Nausea, headaches, and fatigue plus an entire workday dealing with moody teenagers. That’s the day-to-day reality for many of the teachers and counselors who are/have been pregnant while balancing their professional and personal life.

“It’s definitely a balance. Time management has been crucial in making sure I have time in my day to dedicate to my family as well as get my work done. I feel with my second pregnancy I’ve gotten much better at it because I know what to expect,” Natasha Rosenak, counselor and mother of two, said.

“Both trimesters of my first pregnancy was very rough for me because I was very nauseous. The people that I work with are so amazing and they were very helpful yeah I couldn’t say anything better about this place,” Rosenak said.

Meghan Wood, counselor and mother of one, found herself using her time management skills in dedicating time into her schedule for herself while working when she was pregnant.

“It was difficult because pregnancy takes such a toll on your body in terms of your energy level and I was exhausted. I found myself napping more after school, needing more sleep at night, making sure I was drinking enough water during the day, and making sure I was taking time out of my day to set aside for lunch. I had to take more time for myself so I could better perform at work. It’s a difficult thing trying to find that balance and managing all the changes that are going on in my body while maintaining professionalism,” Wood said.

The effects of managing pregnancy symptoms affected Wood’s professional life by forcing her to make more time to focus on the details of everything she was doing

“Looking back, pregnancy affected my ability to pay attention to detail. I don’t think that my work suffered by any means, but you don’t realize all the changes that are going on with your body that do affect your cognitive understanding and stuff, so now, looking back, I realize it was interesting is some of the ways I reacted. I do think I was able to complete the same workload, but I was taking more work home with me at night and I was reading emails more than I regularly would have, proofreading and looking back on my work and doing a lot of double checking,” Wood said.

Wood has found that her career with kids has affected the ways in which she wants to parent her son.

“I want my child to understand that it’s OK not to like everything and it’s OK not always want to go to school, but you’re going. This is your job and it shows them the importance education. I want my son to prioritize his education, I want him to go to school but not just to go through the motions, instead find his niche. I think that working with parents, I’ve seen a lot of different parenting styles and I think I’m going to apply a lot of different parenting styles when I am raising my child. I think tough love is sometimes good yet unconditional love is of course important, supporting your child no matter what, no matter what they decide, how they identify, in all the decisions they make, but also the importance of consequences in life and being held accountable and being just a person can function in the real world,” Wood said.

Although working in a school has taught them methods in which to parent, returning to their job proved difficult for the new mothers. Yet for Rosenak, returning to her job allowed her to follow her passion.

“It’s always very very hard being away from your baby, and this time was more difficult than the first time around, but I am not a homebody and being at home for three months is very difficult for me just because I want to get out and do something and have something in my life other than the baby, so I was kind of excited to come back to work because I was able to get back into my routine. I have the piece of me that is not just my baby but also my work that I’m very passionate about,” Rosenak said.