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| Dude, sorry for the ridiculous cleavage shot. Stella and Daddy stopped by my office last week… apparently she pulled my shirt down a bit! |
As you are reading this, I am starting my 9th week of postpartum work. That means I’ve officially been a “working Mom” (8wks) for as long as I was a SAHM (8wks). I don’t really agree with those titles, because honestly, a lot of my days at home with Stella are more exhausting than any day at the office, but there ya go.
Honestly, I am pretty happy with how things have worked out!
In a perfect world, I’d be working just for fun – for personal fulfillment – and I’d be able to work just a couple of days a week in a super flexible job instead of four days a week, nine hours a day. (This is not really something I’ve have pictured myself saying pre-baby…so weird.) I wouldn’t be working because we needed the income, and I wouldn’t be forced to leave Stells on days I just wanted to stay home to cuddle and play with her.
BUT, all things considered, since we haven’t won the lottery yet and aren’t self made millionaires yet, it has honestly worked out pretty well! 🙂
*I work four nine hour days instead of five eights, which I’m loving. You pay for daycare by the day (around here it’s $40/day), so it’s more cost effective for us, plus I still get three full days with Stella.
*My normal schedule is to work Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, so I never have to leave Stells for more than two days at a time, unless I’ve requested a 4 day weekend, in which case they’re super flexible with me, which is awesome.
*Stella goes to daycare Monday & Tuesday, and my mother-in-law and sister-in-law take turns watching her Thursday and Friday (usually in our home), so she is getting lots of one-on-one time with family, plus a little exposure to other kids.
*I almost always get to visit Stella over lunch and nurse her.
*I get pumping breaks whenever I want mid-morning and mid-afternoon. This means my schedule on work days is not too shabby!
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6am-8:15am: Pump, shower & get myself ready, pack diaper, bottle, and pump bags while Daddy gets Stella up & ready, nurse Stella & then drop her off at daycare if it’s Mon/Tues.
Work about 2 hrs.
20-30 minute pumping break.
Work about 2 hrs.
1hr lunch break (paid for 1/2 of it). Go feed Stella.
Work about 2 hrs.
20-30 minute pumping break.
Work about 2 hrs.
5:30pm: Head home to hang out with my hubby and Stella for the evening. I nurse Stella and play with her for a bit, then Daddy gets her while I cook, clean, do laundry, etc. (Char helps out with that stuff too sometimes.)
8:30pm: We head to bed – I nurse Stella one last time while we watch a show on the DVR. We’re all passed out by 9pm or so usually, though we’ve been known to make it to 10pm on occasion. 🙂
Stella generally wakes up around 12-1am….then depending on the night, either once more around 4-5, or she’ll be up every 2 hrs (12,2,4,6)… we aren’t sure why.
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I usually read blogs / check emails during my pumping breaks and during middle of the night feedings, and that’s honestly been one of the hardest thing to keep up with / biggest things I miss (other than Stella of course!) about staying home during the day. At least when I was home, I had a bit more time for that. At the same point, working outside the home has been good for me to learning how to prioritize laundry, meals, showers, and the like. Now I’m working hard to try to add exercising back into the mix – I just FEEL BETTER if I’ve worked out.
Overall, I’m glad I took the job. I miss, miss, miss my lazy days with Stella (and by lazy, I mean incredibly busy but we had all day to get things done whenever it worked out best to do them). It’s hard knowing that over 50% of her days are spent with people other than me. It’s hard knowing that me staying home with her just isn’t an option right now. BUT, it’s great knowing that she’s in good hands, and it’s great knowing that me having a steady income right now is helping to pay some bills and is giving my hubby the flexibility to start his own company, which is beyond exciting in our household!
Working outside of the home is hard some days, but I’ve been blessed to be reminded of the importance of counting down the minutes until I get to see my baby girl instead of counting down the minutes until her next nap.
Life works out the way it’s supposed to. 🙂
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*ETA – I know $40/day doesn’t sound like much to those of you that live in urban areas, but remember, I live in tiny, tiny town (pop < 1000) and even though our cost of living is ridiculous thanks to living close to a big time ski resort, typical wages are NOT great (think $12-17/hr for the average person working in town), so when full time daycare costs around $850/month, that takes a HUGE chunk of your income when salaries are so low. We are beyond blessed to usually only be spending $320-400/month on daycare thanks to the help of family and friends.