Self employed, work from home and 1st baby

[Distracted15]

Is anyone in the same boat as me?

I run my own online retail business and work from home. Im 17 weeks with my first baby and not really sure how it's all going to work out.

If I stop working, there will be nobody to answer the phone to customers, sort email queries, deal wth suppliers and send orders out!..

I can't afford to pay anyone to take over from me for a few months.

So my question is, is it possible to have a 1st baby and run a business at the same time?!

[ItsMyFuckingWedding]

Yes absolutely. I did it and worked around the baby. Admittedly you cannot always answer the phone but that's what a message is for right!

[littleostrich]

I'm self employed and work from home (I'm a designer). DS is now 5 months old, and although I've managed to reduce my workload, I have still had to fulfil various orders. It has been hard. Not impossible by any means, but hard - mainly because of the sleep deprivation - in the early days I definitely felt like my brain wasn't working at full capacity. Plus I felt guilty for not just sitting around cuddling my newborn like people say you're supposed to! But I've managed it, so I'm sure you can find what works for you too.

Initiallt I found it was a lot easier if you have someone who can watch the baby for an hour or two while you get things done - my Mum would pop round to help sometimes, so I'd use that time to get as much done as possible. Now that DS is in a fairly settled routine for when he naps, I can use that time instead.

[Distracted15]

Thanks for the replies. Yes, I guess you just need to get into a new routine of juggling both. I'm pretty lucky in that my husband also works from home so hopefully we'll be able to work together to ensure we can get everything done, even if this means potentially answering email enquiries at 3am whilst breastfeeding!! haha

I have a few friends that are due around the same time and their saying 'ohh when are you finishing work?...' errrmmm I cant!

[mygreeneyedboy]

Yes you can do this! You might want to take a break for a week or two. I didn't work but I was a uni student with DS, and I went back to lectures (breastfeeding him during them!) within about 3 weeks.

[Foggymist]

Ask me in a few weeks how it is :D I'm back to work next week after 5 months off from actual "work", but I've still been replying to enquiries, dealing with ongoing ones for later this year/next year, meeting clients etc. That's all been fine but next week the actual juggling of working and minding baby starts, terrifying! He's waking every 2 hours so this should be a barrel of laughs. I'm lucky that I don't have to keep business hours so I can work in the evenings if I get nothing done all day, but I have very strict deadlines every week so will have to make up for lost days/hours in the evening and with late nights.

Scary! But I'm sure it'll be fine, it'll have to be! If I could manage replying to emails from my bed in special care after he was born I can do this :)

[ollieplimsoles]

Yep!

I'm a self employed illustrator, I work from home and expecting our first in October.

I work with an agent though and I have told them when I am stopping and starting taking on new book projects again, so I will have some sort of maternity leave but will have to work after a couple of weeks off.

A friend of mine closed her store for two weeks when she had her baby and warned customers, I'm not sure if this is something you could do OP, just to give you a little bit of time to process new baby?

[CarrieLouise25]

Worked from home through all of my pregnancies/babies, third one now, you can do it. You just need to juggle more

You sound in a similar situation to me, my husband works at home too.

Don't forget you can claim maternity allowance x