him. But I just need him to get better.
~Mom to an amazing Jan 2011 boy~ ~EDD Nov 18, 2017 with my IUI success story~
@pawcall oh no. I can't imagine how you feel. I've seen TPN work wonders so hopefully that will strengthen him and he'll start feeling better soon. I'm so thankful he has a good home care nurse. Has he had one since he was born? I don't mean to pry. My middle son was born in 2011 as well
I'm a part time middle school/high school culinary arts teacher, and my husband and I run a small business (we make candles). I'll get a whopping 2 days paid maternity leave (!!), then unpaid leave/job protection, but I'm not sure yet how much time we'll be able to afford for me to take off. I've always wanted to be a SAHM, but I highly doubt we'll ever be able to afford it. Fortunately we live near both of our families so I'm *hoping* they'll be able to help us out with daycare, especially since there's no daycare in our area. Also, since I work part-time at school and then from home the rest of the time, I think I can figure out a schedule that will work....
TW
Me: 33 DH: 32 Started Dating: 2003 Married: 2013 Started TTC August 2016 BFP: 2/1/17 MC: 2/8/17 BFP: 3/8/17 MMC: 5/1/17 BFP: 7/23/17 EDD: 4/5/18 BFP: 2/27/20
@fiddleRN79 - We've had the nursing since he was about four - we got started with nursing so that he could go to a typical preschool and now she goes to Kindergarten with him. We've always done the home stuff ourselves, although looking back I actually do wish we'd asked for nursing earlier on. We're in a pretty good groove with things now but way back in the beginning when he had an NG tube and overnight feeds, I swear I didn't sleep at all. I was so paranoid that he'd pull the tube and then aspirate.
Now he has a GJ tube and it's pretty easy to care for, pretty low stress. We have to do blood sugar checks Q3 but FI and I switch off (actually usually he just does overnight cares now) but it's working okay.
The problem right now is that he came in last week with an intussusception at the tip of his GJ tube. They gave him gut rest on just IV sugars (so really no nutrition) for 5 days before replacing it, and then we stayed to wean off the D10. Finally got home Friday, and were right back here Thursday for another intussusception in the same spot. So now they want to give him more time, and that's a lot of nutrition to miss. They also don't want to put his normal GJ button back in because they think he'll intussuscept right away again, they want to rig up some crazy NG tube threaded through a G tube contraption that I think sounds like misery. He's a bit of a combative patient, on risperidone daily plus PRN to keep him from destroying his surroundings, so I really struggle to see how this "more delicate" version of a GJ is going to work.
/whew - sorry, that got long. I'm clearly having a little bit of a meltdown over here.
~Mom to an amazing Jan 2011 boy~ ~EDD Nov 18, 2017 with my IUI success story~
@barrbaby Super jealous of your Canadian maternity leave! I used to work for a family resource center that did a lot of the same things as what your organization does... kudos to you, that's a great service you're doing for your community!
TW
Me: 33 DH: 32 Started Dating: 2003 Married: 2013 Started TTC August 2016 BFP: 2/1/17 MC: 2/8/17 BFP: 3/8/17 MMC: 5/1/17 BFP: 7/23/17 EDD: 4/5/18 BFP: 2/27/20
@pawcall it sounds like you have a lot on your plate! I'm really in awe of how you're handling everything. And you're totally entitled to a meltdown, that is a lot to deal with. I'm hoping that things get back to your normal soon. Sending big hugs!
@pawcall I wonder why it keeps doing that? I'm sure everyone else is wondering the same thing. I would be having a complete melt down as well, so never ever apologize for that. It sounds like you have all been through a lot and are very dedicated to providing him with the best care possible. I don't have much experience with pediatric GJ tubes, but I do know that we had to frequently replace one on an adult patient with gastroparesis for that reason. It sounds like the care team is trying to think outside of the box, but it's scary to try something that isn't common practice. I'm hoping they get your son fixed up and feeling better so he can return to Kindergarten and his normal routine. Being an adult in the hospital is hard. I can't imagine how children feel being hooked to monitors and IVs. I'm also happy that your FI helps you. He sounds amazing as well
@pawcall just want to say hugs mama. Pls have all the melt downs you need. That sounds really stressful. Hope all the treatment helps the way you expect.
Thank you guys . I think being overly emotional and hormonal is really not helping matters. We are at an amazing hospital (CHOP) and I'm sure if anyone can help him, they can - it's just hard to watch things be so hard for a little kid who really doesn't deserve it.
~Mom to an amazing Jan 2011 boy~ ~EDD Nov 18, 2017 with my IUI success story~
I'm a SAHM. I love it, but there are days it is challenging. Once I'm done having kids and they are old enough I hope to go back to school for nursing. I just don't have much interest in the two degrees I have right now.
@pawcall My nephew has been at CHOP a bunch of times and they did an amazing job taking care of him. He was on a feeding tube and a breathing tube for a while. He had his heart surgery and scar tissue / sternum revision there (he has DS) and they really put my sister at ease. They are one of the best in the country / world!
