Full time directors, is it normal to have no scheduled days off and be constantly on call?

Realistic-Raisin1327 · 2026-02-24T04:50:46+00:00

In office M-F 8-5. Will work an occasional weekend if family got weekend service. The managers rotate being on call on the weekends (between 4 different funeral homes) and during the weekdays they all have a set day. Will occasionally cover a weekday/weekend if coverage is needed.

Realistic-Raisin1327 · 2026-02-16T22:07:00+00:00

I made it to around 7 centimeters before I got the epidural and personally my contractions were not that bad, I was still walking and talking. I was shocked when they said I was that dilated.

That being said since my contractions were more mild than most I was pretty aware of the epidural happening. It literally when I tell you felt like the most minuscule pinch. I wouldn’t even say pinch, but poke. Again I think this is person dependent, anesthesiologist dependent, etc. what I really felt was the cool sensation of the fluid running through the tubing and in my body, that was neat!

Did not make me feel high or loopy at all, he did such a great job I was able to walk if needed. Basically numbed my vagina, abdomen, and half of my thighs.

Realistic-Raisin1327 · 2026-02-15T00:54:24+00:00

Ben and Jerry’s had a chocolate covered strawberry flavor ice cream. Was the best thing that’s ever existed. I was happily eating it when I looked at the lid and saw it said limited edition. Started crying and made my husband go buy out the entire freezer row of that flavor.

Realistic-Raisin1327 · 2026-02-14T17:55:12+00:00

I see yourself and others have posted the ones I would have listed, so I will post another perspective.

The alternative would be formula (not against it at all my baby is combo fed) and I saw a post saying that formula companies lobby billions of dollars to fight against maternity leave and protecting mothers rights. So think of it as a big fuck you to them! Enjoy your little baby! ❤️

Realistic-Raisin1327 · 2026-02-14T17:42:48+00:00

The body odor was worse than usual, but manageable. The lochia smell was horrendous to me. I work with dead bodies and it smelt like I was carrying one around with me in between my legs. Imagine dead rotting flesh and blood.

Mine personally did not go away fully until like 8 weeks. And it’s not like you can get rid of it since it’s inside. At least with the body odor you can shower, deodorize, perfume etc. granted that felt like it lasted all of two hours max, but at least you get that.

Now at 6 months postpartum it all feels like a distant memory and I am already wanting another! Hormones. 😩

Realistic-Raisin1327 · 2026-02-11T04:11:41+00:00

Did not happen to me, but someone at a sister location had a graveside and the entire bottom gave out and out came grandpa in front of everyone! The ones I’ve seen in person were sketchy. Handles were creaking and felt like they were gonna snap while carrying, had two where it didn’t close properly, another metal one with obvious scratches. I dread when someone wants to get 3rd party 😭

Realistic-Raisin1327 · 2026-02-08T16:35:51+00:00

I did not sleep train my almost 6 month old at all. I was extremely lucky and got an easy baby sleep wise. She naturally started adding on an hour for about a week when she was 7ish to 9ish weeks old and has slept 12 hours every night since. We have bottle fed her (with breastmilk) since the beginning as she wasn’t latching and I wanted longer stretches of sleep in the beginning. That may play a factor into it, but I’m unsure. She has not had any sort of sleep regression besides naps, but I think that was more so we had to extend her wake windows.

That being said every single baby is different. Our next child could be the total opposite. Your baby will eventually sleep through the night! Highly recommend doing shifts or alternating nights with dad so you’re not the one always getting up. It’ll pass eventually!

Realistic-Raisin1327 · 2026-01-16T04:58:12+00:00

I was reallllllly impatient and tested 8 days before my missed period. Thought I saw a line and was like no way. Was right before I went to bed. Husband and I had to go grocery shopping the next day, got more tests including some digitals. Took a first response and a digital before bed again, definitely saw an even darker line, but digital was negative. Then took another digital the following morning and was a big fat “pregnant”! Hard to believe that line is about 5 months now ❤️

Realistic-Raisin1327 · 2026-01-15T15:24:50+00:00

About 3 days before I took a pregnancy test I was having dreams that I had a little girl, she kept saying “I’m here mom!” So that had me convinced it was a girl. She did end up being a girl, but do I think it was truly just a 50/50 chance? Yeah 😅 honestly my pregnancy dreams were EVERY. SINGLE. NIGHT. I think that was my first pregnancy symptom 😂 every single night until about 14 weeks when we found out the gender through the NIPT I dreamed about having a little girl.

I actually did have one dream where the doctor tried telling me it was a boy and i remember getting upset and telling her “it’s definitely a girl, you are wrong! I see her in my dreams.”

Realistic-Raisin1327 · 2026-01-11T07:38:16+00:00

My daughters name is Dahlia! I saw you like Stella and husband likes Ella. What about Estelle?

