Struggling with my 60 hour week

[julietaboolie]

Let me just start by saying I love my job.

However, I work away from home. I leave home Monday morning at 6.50am and don't return home until 7pm ish on Friday evening. Home is 54 miles away, an hour's drive. My hours are long, which is why I stay here. (I'm a nanny.) This has always worked really well.

I'm 14 weeks pregnant now though and am really struggling to leave every Monday, knowing I have a massive week ahead of me. I just want to spend more time at home, DP is decorating, buying stuff to do the house up and I want to be there, with DP, building a home. Worse than that, though, is the exhaustion. I'm finding the 60 hour (minimum) week really really hard.

Flexible working isn't an option as both parents have really busy jobs.

I've got 8 days leave left, but this is to be taken at my employers' convenience. I've booked 2 days at the start of August for a long weekend, but it seems so far until I start ML.

I've opted to start on Nov 14 at 34 weeks because I really cannot see me lasting.

If anyone has been in a similar situation I'd love to hear how you got through!

you poor thing...is it relevant to ask what you plan to do after your maternity leave? how much of a break do you get during the day?60 hours does sound too much. you may find you've got more energy after about 16 weeks - i certainly found that. and obviously it's a great preparation for when your baby arrives - it will probably be not much harder work than you're already used to. it's amazing what you can do if you have to...i carried on full time until two weeks before my due date, including getting sent to Brussels for an almighty overnight meeting when i was 36 weeks...it was fine.
could you discuss your concerns with your employer? they might rather find a compromise (eg perhaps a job share of some sort - someone to come and relieve you for a couple of hours a day?) than go through the whole process of finding another nanny.