How I Survived As A New Mom Working From Home With An Infant
Working from home while caring for a baby is tough! Here’s how I did it.
“Hold, hold on.. hold on a minute!”
My son grabbed at my headphone cable again. Desperately I looked for help. Who could hold him for me while I finished this Zoom call with my manager?
…Sadly, this scene was very common in the beginning.
At the beginning of the pandemic, I gave birth to my son during level 5 lockdown. So when I returned to work from maternity leave after six months, we were working remotely (in fact, even today, 20 months later, I’m still working remotely).
I thought it would be doable to work from home and look after my baby.
How naive I was.
He required constant attention. And I was breastfeeding, which meant I had to be on duty for 30 minutes to an hour every 3 hours or so.
I thought I could have Zoom meetings while breastfeeding my son — ha!
He would keep grabbing my headphone cables for attention, and of course, wouldn’t lie still.
So it was a real struggle.
My husband was also working from home. So while, in theory, he could help, he also had to attend meetings. And do some actual work.
Plus, it’s not like he could replace me when it came to breastfeeding (I wish!).
I tried my best, but eventually, I realised we had to get a nanny. My work suffered, and I couldn’t afford to lose the income.
The nanny we hired was an absolute Godsend. We soon fell into more of a routine. Even our breastfeeding started to form more of a pattern, making it easier to schedule meetings.
I would load the washing machine at night on a delay timer, so the washing would be finished in the morning when the sun comes up.
Then I would babywear my son that morning to hang the laundry to dry.
The nanny would show up and look after my son while I worked. During nap time, she would fold and pack away the dry laundry and do the dishes.
She brought him to me when he needed to breastfeed, and because we formed a more reliable routine, I could (mostly) manage it between meetings.
Then at night, I would sweep out our apartment if the nanny didn’t get to it during the day.
It was chaos, but things calmed down once I accepted I needed help.
I’m still working from home, and the nanny has become part of the family.
It’s still tough working from home, but the challenges are different.
Mommy, I know moms are superheroes for doing all we do, but know that even superheroes need help from time to time!
I’m making it my mission to help new moms with the transition to motherhood. If you are interested in new mom support, tips and insights, join my Facebook Group!