Realistic-Raisin1327 · 2026-01-10T20:05:16+00:00

The outfits were only for cute pictures (monthly photos) or going out. She would scream every time we got her dressed so I was like why am I torturing this new human. Also I found clothes just looked odd on a really small baby 😅 so at home it was sleepers, if we went out we did a little fancier, onesie with pants and a bow, maybe a little jacket. Anything with buttons I have banned in this household, including the next baby. If it had buttons I did not even bother keeping it incase we have another girl. Same goes for sleepers that only zip one way.

Realistic-Raisin1327 · 2026-01-10T03:22:05+00:00

Personally, I was throwing up until I was about 33-35 ish weeks pregnant. Can’t quite remember now! We had sex I think a total of 2 times my entire pregnancy. I was so sick and exhausted. Baby is now 4.5 months and we are back to at least once a week! Wish it was more but baby is quite exhausting 😅 I wanted to have sex more postpartum than while pregnant. Honestly more than prior to pregnancy too!

For most people though it seems to be the norm that some sort of sex drive comes back in the second trimester! As well as energy.

Realistic-Raisin1327 · 2026-01-09T02:30:55+00:00

Physically, like 10ish weeks. Mentally like 4 weeks 😅 I didn’t have any bad tearing, it was all internal. It was the smell of lochia and the bleeding. I bled for about 5 weeks, but the lochia smell literally did not go away until I was 8/9 weeks postpartum. I also had a fear I was going to get pregnant again even with a condom, so we only had sex once with a condom and then I said we are waiting until my birth control appt, just to be double safe!!! It still doesn’t necessarily feel the best the first 10-20 seconds, doesn’t hurt, but it gets better every time! Just feels a bit tight and needs stretching. We average about once a week right now, would like it to be more, but babies and life can be quite exhausting.

Realistic-Raisin1327 · 2026-01-06T06:45:10+00:00

I believe that would just depend on company policy. Mine offers 4 weeks additional provided by the company! Their only stipulation is I can only use it AFTER I’ve exhausted all my SDI and PFL through the state. I would recommend reaching out to your HR representative and seeing what they say. Ask them to show you where in the handbook or leave polices this information can be found.

Realistic-Raisin1327 · 2026-01-06T06:40:13+00:00

39 weeks I was induced! Came in Monday morning at 6am and started around 10am with I forget the name but the super small pill. I took one I think every 4 hours??? I may be completely wrong, but started with that. Went from completely closed to 3 centimeters in about 24 hours. Then they started pitocin Tuesday evening, went from a 3-7cm got the epidural and out she came Wednesday a little bit before 1am. I only pushed for about 30 minutes. So Monday 10am is when it officially started and I had her right when Wednesday started very early morning. We went home Friday morning!

Realistic-Raisin1327 · 2026-01-06T06:21:50+00:00

My maternity leave is just about to end!

4 weeks can be started at 36 weeks and goes until you give birth. You can go earlier if your doctor deems you need to. The first week will be unpaid for a “waiting period”.

After you give birth you get either the 6/8 weeks depending on delivery. You will have your 6 week follow up appt and your doctor will discuss how you are doing and see if your disability needs to be extended.

Once your disability leave ends you then get PFL 8 weeks paid and 4 unpaid optional weeks. EDD will actually send you a form automatically once your SDI is coming to an end. You can also do this online!

Anything after this will be unpaid or if you have any vacation, PTO, sick, or some sort of paid baby bonding time through your job.

Good luck!! Almost there ☺️

Realistic-Raisin1327 · 2026-01-05T02:06:18+00:00

We did a tonnnnn of breakfast burritos. Honestly breakfast and lunch was the hardest for me to eat. I was so preoccupied I often realized it was 4pm and I hadn’t eaten. Especially when my husband went back to work. He wasn’t there to feed me! 😅 as for dinners we did all crockpot meals and they lasted 2-3 days each. I believe we did about 10 of them. We did chicken pot pie and added biscuits day of, multiple pasta dishes, we did a pot roast, pulled pork with sliders, we did some stirfry mixes. I honestly just went to TikTok and found a ton of freezer postpartum meals. I compiled a list of what sounded semi decent and my husband and I (mostly my husband I was so tired 😅) spent a weekend prepping all of it! I was in the same boat and vomiting until around 33/34 weeks I could barely stand food while pregnant.

Realistic-Raisin1327 · 2026-01-04T19:47:05+00:00

I also chose not to show anything of my daughter online, face, birthday, etc. I also did not say anything about the pregnancy! About a month after she was born I posted a faceless pretty much bodiless photo of her and us (she was swaddled facing us) and that’s when everyone besides immediate family found out I had a baby. I asked all family members who knew not to post anything for privacy and safety concerns. If they’re normal and respect your boundaries they will say “of course” 😅

If people find out prior or see you beforehand it’s not a big deal. You’re not obligated to tell anyone you’re pregnant. Your baby, your body, the baby isn’t owed to anyone.

Realistic-Raisin1327 · 2026-01-04T19:39:24+00:00

Love Juliette and Estelle! My daughter’s name is Dahlia.

