Poll for CURRENT PREGGOS about work!

[gailrmv]

I am just curious what the newest crop of mammas are thinking they will do about work after the baby arrives.

 

[so cal girl]

I don't really have a choice in this. I am the major breadwinner in our family at this point in time, since DH works construction, and his industry is slow right now. There is no way we could afford for me to stay home, even part time.

Even if I didn't HAVE to work, I probably still would. I worked hard to get to where I am in my career now, and I think I might feel resentful if I had to give that up. Working part time would be ideal if possible, but isn't really feasible in my field anyway.

 

[E B]

If all goes as planned, I will not be working until Henry starts school.

 

[steph72276]

The plan is for me to stay at home until the two little ones are both in school. It makes no sense for me to work as it would cost just about as much in daycare, gas, etc. as I would be getting paid to be a teacher. It will be nice when they are school aged though so I will have their same schedule!

 

[Sha]

I never planned to give up work. My salary really helps us a lot financially ( we can''t survive on such DH''s salary), plus my career is important to me. I haven''t thought much about daycare plans after the baby - but I guess I''ll be returning to work after maternity leave, with is 3 months. God wlling my mother will be able to help out as well.

 

[drk]

I could take a year''s leave and get a whopping $1000/week (canadian), but since I''ve spent the last 8 years in med school and residency, and am finally in a nice new staff position, I can''t exactly screw my colleagues over by telling them "sorry, I know I only started 9 months ago, but I''ll be gone for the next year!". Plus I love what I do, and I know I would go nuts if I spent 24 hours a day at home with my kid. I''m hoping DH will also want to take at least 3 months of pat leave after I''m done my planned 3 months of mat leave, and after that we''ll have to sort out daycare or nanny.
I also (once I finally start getting paid) earn probably over double what DH makes, so it doesn''t make sense for me to stay home. If he wants to stay home, fine, but I don''t know that it would be the best for him either. I''d probably be willing to work part-time if he did the same so we could take turns caring for the kid. We''ll see how it works out. For now, I''m just hoping for a healthy baby. Afterwards will take care of itself.

 

[Mandarine]

I plan to work part time....we''ll see how it goes

 

[orbaya]

I will work per diem, which is my status now at two different hospitals. I will want to get out of the house and bring home a small check sometimes will be nice. Hubby is the main breadwinner and makes enough so that I could easily stay home full time and not have to change our lifestyle at all. However, I do want to work some.

 

[Mara]

jeez drk i wouldn't mind staying home for a year with $1k a week...that is not half bad hahaha.

in the US we always hear about how other countries have amazing plans for mothers....in the UK a preggo coworker stays out like 6 months of the year! but here it is like 2-3 months and back on the job, plus then you feel guilty for even being gone 2-3 months hahaa.

my job is pretty competitive and very fast-paced. thankfully my boss already wants to bring someone in underneath me, and has said she will promote me when i return (i love the bribery!). i imagine i will stay out 3 months, work from home for 1 month and then my mom will be out from school in the summer to help me for 3 months before i have to figure out a daycare or a nanny plan.

i would love to stay home part time but i think that we like my income way too much to give it up or slash it down. we could survive on Greg's salary but we will be further ahead with mine too. but we'll see who knows....i also don't think i could stay at home all the time mentally. i do love the work at home plan with a nanny part of the day...my friend does this and she loves how it is kind of best of both worlds, she gets to work and bring home some cash but also has help with the baby but has time with them too and doesn't miss any big milestones.

thing is too in this economy that i prob don't feel all that comfortable not working at all. if we lived elsewhere (read cheaper!) and economy was booming it might be diff. but i am pretty protective over my job right now.

 

[sunkist]

I have always planned on not working at all when we had kids. Now I have the opportunity to work part time from home after the baby is born and I''m thinking about whether I want to do it or not. I figure I can always try it out and if it''s not working for me, I can quit. But I think hubby will like the idea of having some steady paycheck coming in (even though it may be small) since we are trying to buy a house right now. Even so, being a SAHM has always been #1 important to me.

