Hi everyone! You all are such great listeners I couldn't think of a better place to come ask friends how they feel.

Here is my situation. My current job is Mon-Thurs, 10 hour days, pays well and is very stable. My second job is pretty much whenever I get time and pays less but right now is just extra, and it is not exactly as stable. My boss works from his home and is not an Incorporated company. I am technically a contractor for him using my own small business, not an employee and he doesn't take taxes out. In reality it could fail at any time and I'd be out of that job.

The issue I'm having is what to do when my baby arrives. I spoke with my at-home boss and he said that he would offer me work full-time from my home in order to stay with my baby. If I leave my job at the plant, technically I would only be bringing home about $350 a month less (because he doesn't take out taxes.. but I'd pay them at the end of the year so really we're losing that money).. I'm just not sure what to do. It would be a huge risk giving up my good job, but at the same time I would love staying home with my baby. Plus.. I'm not sure if I'll even be able to handle this job being pregnant. I work in a warehouse, no air conditioning and I do pretty physical work. I've been fine up until this point but the heat is starting to get to me (Southern Louisiana is not a fun place to be in the summer) and I'm worried when I start getting bigger and it gets hotter.. well I may have no choice but to quit anyway unless they can find me some office work to do.

I guess my question is.. would you risk giving up a job with great pay and stability (but I don't really like it all that much).. to work from home (doing what I went to school for & really enjoy) but there is a slight chance it won't work out in the long run? And.. how important do you all think it is to stay at home and raise your own baby?

Thoughts/advice?
Thanks everyone so much for being so wonderful. I love my TAFFY! friends!

Well Tink, I think that I would wait till the baby is born. You will be home for at least 6 weeks. That would be a great time to see how the at home business would be to work at full time.

I do think that it is important to be with your children, but that is not always possible. The best time to instill your values and morals is when they are young, before they get into school with other kids.

Taxes are an issue, working for yourself you should put away 1/4 to 1/3 of your paycheck for taxes, at least that is what my accountant told me. But you can use your "office" at home for an exemption. Perhaps you should talk to an accountant to get a better idea on that subject.

By the way, how are you and the baby doing?

I am disabled so didnt have this to go through as I do the survey thing as my job.....
I would hang on to both jobs until you know how you feel after maternity leave is expired as pregnancy is different for everyone as is delivery. Some talk longer to get into the swing of thing and some are back to normal very quickly.
Don't stress about it now, wait until after the baby is born and then start to think about what you want to do.
You don't need any added stress right now so avoid it! After the baby is born will be a much better time to decide which direction you want to take

As far as taxes go, I know we will have enough deductions to cover it. With the new house and baby this year, we may just not get as much back as we would normally. I also have my home business where I can use certain things as deductions, as you said my home office as well as supplies, etc. I do plan on saving for that purpose though.

Thanks for your opinions Carol! We are doing just fine! I am feeling great now that I'm entering my second trimester. I only had slight nausea in the mornings but other than that things have been perfect. I heard the heart beat for the first time two weeks ago. It was wonderful. I will be sure to post pictures of my next ultrasound!

Hi Tink! I am so excited for you. I would offer too for you to talk to your doctor and ask them about how safe it is to continue to work at the plant with the heat and all the hours. They might want you on light duty till after the baby is born. Maybe the plant can work with you on that too. Your dr can best advice you with working, on your feet alot more and the heat. Another thing is if the home job fell though would your husbands pay be enough to take care of all the needs and a baby adds about 100.00 a month or more in needs. Also like Carol said you have the 6 weeks to try and see how it works and if you gave notice at the plant and need be see if you could come back. I have for the most part been a stay at home mom since my boys were born. I wouldn't change it but I would of liked to work too. Todays prices and times most couples both do have to work to make ends meet but what they pay out in sitters and daycare its not really worth it.

Thanks everyone for your opinions. I do think I will talk to my doctor about it and see if it is safe for me to continue what I am doing. I am not sure the plant will work with me because as my boss said, 'there is no light duty'.. so I don't know what they would do about it. I'll stick it out as long as I can and see where it goes from there! Thanks again.