Does anyone WAH with little ones?

Hi, Margaret!

You're right about the kids -- my boys are out of the house by 7am and then not home again until about 3pm... so they're not going to be a big help except on school vacations. My one saving grace may be Libby -- she's taking the year off from college right now because of the move (out-of-state tuition would have put too big a dent in her college fund), but she thinks that once she starts in the fall, we might be able to create her schedule to where she'd be home more in the day, maybe even get some weekend classes. She'll almost have to redo her first year at community college due to differences in classes here, so we've realistically have her for 2 more years, more if I can get her to live at home once she transfers to a 4-year...

Ah, unfortunately hubby won't be a big help. He works up to 18 hours a day some days, and he takes so little vacation that he's not even accruing it anymore (I think they top out at 6 weeks, so that tells you something right there).

As far as the work reputation thing, I'm not worried about that at all. I worked in the office for 1.5 years before moving here, and everyone knows that I'm a very hard worker already -- even while in the office I'd work late or come in on the weekend in order to get projects out on time, and so far since I've been working from home, I have about 60 hours OT (we don't do OT, but it's comp time that we accrue for forever and use as we need -- I'll be using it to help with maternity leave). I have a very strong work ethic and they know that, so I'm in good shape there. Honestly, I think I put in more hours now that I'm home because it's too easy to get an email on my phone and then login and knock something out. And I don't claim OT unless it's something of an urgent nature. If I'm working after hours simply because I want to, then I don't charge the company for it.

I'm going to see if I can find some SAHMs that might be able to assist once in a while -- that's a great idea. It's so hard because we know no one -- that's the downside of working from home. Even hubby's co-workers who might know people are all in Houston -- we're in Katy, just outside and I'll want someone nearby. I do know a couple working moms through the boys, so need to speak to them and see if they know anyone.

Thankfully, I won't need help until probably 2013, so nothing is dire at this point. :)

My mother had thyroid issues, and I've actually been reading up on it lately... I have my 3rd ultrasound on Thursday so will bring it up to my OB. I am more exhausted this time than I've ever been while pregnant, but I don't know if some of that is just my age and my body having a more challenging time adjusting to the baby. We're close to the 2nd trimester and I sure hope I get some energy back. This is ridiculous (I went to be at 6pm yesterday because I could not keep my eyes open).

Thanks so much for your input. I do appreciate it!

Brie