Thoughts On Maternity Leave

Hi, friends!  So sorry this post is a bit late this morning.  The last couple of weeks I’ve been dealing with stabbing SI joint pain that has slowed me down in terms of cranking out recipes.  Everything seems to take a lot longer than I plan for it too which leaves me with less time than I think for all my computer work.  Plus, last night we got home super late from the hospital tour, so yeah, just moving slower over here these days!

I originally had planned to share my maternity leave plans in a couple of weeks, when we are closer to the baby’s due date.  But, the truth is I think I need to write it out for my benefit.  In my head, I swim around ideas of what I can handle and what is okay to let go.  Knowing that I tend to bite off more than I can chew, I’m hoping writing it all out will help me be realistic.

So here it goes! Heads up this post is WORDY with not a lot of pictures, read what interests you!

Blog Posts

A few months ago I reached out to a group of awesome bloggers in the Mediavine Ad Network about maternity leave.  I got all sorts of great feedback about what other bloggers had done in the past too create their own “maternity leave.”  The only issue is, the advice ranged from not posting at all for three months to prewriting every single post for three months.  So what did I decide?

• The first 2-3 weeks I plan to share the birth story and a weekly postpartum update. I recently started following Jen’s blog, and I enjoyed her postpartum updates from Mom’s perspective.   I found those posts super helpful and interesting, so I will likely do something of a similar style.
• The following 3-4 weeks I’ll start adding back in pre-written posts in addition to the weekly postpartum updates.  I currently have all of October and some of November’s recipes done.  I’d like to get through December, but we will see, that depends on if my SI joint will cooperate.  As of right now, I’ll probably have to decrease recipes to 1x per week in September.
• By Thanksgiving, I’d like to add in some real time blogging such as anniversary recaps, Thanksgiving recaps, etc. again in addition to postpartum updates aka the fourth trimester.
• By December, I’d like to be back to 4-5 posts per week, but again if that doesn’t happen, I’m not going to beat myself up about it.  It will very much depend on how far ahead I get into December for prewriting posts as well.  My set goal is to be back to 5 posts a week by the New Year.
• Lastly, I’ve got a couple of RD friends, personal trainers, and Megan who will be guest posting.  These friends of mine have AWESOME content to share with you guys, so definitely don’t skip those posts!  I haven’t quite decided how I’m going to wrap those posts in yet, but likely they will be utilized in November/December.

As I mentioned in my recent post, Why I Blog, my intention for Hungry Hobby is for it to be a lifestyle blog.   As an RD I walk the balance of being a professional “with all the knowledge and answers” but also in connecting with you guys by sharing my real life struggles.  I plan to be frank and upfront with things like my nutrition, breastfeeding, exercise, and weight loss in the postpartum period.  I think the weekly updates will give me time to do that, along with a few fun updates about random things.  I’ll also stay updated on IG stories where it’s really easy to connect with all of you!

Social Media

I’ll be 100% honest. I’m not planning to put a ton of effort into social media until January.  I will be most active on Instagram Stories, and I’ll do my best to respond to comments/direct messages (especially if I’m asking for suggestions/help ha ha). However, I’m not going to put too much effort into the other platforms.  I don’t use twitter a lot anyway, and no one sees posts on Facebook hardly, so those platforms are not going to be a great way to stay connected to me during maternity leave.  If you follow me on Pinterest, you can still expect to see lots of pins going through thanks to tailwind I can preschedule most of that.  So if you follow me over there for inspiration, you shouldn’t see too much of a break in that.

I am NOT prewriting social shares for the blog posts I have prewritten.  Which means that if you usually come to the blog via social media updates, you might want to bookmark or sign up for the email list.  I’m not sure how on top of it I will be able to be with social shares for new posts.  

Email List

If you get daily updates, nothing will change.

If you get weekly updates, I, unfortunately, have been handcrafting those updates which I won’t have time to do anymore.  I’m going to automate the weekly updates but not sure which style you guys would prefer.  Watch out for a quick 2-minute survey asking you what style you would prefer!  The switch will likely happen sooner than later for these!

Nutrition Coaching Clients

I’m planning to work with my current clients up through the birth.  I’ll stop taking new clients on October 1st.  There is currently a message on my nutrition coaching page stating that I will be on tentative maternity leave through December.  We will have to have child care established before I can start working with my clients again, or I can meet with them in the evening when Mr. Hungry is off work and can be on baby duty.  More on child care later, but we are likely going to have a nanny/helper a couple days a week starting around the 12 ish week mark.

Food Sensitivity Clients

I will stop taking new clients for food sensitivity testing now.  I have one new client I will likely let do the test, and then that will be it for the year.  Although I’ll take consults up through the birth, I won’t be ordering any new test packages until January.  The program requires an intense amount of dedication to my clients for 3-6 months which I need to be able to give my full attention to.

What To Eat? Meal Plans

I am pre-writing all my blog posts for WTE? Meal Plans for now – December.   Hungry Hobby subscribers will continue to receive their meal plans as they usually do with no break.  I’m responsible for creating the meal plans for this month and next plan, Megan, my business partner, will create for October and November.  So that works out.  Megan has kindly offered to load my subscriber’s meal plans until I get my feet under me.  For custom meal plans, I’m not sure what I’ll do, likely redirect my links to our general site and have Megan service those until December/January.  For meal plans, I coach my clients via WhatsApp so I don’t necessarily HAVE TO HAVE child care to be able to work with those clients.  So there will be more flexibility there if I have a client that really wants to work with me.

Teaching

I’m surprised and thrilled to say that I will be teaching this fall until Hungry Baby makes his entrance into the world.  After teaching the lab for three years, I’ll be covering a lecture for a 100 level nutrition class.  I’ll be there for the first half of the semester and another RD will take over for the back half of the semester.  I love teaching and I’m so happy I get to do it for a little while this Fall.  Then, I’ll be back to teaching whatever classes are offered to me in the Spring.

Random: Freelance, Sponsored Posts, & Media

My freelance writing assignments, such as the Just A Pinch Blog will be prewritten through December.  I will take sponsored posts & media assignments on a case by case basis.  I’m always pretty selective about sponsored posts, but I will be even more selective.  In addition to the opportunities being a good fit for HH, it will also have to have an appropriate deadline and reasonable flexibility from the brand.

That’s a wrap!  That is what I have planned and if I have to have an emergency c-section or some other emergency occurs it will all get blown to pieces because that’s life.  I’m going to have to LEARN to be more flexible as a Mom, I already know that.  For those of you who work from home, I’d love to hear what your work at home tips are!