My career as a stay-at-home mom

In August, 2016 I gave birth to my first baby and submitted my letter of resignation after almost 10 years working for a global non-profit organization. My professional title went from “Senior Director, Strategic Partnerships” to “Stay-at-Home Mom” (SAHM) and I never looked back.

While it was an easy decision for me, personally, I was still haunted by many wonders. Would I become irrelevant within my industry? Would my fellow coworkers lose respect for me as a professional? Would any company ever hire me when I decide to reenter the workforce? My parents made sure I had a good education and I worked hard to gain the respect and trust of those within my industry. By choosing to stay at home full time with children, have I just thrown that all away?

While those concerns were present in my mind, I knew in my heart that I was making the right decision for my family. I had a new career! Vice President of Marion Household, LLC. I reported to the President of the company, Mr. Michael Robert Marion and he was 8lbs, 4oz of no nonsense deliciousness. Like my previous supervisors, he also had high expectations of me, challenged me on a daily basis and rewarded me when I succeeded. The difference was the rewards came in the form of sweet baby smiles instead of money.

I had to take a good, hard look at my resume and make a few updates in some areas…

Professionalism
Years ago, I was shopping at White House Black Market for the perfect outfit to wear at that very important meeting or big conference. All of a sudden, I was combing through the racks at Kohl’s for key pieces to fit my new mom uniform – comfortable yoga pants to fit over my forever widened hips and easy access shirts for pumping and breastfeeding that also double as a spit up rag.

Organizational Skills
I’m a big fan of a to-do list. My to-dos used to include “schedule strategic planning meeting,” “QA new website,” “build out project timeline”. This list changed to look more like “shower,” “eat,” “fold laundry,” “vacuum,” “prep dinner,” “wash bottles,” “schedule doctor appointments” and “raise smart, well-adjusted, kind young men”. Sounds easy, right? Between feedings, pumping sessions, diaper changes and playtime it’s not always easy to cross things off the list. Every task is a race against the clock during nap times, which are always an undetermined length of time. At any minute the boss might turn his “do not disturb” button off and call me into his office.

Creativity
It’s always important to think of ways to keep the boss happy. Part of my SAHM job description required entertaining and stimulating my new chubby superior at any given moment – and no overtime for evenings and weekends! What gives? I became a court jester making a mockery of myself while his highness sat in his throne (ahem…high chair) laughing at me. “Dance for me, you fool!!” he says. “Okay, I’m bored now. Feed me!”

Project Management
At my “real job”, I planned for the execution and implementation of big projects with executive management, marketing and IT. All of a sudden, figuring out the nuances of infant sleep became my project.

The four-month sleep regression hit us hard and I was still struggling with breastfeeding, and it all nearly broke me. I met with lactation counselors and sleep specialists and worked late after the boss had gone to bed researching age appropriate wake windows, sleep regressions, how to lengthen naps, when to drop night feeds and so on. I became obsessed with his sleep tracking every waking and sleeping moment. When he did sleep well, I wracked my brain thinking of what I did differently to make that happen. Was it because I sang “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” instead of “Rock-a-bye Baby”? That had to be it!

Well, all those late nights of research finally paid off. Five years after leaving the corporate world and three bouncing baby boys later, I stepped into another new career. This time it was a passion…my purpose. During the pandemic, I continued my education and became a certified pediatric sleep consultant, certified lactation counselor and birthed my other baby, REMedy Pediatric Sleep Coaching.

I truly believe there is a gap in postpartum education and while new parents may receive education around safe sleep, we are often left to our own devices – and the internet – to find best practices to get our babies sleeping well and sleeping enough. This overwhelm that comes from trying to figure it all out on our own, plus lack of sleep only increases the chances of susceptibility to postpartum depression and anxiety, in addition to the likelihood of resorting to unsafe sleep practices.

My mission is to help parents of infants, toddlers and preschoolers feel empowered, confident and encouraged through the implementation of sleep improvement strategies in a breast/chest feeding friendly way while providing the support and encouragement every parent deserves.

This parenting thing is not for the faint of heart and we all deserve a little relief every once in a while. Relief from the stress and worry. Relief from the sleep deprivation. Relief from the guilt. We have to remember that it takes a village. Only, nowadays, we have to go out and find the village that’s going to help support us throughout this journey. Always know that it’s okay to ask for help and accept it when offered.

Because, you deserve it.