It's Working Project

“I was worried that when I was gone things would go haywire without me there to handle it … but it all went off without a hitch and everyone was super respectful of my time off with my baby.”

What is one piece of advice you wish you could offer your former expectant self?

Everything will be ok without you, and you’ll be fine too! 🙂 I help manage artists’ careers and am very involved in their daily lives, so for a while I was worried that when I was gone things would go haywire without me there to handle it … but it all went off without a hitch and everyone was super respectful of my time off with my baby.

What was your primary motivation for deciding to return (or not) to work? How early did you tell your employer?

Since we’re such a small company, and I’ve worked for my boss for 7 years now, I told him I was pregnant at about 10 weeks. He was very excited and incredibly supportive throughout the whole process, I was very lucky in that regard. We started telling most everyone else around 16 weeks.

How much leave did you take, and how comfortable were you taking it?

I took the week off before I had Ruby since she was a week and a half late, and then 8 weeks maternity leave after she was born, which was a good amount of time. Sometimes I wish I would have had a couple more weeks, but in reality it was good to get moving and get into our new lives. Unfortunately the first week I was back Ruby got a stomach bug at school and my husband and I had to juggle staying home with her! Those first few weeks getting back in the swing of things at work while exhausted and figuring out how to balance work and home was insanely hard, but things have gotten much easier since then. My husband travels fairly often, so we’re lucky that my job is flexible and I can work from home or on the road if need be.

 

 

 

Who was your biggest source of support in returning to work? What was your biggest pregnancy indulgence?

My husband Chris is super supportive and knows how much I love my job and wanted me to do whatever was best for me and for our family, he’s been so helpful with this transition. My boss, as well, has been very encouraging and super flexible with my hours and where I’m working.

I was really into strawberry ice cream with chocolate chips. Strawberry milk shakes too. I’ve never really been into them much, but pregnancy made me a fan!

Fill in the blanks: As a working parent, I never expected ____ would be so hard and ____ would be so much easier!

I never expected leaving my baby in the morning would be so hard and enjoying the weekends would be so much easier!

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