Hellobee Boards

I was studying and working a part time job when I got pregnant, so I pulled out of study (would be working full time without pay for experience for a year) and ended up quitting my job when my horrible morning sickness hit. We never really discussed me being a stay at home mum, it just happened. Thankfully dh is supportive.

I was working full time and the plan was to quit after LO was born to stay home.
We couldn't keep it up financially, so after a year of not working, I went back to work.

I couldn't vote because my situation was "other!".

I worked through my pregnancy, and during my leave my DH got a job in a different city so I quit and we moved and I became a SAHM. We were able to make it work financially because it was his "big break". If this new job didn't happen I would have gone back to work part time. I've always wanted to SAHM but never thought it could really happen for us.

I never planned on being a SAHM but decided after returning to work for a few weeks it wasn't working for us so I quit with the intention of returning to work in a year or so, which I did. We made it work by relying on our savings during the year I took off.

We didn't really have a plan, we kind of were avoiding the day care search and then when we started to look, we were unable to find something reasonable in our area. So I stayed home for 2 years after my son was born.

It was fine, but I didn't have enough to do, so I ultimately decided to go back to work...it's been about a year and a half now. I think the only thing I have to offer on the situation is that no matter what you do, you can make it work!

Planned from the start. I quit my job right before I got married due to health reasons. We wanted a baby right away and thought being pregnant would be hard on me because of those health issues so I shouldn't work, and it was hard. We were living on one income for awhile so we knew I could stay home with the baby too.

I voted that I knew I would sah and didn't go back but it's a little different then that. My husband initially (as in, earlier in our marriage) wanted me to work after we had kids, largely because that's what his mom did. I have always wanted to sah. When we started to try the plan was for me to work until close to my due date, quit and then find a more kid friendly job after baby is born. Then I got pregnant and super sick and had to quit (there's a bit more to the story but that's the jist) we adjusted, figured out how to make it work with me at home and he appreciates me being home even without a little one so we decided to keep this arrangement until it's not working for us anymore. My husband works long hours and I think he realized that if I was working that the time he was home would be spent doing chores and running errands and it wouldn't leave us as much family time as he wanted. With me home I can get the bulk of that stuff done during the week and even have things ready to go for outings so when he is home is simple to do the fun stuff.

I went back to work after LO was born. I never planned on being a SAHM. LO struggled at daycare and I struggled balancing everything so I quit recently. I love being home with LO! We make it work because we didn't need my income to support our lifestyle.

I never planned on being a SAHM. I went back to work after LO was born and worked FT for 4 months. I was suffering from some serious PPD/PPA and was having a hard time coping with everything, so I quit to SAH for a year. We are now in my second year of being a SAHM but I plan to return to working next year.

I worked at our family business so I cut way back once I got pregnant. The plan was always to be a SAHM.

I hadn't been working in the immediate few months before getting pregnant as I had just moved to Australia to be with DH and we were still hammering out the last of the immigration details that would give me full rights to employment etc. Once I was cleared, I landed a job pretty quickly but the day I got the offer, DH found out his next project was going to be in a city six hours away and we would be moving there. I turned the job down and found out a few days later that we were actually pregnant with our first. Money wasn't an issue for us so we made the decision I wouldn't try to get a new job whilst pregnant in our new city, especially as the plan had always been for me to be a SAHM.

In an ideal world, I would have worked up to the end of pregnancy, but it didn't work out that way and I certainly am not complaining. It was nice to nap whenever I wanted and enjoy nine months of free time before a new baby entered our lives. I will return to work part time once our youngest starts school.

We always planned on me staying home and have always lived off his income and saved mine when I was working. We moved several times for his job and the last move I only found part time work and then got pregnant. I am working on a sewing blog as a small side income and will plan to go back part time when all kids are school age, maybe full time depending on variables.

I love staying home!

M and I both had careers at the same time for about 5 years. While at my big corporate job I started the photography business I had always dreamed of doing. It went so well and grew organically for several years. We realized that even though I would make a lot less it would be awesome for me to raise our children while running my own business from home. Plus we were paying an insane amount of taxes. So I left over two years ago with the intention to try for a family in 2 years, and build my business in the meantime. I got pregnant almost 2 years to the day. Then M started his dream job with his dream company in January. So it was in our long term plan. I'll be a SAHM Nov-May with an occasional photos shoot and email, about 5-10 hours a week. Then work 20-30 hours a week June-Oct during Oregon's wedding season. So I guess I will technically be a WAHM but it was with the intention of being the primary care provider for our children. During the summers M will be parenting while I am working nights and on the weekends.

When DD1 was born, I went back to work part time when she was 16 weeks old. I was lucky to be able to leave work for quite a while, but the entire time was unpaid and we really took a hit financially. All I wanted was to SAH, but we just couldn't afford it.

When I went back, it just wasn't working and I was ready to work somewhere in my desired field and actually start my career. When my daughter was around 7 months, I changed jobs. It was still only 28 hours a week, though, so not full time.

When DD2 was born, my workplace asked me to come back to work when she was 5 weeks old. I didn't want to, but they made it seem like I didn't have an option. She was a colicky baby with GI issues and I had pumping issues, so it was an incredibly, incredibly stressful time for me. I would have to sit at the pump four times just to pump enough for one bottle. Almost every single day I was called by the sitter to come home early from work because DD2 screamed ALL DAY LONG. I was supposed to be a PT employee, but suddenly they started asking me to work much longer hours and had very high expectations with low flexibility. I was taking work home with me, working nights and weekends sometimes.

When she was about 5.5 months old, we decided as a family that we couldn't take the stress anymore and it would be better for all parties if I quit my job. We were having trouble with our sitters being reliable (family), and hiring a nanny or paying for daycare would cancel out my paycheck anyway (I worked for a non-profit). I was depressed, exhausted, and I just felt like my babies needed me.

I was lucky, though, to be able to start working as a freelancer in my field. So although I am now technically a "SAHM," I still work about 20 hours a week from home so that I can still bring a little bit of supplemental income.

Although SAH is literally the hardest thing I have ever done, I am much happier. I am glad that I get to be home with my girls all day.

Did you all tell your employers before going out on maternity leave if you weren't planning on coming back? How did that work? I'm not sure what we're going to do and we want to keep our options open - whether I'll go back full time, stay home or try part time (will depend on how we feel and what we can find in the way of childcare), but think in my heart I want to stay home and feel guilty if I'm not upfront with work about that!

When I was around 30 weeks pregnant, I went PRN (as needed) at my job. I lost benefits (but got insurance through my husband), but my pay increased dramatically. I was working nights, 12 hour shifts, and that was getting old real quick with being pregnant. I also went PRN because I knew I was not going to want to go back 8 weeks after having her. She is now almost 16 weeks and they haven't called asking me to pick up any shifts and I haven't called looking for shifts. So...I am a SAHM for now and I don't plan on returning.

It was a done deal once we found out we were having twins., because childcare for two infants is obscenely expensive. I quit my job when I was 30 weeks. I did try to keep tutoring in the evenings when they were really little, but ultimately that proved impossibly hard.

A different perspective - my DH is a SAHD. We moved while I was pregnant for my fellowship - it was only one year but we knew we would stay in the area after I finished. However the job market was very tight at the time and he doesn't have specific training or skills, so it made more sense for our family for him to stay with the baby. Now we have 2 DS and he can't imagine doing anything else.

My DH is also a SAHD. We had planned this for a while, if it were to be financially feasible, which it is. He quit his job about a month before my due date, because he would have had to travel out of town close to my due date. One year later it is working for our family.