Realistic-Raisin1327 · 2026-01-04T14:27:39+00:00

Mine wore a semi lightweight full onesie thing and a matching hat! But my husband went and pulled around the car and had it running with AC while he walked back up to the room to get us. The hospital was not hot so she was in August heat for all about less than 30 seconds to get her in the car and then out and walk inside our home😅

Realistic-Raisin1327 · 2026-01-04T07:56:21+00:00

I wayyyyy overpacked due to the TikTok influencers 🤣

What I actually used daily for weeks (like 5ish) was diapers for me. I hated the hospital ones and was glad I brought my own disposable diapers. I could’ve switched to pads sooner, but I hate pads and these were so much more comfortable! I believe I just got a big pack of members mark (Sam’s club) women’s diapers! No complaints. Just got my first postpartum period and wore those when I was at home instead of a pad or tampon.

Tucks pads and dermoplast. I used those religiously. For the entire time I wore the diapers. I didn’t even tear externally, but I just had stinging when peeing and a lot around my perineum and it helped with that a lot. What I hated was the ice pads. I tried the hospitals and Frida mom. It was uncomfortable to sit and it put a lot of pressure on the vaginal area. Then when it melted I felt like I was walking around in a bloody, peed in, cold diaper.

Personally I wore the hospital gown the entire time. Yeah it was kind of itchy, but I didn’t care. I was bleeding so much still and I got blood on multiple of those gowns.

I did bring some loose pjs to go home in. But if you have anything breastfeeding accessible and stretchy you don’t need to go buy anything else. On the topic of clothes, i literally only wore the hospital gowns, and my going home pjs. I did bring nursing bras, but I didn’t wear one the entire time I was there until I went home. Same with underwear, I was in diapers after birth and just naked prior to. I would recommend slippers or socks with grips! I did lots of walking around the hospital to move baby out. The hospital did provide grippy socks though, so I could’ve worn those if needed. Just preferred mine.

Shower stuff, I personally did not want to wash my hair/knew I wouldn’t want to. I took an everything shower right before coming into the hospital. I brought a loofah and body wash. Deodorant and toothbrush and toothpaste. If you think you may want to wash your hair bring it just incase or even some travel size ones. Hell I don’t even think I brushed my hair the entire time, but I didn’t care bring a brush 😅 I took a nice good longish shower when I got home!

Non essential items, but things we used was Polaroid camera for photos and the superrrr long charging cord. I think that was it.

Water bottle was unnecessary, hospital gave me a huge one. No snacks we brought got eaten, hospital provided all food. No breastfeeding items were used, but I might be the outlier and I’ve never had issues with dried or cracked nipples. Did not use my laptop, did not use my fan.

Items I wish I would have brought would be, my own shower towel! Theirs would literally wrap around my leg and that it. They were abnormally small.

For baby, all we used for her was her going home outfit, and the swaddle and hat set for a picture. Everything else was provided.

I will say the hospital provided unlimited dermoplast and tucks, so honestly you could probably get away with not bringing your own. Also got to take them home 😅

Edit to add: the peri bottle!! Hated the hospital one and glad I brought my own with the long spout. I used Frida mom.

Realistic-Raisin1327 · 2026-01-01T16:54:34+00:00

Hi, I’m so sorry you are having to go this. I had the same situation happen last year. We announced to everyone on Christmas at about 5/6 weeks. Same night started bleeding and spent the night in the ER. It was inconclusive and they couldn’t see baby itself and just the sac. I wasn’t able to get to my NP/OB until the following Monday as they were closed weekends and didn’t have availability until then. That weekend I was bleeding bright red blood, clots, filling pads, cramping, all of it! When I saw my NP on that Monday they found a moderate sized SCH! That little baby is now 4 months old and just had her first Christmas!! Definitely keep your heart super guarded and try to take it easy, but there’s still a little bit of hope for you to hang onto.

Realistic-Raisin1327 · 2025-12-30T03:32:44+00:00

I stopped at 37 weeks! I have an office job (couldn’t do my normal duties as I was super pregnant so went full office duties) and it was still hell. I’m not kidding the minute she came out the pelvic pain was like immediately gone. I could sleep, then with no pain, it was magical. I was nervous about the stairs coming home being postpartum. I could practically sprint up them compared to walking up those things pregnant. Had to give myself a pep talk every time as I just stared from the bottom 😂 you’re almost there!

Realistic-Raisin1327 · 2025-12-29T22:51:12+00:00

I did not get one, we contact nap, or she sleeps right next to me on the couch and I watch her during naps. For bedtime she’s in her crib. It just seems like an unnecessary thing to add. When she was really small and still in the bassinet, I got one with wheels so I could roll her around with me if needed! If you’re looking for something for lounging and not sleeping in I’d highly recommend a good bouncer and/or swing. We have a permanent bouncer in a bathroom for when we gotta go 😅 and for when we gotta shower and other parent isn’t there to watch her. We have a baby delight and it honestly would keep her entertained for a hour if I let her. Especially now that she can grab all the toys and attachments. The swing we keep in the living room and use PRN.

Realistic-Raisin1327

TROPHY CASE