hi all,

i' m fine & in my 29th week.
these days i' m thinking quite a lot on ' shud i continue my job after my first baby enters dis world?'
actually i think i wud not b able 2 do justice 2 my child if i remain in job.
i' m a chartered accountant wid 4 yrs job experience, working as a deputy manager & earning a handsome salary.
i sometimes think dat i shud take a break for 1 or 2 yrs. & then rejoin but again i' m under d dilemma wheteher i wud get a good offer after such a break.
i think i can' t remain away from worklife for long. also, these days expenses r so high dat i wud like 2 share d burden wid my hubby & not overburden him wid d fear dat he cud not balance b/w family & office.
wat all of u think???
is it right 2 hv a break from carreer?
or is it right 2 leave my kid in hands of others, wen d only food he needs is his mother' s love & affection.
shud i b career minded at this point of time?
will i b able 2 hv a balance b/w my office & family?

plz. help & advice.
thanks
Maanya pramitha replied. Hi Maanya,
That is exactly what even am thinking if it wud be fair to leave my kid n go to work after 6 months or so.
My husband and in-laws have asked me to continue my job. But am still thinking.

May be if i get somebody very nice to take good care of my baby i will continue working. Since am in the designing field i can do freelancing from home. Will buy a pc and work from home.

Wat do u think?? I haven' t yet started looking for anybody will do that once my baby comes into this world. ramya replied. Hi Manya

I am also in the same boat as you are...
I am working outside India, so it will be difficult for my parents or in-laws to come and take care of my baby.
So what I thought is, I will take 4 or 5 months leave (in that 3 months are maternity leave).
I will see how I can manage the baby, then I will engage a servant to take care of the baby.
My house is near to the office, so I can come in the lunch time, feed the baby and go back to office...
If i am unable to manage after my 5 months leave, then I will think of extending the leave by 1 or 2 months more.
But I am for sure decided that I will not quit the job.
Because, it is true that babies need our love and care, but after 2 or 3 years when babies start going to kindergarten,
we will feel lonely at home and we may start feeling guilty that we left our career for the baby..
And in some cases, it may happen that when the first baby goes to kindergarten, we may plan for second baby..and so
we take a break of total 5 or 6 years.
Doing job after such a long break is very very difficult.

I know many of my friends, who are working and still taking good care of the baby.

My only suggestion to you is, take house near to the office (it may be expensive, but as you are getting good salary, I think
you can afford it).
You can ask your mother/MIL to take care of the baby..if that is not possible, then you can engage a servant and you can
come during lunch time and look after the baby.

hope this helps
ramya Rose replied. Hi,

That was a very good query. Every working woman would go through this thinking phase. It is a tuff decision to make especially when we have seen comfort and value of money.

I' d probably say take ur maternity leave and bond with your child first. If you have someone to take care of the baby, then that’s even more useful. But this confusion will always persists, if you are planning to take a break for 2 years. Later on when you leave your kid in preschool, you will feel the same way and also in future if you are thinking of another kid?? I guess we have lots of factors to be involved.

MY mom and mother in-law were all working women and they managed to bring up kids in a good way. So depends on the individual. In previous generations we h ad our grandparents to take care of the kids, this generation we have day cares as option.

It is a tuff phase but if we get through this in 4 -5 years… we are all set for kids bright future..
Somya replied. Hi Manya,
I am also working and drawing handsome amount. I too get confused sometimes.. but I know if I continue my job, I can give my child a better future. I also think the same that If I discontinue my job for 1-2 years, may be I wont get the good offer as now..... so I am feeling to continue my job... My home is very near to office so I may go to home during lunch time also.
I will request my MIL to stay with me until atleast for 6 months.... else I have to find other alternatives. I am not thinking very seriously these days... will think more about it when baby will arrive

Take care

Somya