 

[E B]

Oops- I just now realized I shouldn''t have voted. I''m sorry. I blame sleep depravation!

 

[littlelysser]

I voted not sure.

I''m due in 3 weeks - YIKES.

I''m an attorney and currently doing some part time work for a friend''s law firm.

Luckily, we can live on DH''s salary - not super extravagantly, but we can pay bills, save some, and live life.

Of course, having some extra from me makes things easier, but I don''t know that I''d be able to go back to work full time when the kiddo is still so tiny. I could also realize that this SAHM mom thing is enough to make me batty. We are really going to play it by ear.

My guess is I"ll take a year or two off, maybe doing some occasional part time, contract work. After that, who knows. I may go back to school and get PhD, so yeah...we''ll see!

 

[steph72276]

There is always such a give and take with either path you take. When my first son was born, I went back to work for a school year when he was 9 months old. While I liked getting out of the house, having a paycheck, socializing with adults, etc., I missed him so much! Now that I am not working, I love staying at home with him, but I miss getting a building up experience, earning a paycheck, etc. I guess the grass is always greener! If I had an chance to work part time at home, I would do that in a heartbeat....that seems like the best of both worlds. I am probably going to go back to school to get my master's when this baby is around 4 or so, and then go back full time when the little one is in school. I figured even if I don't go back to work until then, I still have 30 years or so to work (unless hubby can retire early!), and that's plenty of time for me!

 

[ChinaCat]

I am planning to go back to work full-time. I am torn about it already, but pretty sure I will be going back to work unless something changes that I can''t predict. I am an attorney and worked pretty hard to get where I am and I make pretty good money, enough that it would be stupid not to go back. We could probably live on DH''s salary alone, he makes more than me and it''s more than enough for most households. However, we just bought a house and while we COULD do it on his alone, it would be tight. Also, we want to invest and save a ton and that would be harder without my salary.

Also, I''m just not sure I am cut out to be a SAHM. I admire those that can, and wish I was more like that. My mom was a SAHM, and was such a wonderful mom. I want to be home with my kids, but I think I would go insane. On the other hand, while I really like my job and the people I work with, it''s not my end-all, be-all passion in life, and I have a feeling I am not going to feel like it''s worth it if I''d rather be home with the little one.

So we''ll see. I am definitely going back. Ideally, I could work part-time or from home some days, but not sure how that would work in this economy. I am going to play that by ear.

It''s weird, because most of my friends are stay at home moms. The few that work wish they didn''t have to. It just makes me nervous to not have a career or a paycheck.

 

[gailrmv]

this has been interesting! thanks all for your replies and votes!

 

[Burk]

I work part time and will continue to do so when the new baby arrives. When I had DD, part time seemed like a great compromise since I''m a teacher and already have summers off. It works well for us. I go in around 11 and am done at 3 and then summers off helps out too. I like the adult interactions with my co-workers, I feel like I do something that is meaningful, Tayva LOVES daycare, and I enjoy having the paycheck.

 

[vizsla]

i am going back to work full time after baby is born. part of me is excited that i won''t miss out on the social/career aspect of my life, but the realistic part of me is sad that i won''t have more than 12 weeks at home to spend with my baby.

for financial and health insurance reason, i have to go back to work. (i carry the insurance and have the ''steady'' paycheck - DH works for himself).. so unless he gets a conventional job making double - technically - i couldn''t stay home. and we would also lose the flexibility of his schedule which is a godsend!

i do have had some issues about going back to work... most of them sound petty, but i''m hormonal.

i can''t help but think, i get to incubate baby, grow baby, birth baby, feed baby but DH will stay home with baby every friday and in-laws will be with baby every thursday (day-care the other 3 days). somehow, i can''t help but feel a little cheated/disgruntled that they will get to spend more time during the week with baby then i will. but for the health of our family, both financially and mentally, it is what we have to do.