Parenting Australia

Getting The Timing Right

As a business owner I didn’t take maternity leave.

I don’t mean I couldn’t afford it, or it wasn’t available to me, but I had responsibilities to clients that I had built relationships with over months or years. That, and the fact I love what I do.

When Noah was born I had taken a job as an Area Manager for the 2006 Census. The job started the day after I left hospital with my newborn. Of course I didn’t plan it that way – I expected to be at home for one or two weeks before I needed to start training and employing my staff. But Noah was 11 days late. Babies never go to plan.

It is almost exactly a year since Ethan was born (his first birthday is on Wednesday). Harvey took three weeks off work and I planned to work lightly in that time. I had a few things that had to be done and I did those projects while Ethan slept and Harvey was on hand to help out. When he was a week old I was in hospital with retained placenta and told to rest. Not easy for me, as I’m not good at just laying on the lounge, or napping when the baby sleeps, so I found that enforced rest tough. My brain didn’t rest. But I did it and was ready to jump into work when I was better.

Working around a toddler and a newborn proved to be an excellent test of my time management skills. I’d breastfed the baby, organised breakfast for the toddler and myself, dressed all three of us, packed lunch for Noah (if needed), packed Noah’s bag for day care or my parents and then jumped in the car to deliver Noah to where he was going for the day (on the three days he spent away). All this before 8am – and all this before my professional work had even started.

I tried to work only on the days Noah was either at day care or with my dad, which was three days a week. Returning to work after having my second baby meant getting used to working while Ethan slept, in between breastfeeds and tending to his other needs. I deliberately cut my workload to half to ensure I could meet my client’s needs and my baby’s needs to the best of my ability for both parties.

Like any mum returning to work I had good days and bad days. Sometimes one of the children was unwell and so work waited while I did the most important job. On Tuesdays Ethan refused to sleep, for some bizarre reason. Those of you who followed me on Twitter/Facebook at the time will remember my increasingly desperate updates as I got further behind – until I decided any work completed on Tuesdays was an achievement; no work was the benchmark. Sometimes Harvey was late home from his job in Sydney, and that threw everything out because Ethan refused to sleep until he heard his dad’s voice and had a cuddle.

I smile about these things now, but this is a year down the track. In that year I have successfully breastfed my youngest son to eight months, as well as build my business to the point that it supports our family. Harvey is now the full-time carer for our sons and I work full-time. Returning to work has been a round trip for me.

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Johanna Baker-Dowdell is mum to two boys – Noah and Ethan – and combines looking after them with her work as a blogger, journalist, writer and public relations consultant. She owns and manages Strawberry Communications which started small in the third bedroom, but has grown into its own office space (in the converted garage).

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