It's funny how it's the little things in life that mean the most...not where you live, or what you drive, or the price tag on your clothes... There's no dollar sign on a piece of mind, this I've come to know! *ZBB*
Re: GTKY: Work
I am a full time RN in a crazy ICU at a major medical center. I have already had to tell a few people at work I'm expecting due to me not being able to give Chemotherapy or take care of patients with certain diseases etc, but we knew people at work would know early due to this so oh well. I am also in school and graduate in May and will be a Family Nurse Practitioner. I'm a bit nervous about searching for jobs this summer knowing I will need a maternity leave a few months after I start, but they're not supposed to discriminate right? I guess it will all work itself out in the end!
DH: 36
Together since 2007
Happily Ever After 4.30.2015
~~One Beautiful Daughter~~ Born: 11.6.2017
Trying for #2!!
@safinn21 I'm scared for job searching this spring/summer too. I know I won't qualify for maternity leave, as you generally need to work at the place for a year before benefits kick in, but I hope I can work something out with them. We could financially handle me being a SAHM but it would be stressful.
TTC since August 2018
TTC since August 2018
eta: The background check took forever though because they took so long to start processing it. That's for all DoD schools in the pacific region.
TTC since August 2018
I am a federal employee and work in public relations; my responsibilities include providing outreach, training and education to the public about my agency's programs. Fortunately, my work is very self-directed, and I have a lot of control over my own schedule, so that has been extremely helpful when needing to pop out of the office for fertility appointments and being there for my wife's IUIs.
My wife is a microbiologist for a large laboratory, and she works in research and development in the field of testing for pathogens in drinking water. She really enjoys her work.
Neither of us is sure how long we'll take for maternity. Her employer is much more generous with maternity leave, and that works out well for us, since she is the one carrying Baby and will be (hopefully) breastfeeding.
This is our first baby, so we don't really know what to expect or how we'll feel upon returning to work. I think I know myself well enough that I think I would be a better mother if I continue working outside the home. Who knows how I'll feel after Baby arrives, though?
We cannot afford to have either of us be stay-at-home Moms, though, and that is unfortunate, because my wife would like to, and she would be good at it.
I will be going on light duty at work around the middle to end of May if I can make it that long, I'm usually on the medic unit so I don't have to worry about toxic exposures.
~EDD Nov 18, 2017 with my IUI success story~
[spoiler]
[/spoiler]
~EDD Nov 18, 2017 with my IUI success story~
[spoiler]
[/spoiler]
Started Dating: 2003 Married: 2013
Started TTC August 2016
BFP: 2/1/17 MC: 2/8/17
BFP: 3/8/17 MMC: 5/1/17
BFP: 7/23/17 EDD: 4/5/18
BFP: 2/27/20
Now he has a GJ tube and it's pretty easy to care for, pretty low stress. We have to do blood sugar checks Q3 but FI and I switch off (actually usually he just does overnight cares now) but it's working okay.
The problem right now is that he came in last week with an intussusception at the tip of his GJ tube. They gave him gut rest on just IV sugars (so really no nutrition) for 5 days before replacing it, and then we stayed to wean off the D10. Finally got home Friday, and were right back here Thursday for another intussusception in the same spot. So now they want to give him more time, and that's a lot of nutrition to miss. They also don't want to put his normal GJ button back in because they think he'll intussuscept right away again, they want to rig up some crazy NG tube threaded through a G tube contraption that I think sounds like misery. He's a bit of a combative patient, on risperidone daily plus PRN to keep him from destroying his surroundings, so I really struggle to see how this "more delicate" version of a GJ is going to work.
/whew - sorry, that got long. I'm clearly having a little bit of a meltdown over here.
~EDD Nov 18, 2017 with my IUI success story~
[spoiler]
[/spoiler]
Started Dating: 2003 Married: 2013
Started TTC August 2016
BFP: 2/1/17 MC: 2/8/17
BFP: 3/8/17 MMC: 5/1/17
BFP: 7/23/17 EDD: 4/5/18
BFP: 2/27/20
~EDD Nov 18, 2017 with my IUI success story~
[spoiler]
[/spoiler]
TTC 9/2016 BFP 12/9/16 EDD 8/21/17 NMC 1/8/16 at 7w6d
TTC 2/2017 BFP 3/6/17 EDD 11/17/17 DS born 11/25/17 via ECS
TTC 12/2018 BFP 6/2/19 EDD 2/12/20 NMC / BO at 7 weeks, low progesterone
TTC 7/2019 BFP 8/21/19 EDD 4/22/20 CP at 5 weeks
TTC 8/19 IUI #1 w/ Clomid + Ovidrel + progesterone BFN, IUI 2 and 3 w/ Letrozole + Ovidrel + progesterone,
IUI 4 Follistim + Ovidrel + progesterone BFP 1/9/20 EDD 9/18/20
AMA, ITP in pregnancy, vWD type II - low Factor VIII, unexplained RPL and secondary infertility