How difficult will working with a newborn be?

[lostandconfused2]

I have no option but to work when I've had my baby in April, only a VERY small amount per week. I am a freelance writer and due to being off sick a lot through my pregnancy (I have a chronic illness and have had bad morning sickness) my maternity pay has gone down to about £250 a week, being 90% of my earnings on three days work a week. My rent alone is £950 and that's not covering bills and even with my partner's income it won't be enough to live on.

I have another job where I write three articles which take me around 25 minutes each to write, and I get £735 per week for that.

I cannot take the maternity and work at the same time I have been told by my other employer, so it's one or the other.

I have managed to save £1,500 so far for when baby is born so that I will have spare money for rent/bills etc. And I will have saved another £2,000 before he is born so I should have around 3 months rent ready to go. I'm trying to be as prepared as possible.

I guess my question is do you think this is doable? I know every newborn is different - but it's just a couple of hours each week, and it's pretty easy work, not too indepth or researchy - mainly personal and opion columns. It was an unplanned pregnancy as I was told I couldn't have children due to my chronic illness, just as a heads up to why I'm not super prepared.

Thank you!

The baby’s father needs to step up. I’m not sure if you are still together as you only mention you doing the childcare and you saving for mat leave.

I’d be asking how much he has saved, how much leave he’s taking and how many hours a week he’s going to care for baby. Even if you are no longer together , he still has responsibilities.

Why can’t he care for baby for the whole day when he’s not at work ? Even if you are Bf he can come to Your home to care for baby. That should give you a big chunk of time. And when you are BF, he can be doing housework / chores .

Don’t try to squeeze it in, 15 mins here and there. You need time and space to think - having a baby turns your brain to cotton Wool. Everything takes twice as long.

How could your employers proved that you were working freeloads while you were on mat leave? Couldn’t you have written the articles months before and they have onoy Just been published ? ( sorry I know nothing about your industry ) .

I had my first on the Thursday/Friday morning and was in work on the Monday in an 8am meeting .... if the birth goes ok honestly I didn’t find it any big deal at all. I’m not saying I would have stayed at worked 8 hours at my desk but meetings were doable

Will your partner be able to step up and cover the time you needed

You may be able to work the 10 KIT days (but must be taken as full days) and keep your SMP. I did that with a three month old two days per week for 5 weeks. Does depend on the baby though. Might help you eek out your maternity leave depending how your assignments are spread out.

If you've got help it should be totally doable.

I tried some freelance work when DS was little but could only do it when he was asleep, and he was a right bugger about sleeping - so it was really difficult. But if I could have made an arrangement where my family or partner took over completely leaving me in peace for, say, a morning a week it would have been a doddle.

IM0GEN exactly what I was thinking. Definitely gonna get slated for this but if I was having a baby and was desperate for money then I’d think nothing of supplementing my income on top of maternity pay.

@TheDarkPassenger I thought this as well.

OP, it's not really something that you can control. If all goes to plan and you have an easy birth and easy baby, then it's doable. If you have a difficult birth and high needs baby, it's not as easy. I had two c-sections and was on my arse for a few weeks afterwards with each one.

Anything is doable if you have the right mindset and no choice! We had zero money when dd was born - I didn't qualify for maternity and we had bills to pay. I had no choice but to go back to work after 2 weeks paid holiday leave and I worked right up until I was in labour with her. She wasn't sleeping when I went back to work but I just had to get on with it because I didn't have a choice.

Very doable. I presume that you also have to spend a certain amount of time planning your writing and doing odd bits of research? I would try to make it a discipline to make notes, think and be in work mode for a couple of feeds each day rather than watching mindless tv or browsing the internet.

Then when you have proper time to get on you will be better able to crack on with the writing proper.

With such large amounts at stake you do need to consider having a proper babycarer on hand to allow you to focus. If you are lucky enough to have a brilliant sleeper you will be fine but a snacker / dozer isn’t so easy to slot into your day so arrange backup in case.

@IM0GEN We are still togehter yes, and he will be looking after baby when he's not at working, we'll be doing it together. He is giving me £700 today to put in the baby fund. He does need to be putting more money in on a regular basis though so that's something to discuss. And I have to post the new articles on my social media which they watch like a hawk. So I can't be being paid from anywhere else during that time.

OP, is it practical or possible to write any of these pieces in advance and bank them, so to speak, so that if you are incapacitated for the first week or two then you can just fire the pre written work off in an email to submit it?

Or would it be something that needed to be written in the moment?

@QueenofPain I can do that! I probably will do that for the first couple of weeks actually. Didn't even think about that!

I’m assuming you’re not planning on breastfeeding?

Breast feeding is perfectly possible !

Ohh that’s great news! Well depending on how you feel now, it’s not beyond the realms of possibility to get yourself the first months worth of stuff written ready? And then if you get some time in your first month to write stuff then you can save some of your banked pieces for later into your leave when you need a grace period?

Could you use KIT days to allow you to get maternity pay and paid from that employer. If you could do two weeks worth or articles on a single day and use all 10 KIT days that would stretch you to 20 weeks worth of work and maternity pay.

Without knowing what articles you write is there anyway of writing at least some now so that you have a head start?

So so much easier when they are little. You can even type with them in a soft sling wrap. For me it got a lot harder after the 5month mark when he slept less in the day and wanted to be active. Since 7 months it's only been possible when he's asleep.

One thing to consider though is your own writing ability when you are shattered. I've found it very hard to write as well as I used to.... Hope you're different to me!

Good luck

@thejollyroger why can't she breastfeed? Yes the baby will go through cluster feeds, but they dont spend 24 hours a day 7 days a week attached to the breast

Yes sorry I should have also said I think be prepared for it taking you longer to write than normal

For the first couple of weeks I would have been too tired for this- might depend how things go but writing in advance sounds like a plan. I wish I could get a job like yours.

Pinkflipflop85

Yours didn’t. Mine did, or as good as makes little difference. Babies are different and some BF babies will floor a new mum. I’m being realistic for the OP.

Inliverpool1

It might be. It absolutely wouldn’t have been possible for me. I barely got time to shower or eat.

Depends on the baby.

DD slept a lot and gurgled happily while awake.
DS screamed the house down if I dared to put him down, and slept in very short fits and spurts. I was so tired there was no way I could have strung together a coherent article. I remember bursting into tears because I couldn't work out how to heat up soup.