Mom, Prego, and Working!

I have an almost 3 year old and an 18 month old and am 21 weeks pregnant. I also have a full time job as well as my husband who works swing shift. I am still having morning sickness and when my husband works evenings it's 15812x worse. BUT, I've made it to 21 weeks! It's hard, but it's what we as mom's have to do...once you get the hang of it, it gets easier!

Wow, congrats! I found out that we were pregnant with our son when my daughter was 7 months old - they are 15 months apart. I wasnt working then. I worked all through my first pregnancy and can remember being so tired first trimester. I worked at a bank and had to dress up everyday...sucks getting panyhose on when your legs are all swelled up. Anyways, I remember going out for lunch and sleeping in my car. Lol. I didnt work during the second pregnancy and did take lots of walks and stayed outdoors a lot with my daughter. I'm diabetic (juvenile diabetes and have and insulin pump) so I had to make sure I was constantly checking my blood sugar and eating enough. Okay, I am currently a waitress 4 evenings per week - thurs -through sunday and cannot for the life of me imagine being pregnant. Is there no other job you could get? I mean, it is not possible to keep healthy snacks and drink when you need to drink liquids - If your restaurant is busy, there is no time to blink - people don't realise that waitresses cannot just sit down and take a break, grab a drink, go pee, eat anything unless they have an adequate break between customers needing something. Again, I can't imagine waitressing prego - some nights, I have to pee for hours and finally get a chance to go and then food is ready to be brought out, the bathroom is full...etc. Or some nights, i'm so thirsty, i need a drink and then right then, there is a crowd of servers in the server pit getting drinks for customers. That and all the germs, I hope you have a little tube of antibacterial gel in your waitress apron because you certainly don't want to get sick right now. I say, find another job.

I'm 21 weeks preg and have a 20 month old son and work. I can tell you that this past fall (first trimester) was really a drag for me too! I was SO TIRED all the time. It was exhausting! Plus, I felt mildly nauseaus for about 5 weeks straight. Not fun. Keep snacks (like luna bars, airline peanuts etc) in your pockets and eat on the go whenever you feel you need to. Also make sure you're drinking enough - this helps too. Hang in there - it gets better!

Hi and Congratulations. Hang in there and focus on all the positives to come; some day they wil be out of diapers and have eachother to play with. This too shall pass is my mom motto when I get crazy;) I'm a stay-at-home mom but let me tell you it is NOT easier, except for the having to leave the house part. Maybe try to have protein shakes or broth in a thermos available to sip on during work, whole grain crackers and bars in your pocket too. Make sure you take the prenatals and maybe extra B vitamins for energy and keep your iron levels up too. I wish you the best, all of us moms make the world go round :)

Congrats on your new baby to be. That being said, you just have to schedule time to eat and that's that. Especially with baby number one running around you are going to be more tired than when you preggers with the first. I'm a hair stylist so I totally understand the dilema...your busy, making money, etc. I did it through two pregnancies, but by law after your fifth month they have to allow for you to have ten or fifteen minute rest periods every two hours to put your feet up, eat, pee, etc. And you have to allow yourself to do this too, and just accept the fact that maybe you'll miss out on some tips, but it's for your health and your babies. A passsed out server is not going to do anyone any good, and then you'll be sent home for the day missing out on more money (I passed out with my first one trying to push myslef to hard) Fortunately I could stomach things like High Fiber/High pro snack bars, V-8, PB and J, etc. Your doctor can and will right you a note for your employer in regards to this. In the meatime find some stuff you can eat standing up. Good luck.

K.,
First of all, congrats on your pregnancy. And I am sure that is very hard having a 6 mth old and being pregnant again.

With work, do you think that you could take little healthy snacks with you so that you can eat them when you need to, like crackers, granola bars, cereal bars etc? And, hopefully after a few weeks you wont be so sick anymore. I am sure it is hard right now, and I hope it lightens up for you.

S. Bailey CLD
Aurora
www.tendermomentsdoula.com

Man, you sound like me! When my first child was 6 months old, I found out I was pregnant. I was working 5 nights a week as head bartender at Pieres, so those hours were about 8 at night until I got home around 4 or 4:30. My daughter got up around 7, and then normally laid back down with me until 10 or 10:30. Obviously, with my job back then, my daughter didn't have the best sleeping habits from the very start. It was the hardest time of my life, by far. I was so exhausted by the time it was ready to go to work! And then I'd get home and she'd be up in just a matter of a couple of hours! The only thing I can say is just keep trucking girlie, because times won't always be so hard. I absolutely could not quit my job because my husband couldn't support us on just his income back then. So, I stuck it out until I was 7 months pregnant. Then, I just couldn't do it anymore. My poor daughter wasn't getting the full attention she deserved because I was so exhausted all day, and I was just a mess trying to keep up with new motherhood, plus being pregnant, plus all the crazy responsibilities I had at work being in charge of about 40 bartenders. Thank goodness that all that hard work paid off, and now my husband is a successful business owner and I no longer have to work. I know how hard it is, and since you're serving, you're on your feet the whole time too. Just hang in there though, and know that many many women have survived the exact situation, and you will too. As far as eating goes, one thing I did was always keep snacks or fruit behind the bar for me. When you're back there getting the drinks for a table, pop something healthy in your mouth. When I found out I was pregnant I was also 7 weeks away from my wedding that I'd been planning! So, your plate could always be more full! That was NOT GOOD TIMING for me AT ALL!!!!

As a part of the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) the employer has to allow you to take care of yourself and they cannot expect the same amount of energy and zest when you're pregnant. Look into applying for FMLA and sit down and talk with management that you are physically/mentally (or whatever) drained and you need to slow down a bit.

You will find that eatting small snacks often will help reduce the sick feeling. The sick feeling starts when your body is craving food. You don't have to eat complete meals all day long, but you need to eat or snack all the time.

I thought I had the flu for months. I would have terrible nauscious episodes and felt like I was hyperventilating. With the second child I tried snacking all the time, and I hardly had any nausciousness at all. Also, try drinking ginger tea, ginger snap cookies, and ginger candies. That can definitely help as well.