Writing after birth

[henrysmama2012]

Hi everyone, I am expecting our first baby soon, & will be working from home for the foreseeable future - whilst I can hold off on taking any more consulting contracts until I feel ready, I do have commitments to an editor for a book that I am writing, plus a couple of other book chapters. My question is, when should I expect to be able to start writing again after the birth? I realise that every baby is different and each requires different levels of care, but I've never had a baby before so have no idea!-is this a case of weeks or months?

You could be lucky and have contented baby who sleeps on you, in cot next to you and allows you to write even whilst breastfeeding pretty much from day 1. - I've had 3 of those babies.

On the otherhand you could have a baby who suffers colic and demands rocking and comforting day and night - I've had one of those!

So your chances are 3 to 1 :)

The quality of writing I can't guarantee I'm told your brain cells return after 18 years :)

I?ve just written an eBook on this very subject (well, about working from home while you have small children). As Hattie11 says, you just don?t know! You might be lucky and get a good sleeper/feeder which means you?ll have a bit more time (and sanity might return sooner) but then again, you might not. You really don?t want to load yourself with expectations of how much or little time/mental clarity you?ll have, because life has a nasty habit of upsetting them all.

If you can negotiate an extension to at least 3 months after the birth, that would be good.

Could you outsource any of the work ? if not the writing, the research, formatting, actual typing? Could you try dictating the words (maybe using software like Dragon Naturally Speaking, or similar) if you?re too tired/unable to sit at a computer?

I?m having my second baby in July so will report back on the writing front (or not) after that. Good luck and congratulations!

Thank you Hattie & Ceasnake, such useful feedback! I'll speak to the editor about an extension for the book, and I've just recruited a co-writer for one of the other book chapters, which is going to help a lot...it's great to hear about your experiences! Ceasnake what is the name of your ebook? It sounds very interesting.

Glad to have helped . My eBook is called How to Run a Work From Home Business When You Have Small Children, (note to self: title could use some work..) if you search for me on Amazon (Celina Lucas) you will find it there. Or PM me for other details. Hope I?m allowed to write that on here, don?t want to be accused of blatant promotion!

Anyway, I do wish you all the best and you?ll muddle through somehow. Important thing is to enjoy the time with your baby, it goes by in a flash. Books can be written anytime but babies grow up soooo fast.

Thank you so much Ceasnake, I am definitely going to check it out

For any kind of intellectual activity it's not about the baby per se it's about the sleeeeeeep!

I'm finding myself much more able to speak and think this time round and have even started reading proper books and newspapers already (DS2 is 3 weeks). After DS1 it was months until I could do more than stare at the telly - but then I was getting no more than 1.5 hours sleep at a time. I was still working by 5m though (and loving it!) although much earlier than 3 months in would have been a real struggle that first time round.

Good luck with the baby and the book

I worked right through "maternity leave", took two weeks off to have my second baby and then went back to working from home as a translator. I found the very first bit easiest, as very small babies sleep a lot and once you get the hang of breastfeeding and typing at the same time, you can see to both needs at once. Now my baby is 4 months old things are getting trickier as he wants to "join in" with the typing

I was also recovering from a C-section, so that meant a lot of sitting about on the bed resting anyway, if I hadnt have been working, I would have still been on the laptop a lot just to entertain myself.

HOWEVER - big caveat coming up - this is my second child, I doubt I would have been able to do this with the first, I found breastfeeding VERY difficult with him, had lots of problems was back and forward to the doctors and eventually gave up. FF took a lot more time and effort and meant much less sleep. (I get tons of sleep this time round with ebf)

Although its possible to work and have a baby, I think you would be best off erring on the side of caution and doing as much as you can to buy yourself lots of time off. If you end up not "needing" it and use it to bond with your baby and enjoy those precious new moments you wont regret it. If I didnt have to work, I really wouldnt, I've had to do this out of pure necesity, nothing is more enjoyable than a new baby, and as another poster said you wont get this time again,

best of luck to you

Thank you guys, such great feedback and advice - it really helps me to know this stuff, so I can feel a bit more prepared for when our little one comes