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Back to work?

15th Dec 2012
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It's been just over 2 weeks since I give birth to my second child and according to the CEO of Yahoo enough time to go back to work.

So I'm making a lot of assumptions here. For a start I have no idea how easy or hard her labour was, how much help she has, and also she has worked hard to be in the position to be able to give birth and go back to work when she wants with all the help she needs. I'm not judging her nor comparing myself to her. However, even though I am writing this as and when I can, the thought of going back to work, full or part time at the moment is the last thing I can think about.

For a start, I don't feel like my body is fully recovered and I feel very emotional. Secondly, the thought of leaving my 2 week old baby with anyone, even family just doesn't feel right, apart from the fact that I seem to be constantly feeding her, I don't think anyone except me can do it right. Thirdly, looking after 2 kids under 3 is so time consuming, when are you meant to do anything else is beyond me, without forsaking some more precious sleep.

Hopefully, as the baby gets older and gets into some sort of routine, I'll have more time to do other stuff, although I'm not sure work will be the first thing I will want to do. I'm still hoping to work for myself and in order to do so I still need to get my practicising certificate sorted to start off with. By then hopefully, I'll feel more confident leaving my baby with someone else and more confident about going back to work.

But for now, getting some sleep is looking good...

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Replies (5)

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FT
By FirstTab
16th Dec 2012 06:08

Congratulations!
Congratulations on your new arrival!

Thank you for sharing you experience just after birth of your second baby. I look forwarding to reading more in the coming weeks, if you get the time!

On returning to work- my suggestion is listen to your body. As you know we are all different.

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By coolmanwithbeard
16th Dec 2012 08:02

Congrats :)

Many congratulations :)

I would always echo my nan in your position with her phrase "let the world take a turn". No one expects you to do stuff yet and you will know when you are ready (if ever :P). Just ignore the usual timetables (except where they are health related) this isn't a tick box moment.

 

I have a client who gave birh recently too (about 3 months ago) she has gradually moved back but only started by working on the business not in it (making sure VAT and payroll happened) so she had no expectation from her clients. So maybe as you start to feel ready do those things that put you in a position to work so you can actually start when you want. This means when a chat with someone you meet turns into a request for some work from you, you can say yes if you want.

 

But not today have fun they're only this little for a short time :).

 

M

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By User deleted
16th Dec 2012 13:31

Life's too short

and way too precious to waste on working 24-7. Enjoy your latest arrival and get back working when you feel you're ready and not just because you feel there's expectation that you should. Besides, it's nearly Christmas and it's never too early to start them on being read The Night Before Christmas! Focus on getting some sleep when (if) you can and enjoying the fact that you've created a new life - that's more impressive than turning up at work.

And I bet she just goes to work to sleep at her desk!!

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Jessica Pillow
By Jessica Pillow
19th Dec 2012 11:30

You'll know when it's right to go back!

I've got two children (girl now 4 and boy now 2) and I was working firstly as a partner and then as a sole practitioner (when my son was born).

I took about 3 months maternity leave with each of them, which felt about right for me as I was starting to get bored then.  With my first child, the grandmothers looked after her for the first month until I was confident about leaving her with another person.  With my second child, I had no cover for my clients during the whole maternity leave (as it was only part-time practice) but they were all very understanding if I was a bit slow replying to email and obviously I wasn't doing any accounts work.

Enjoy your new arrival for as long as you are enjoying her and then start new challenges as and when you need to!

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By taxhound
29th Dec 2012 18:07

Belated congratulations

I would say if you can walk without pain after two weeks you are doing well, let alone going back to work!  My sister calls it the "post partum shuffle"

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