It's working for Kristin Gelches
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
1 child
“I had to quickly find a new job while I was in the throes of postpartum hormones, pumping every few hours, sleep deprivation, and adjusting to motherhood + working full time. It was probably one of, if not the lowest, points of my life.”
Don’t try to plan anything in prep. for labor, delivery, and/or the baby’s arrival. It will all go out the window, I promise.
I had a rotating door of managers for most of my pregnancy, but I told my supervisor at the time at around 14 weeks. I actually had told a co-worker just minutes before and she pulled me into my supervisor’s office and was like, “did you hear??” at that point the cat was out of the bag.
I took 12 weeks, which was all my company allowed for with a guarantee that you will get to come back into your old role.
My back-to-work plan vs. what ended up happening was pretty different. As I mentioned in my last response, I had a rotating door of managers throughout the year, and they hired someone permanent while I was on leave. My plan was to come back into my job, doing my previous tasks, with {hopefully} no major hiccup. However I ended up having my role reimagined while I was out, and essentially being phased out within a few months, after being at the company for over 6 years. I had to quickly find a new job while I was in the throes of postpartum hormones, pumping every few hours, sleep deprivation, and adjusting to motherhood + working full time. It was probably one of, if not the lowest, points of my life.
Seeing my friends have children and return to work after was how I knew it was possible. They have served as such a wonderful support group. But mostly my husband–who was there for me night after night when I would come home from work crying, saying I was never going back–always made me feel like I was the strongest woman in the world for doing what I do. He really is, and has always been, such an amazing support for me.
My indulgence was ice cream by the buckets!
As a working parent, I never expected the morning routine would be so hard and falling asleep at night would be so much easier!