It's working for Nichole
Chicago, Illinois
1 child
“At 27 weeks I had emergency surgery and was on bed rest for the rest of the pregnancy. A plan was already in place, which was really appreciated by my colleagues.”
Be lazy and enjoy a Saturday where all you do is pamper yourself and meet your needs on your schedule because that is going bye-bye.
I am in a group practice, so when one of us is out for an extended time it usually means us having to hire someone new or others picking up a lot of extra work. My boss was told privately at 6 weeks, only just after our parents, so he could have as much time to plan as possible. That was a big benefit to me, because at 27 weeks I had emergency surgery and was on bed rest for the rest of the pregnancy. A plan was already in place, which was really appreciated by my colleagues.
3 months. I was lucky in that I could schedule my shifts and initially come back part time. However an area that was designated for breast feeding was never established as promised. As an ER doc, I don’t get meals or breaks, so the only place to pump was in a hospital bathroom if I had time and wasn’t constantly interrupted by patient and nursing requests. So sometimes I could not find time to pump until after 9 or 10 hours. I had to stop breastfeeding much sooner than I would have preferred.
My husband, for getting up in the morning so I could get more sleep. My mother, who is always willing to take the baby for a couple of hours if a planned 11 p.m. stop time becomes 3 a.m. because I had sick patients. My boss, for the first 3 months, for letting me decide what days and times worked best.
My husband and I took a babymoon to St. John’s and spent a week on a secluded beach together. It was a wonderful, relaxing time with my husband that really helped us plan on how to take care of our relationship once our daughter came.