Back to work after 2 weeks, looking for advice before I make the transition!

[Lashlock]

Hello ladies, I am currently 38 weeks and baby could be here today or 3 weeks from now. 

I will be returning part time to work after about 2 weeks. It's really fairly non-negotiable financially for us and also for my job. I'm self employed as a therapist, so any time past that point means I start to lose my clients and essentially my income. 

I can however set my own schedule and hours. I can make it somewhat flexible. I can see a client for an hour session at say 1pm, then not see anyone until 3 hours later at 4pm so I can attempt to not go longer than an hour at a time away from my little girl. Husband, MIL and other family are all on board with helping me nurse right before the session and then bringing her to me after that hour session is done so we can nurse if I can't go all the way home in between. 

So I have a fairly OK setup, but I also know that I'm attempting to still go back to work at a very rough point and typical growth spurt. Is this something that I'll just have to power through and just "make it work at all costs" since we are all very dedicated to nursing? I don't want to pump and introduce bottles until at least 6 weeks, so these 4 weeks will be interesting. 

Any tips at all for making a situation like this work that I haven't been able to plan for at this point that I might need to be aware of or that could help? The problem is really that constant nursing that can happen at the beginning in those first 6 weeks and I have no idea how to plan for that or make it work

[phathui5]

It sounds like you have a great setup for nursing successfully, despite having to go back to work quickly after baby is born. The harder thing might be just going back to work that quickly postpartum, rather than juggling the nursing. I think the nursing will work out well.

[spughy]

Yes that's pretty much an ideal setup if you MUST go back to work.  I would make sure that the people who are looking after your baby are committed to babywearing - I'd recommend a stretchy wrap-type carrier (and start them practicing NOW - there is a learning curve for getting those things on right!). Babies who are worn by someone other than mom tend to pass out and have good long sleeps until mom reappears - they are less complacent about being stuck in a bassinette or bouncy seat and don't get a solid sleep in and can fuss - you don't want that, you want the baby awake when he/she's with YOU, not finally feeling comfortable and passing out as soon as the boobie appears.  The other thing to keep in mind is that babies can take a long time to complete a nursing session at first and to speed things along, make sure that the baby is awake and alert.  Nurse in a cooler area, change the diaper beforehand, take off as much of the baby's clothes as possible and keep a cool washcloth on hand to put at the back of the baby's neck if he/she starts to drop off.  That will probably help avoid "constant nursing" which is really more constant NAPPING with occasional nursing breaks . 

[MichelleZB]

Yes, if you can schedule your clients so you can nurse before and after your hour-long sessions, you should be ok! My 2-week old could wait an hour (barely, ha!).

I am a classical musician and brought my infant backstage with me and would nurse him before a show, at intermission, and right after. So I have some advice: stop nursing a few minutes before your client is due, and then leave the baby and go into your therapy room and have five minutes of regrouping time, if you can manage that. I remember when intermission was 20 minutes, so I'd go nurse the baby, then they would give us a 2 minute call, and I'd be scrambling back on stage and had trouble adjusting my brain to "professional" mode that quickly. So I started leaving at the 5 minute call so I could better adjust.