It's working for Megan D
1 child
"This time I plan to disconnect myself from work during those weeks that I am off. It goes by really fast and it's time you don’t get back.”
A corporate marketer plans to do things differently the second time around.
Megan Dingler wasn’t afraid to make changes, she just didn’t expect to make them all at the same time. “When I was five months pregnant with my first child, I left a company I was with for 12 years to take an opportunity with a brand new company,” she explained. “I went from a multi-billion dollar technology company to a multi-million dollar company; from a very big brand company with lots of vacation, to a small company with 2 weeks vacation and no maternity leave.”
But since Megan, a corporate marketer, was in a position to negotiate her compensation, she negotiated a maternity leave, too, getting her new company to match the leave her previous position offered: 10 weeks.
But when she came back, Megan realized the new company culture wasn’t an ideal fit.
“I came back from maternity leave in mid-Oct and left the job by the next Feb. I was only there a couple months. I was recruited for a new position at a new company and decided to take that instead. I needed the change at the time.”
And now, Megan finds herself in a similar position, a relatively new job with another baby on the way, due in January.
“My current company offers six weeks maternity leave paid in full, after that it would be totally on my own, no pay. Right now my husband and I are trying to figure out what financially I can take without pay. Six weeks is not enough time. I would love to stretch it to 10 or 12 weeks again, we’re trying to figure out what we can do without breaking the bank.”
There are some things as a working mom Megan would do differently this second time around. “I would love to find some in-home daycare for this baby for the first year,” she said. “My son was put into daycare at 10 weeks old. That takes a toll on us, parents too, you’re always in a constant state of worry. It was a lot to try and manage and work on top of it. I feel like that pressure is relieved knowing the baby is at home and that I don’t have to get out the door by a certain time, for me, the convenience is really great.”
Also, she’d be more willing to let go of work. “I wish I would have enjoyed [my first] maternity leave a little more. This time I plan to disconnect myself from work during those weeks that I am off. It goes by really fast and it’s time you don’t get back.”