I have been missing in action for a couple of months because of the arrival of our daughter Rosalinde Meladean Hardeman. She was born September 9, 2018, at the hospital in Weiden, Germany.
The Reason I Started My Business
One of my biggest motivations to start this business was because of her. I had found out I was pregnant in January and started this business in May. For years I had talked about starting my own business, but I didn’t know quite what I was going to do. However, pregnancy motivated me and with the job market being limited here in Germany, I knew it was time to start going after my dreams.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t sure how things were going to work out once she arrived. I stayed optimistic because I had no idea what to expect. I am glad I did because the first few weeks were a large adjustment. I didn’t know people could survive with such little sleep and still semi-function. I felt like I was stuck on the couch between nursery and her falling asleep on my lap.
Somehow I was still getting some work done during this time, but luckily I had very understanding clients and I hadn’t taken on to many because I knew I wasn’t sure what my days were going to look like.
Took A Turn For The Worse
Then things kind of took a turn for the worse or at the time it felt like that. Before we had taken my daughter home from the hospital, the German doctors were slightly concerned about her hips. So they requested that we come back in a month to see if they improved or if further action would need to be taken.
So we went back in a month and the doctor who had done the ultrasound looked concerned and sounded concerned. He was mainly speaking in German to the nurse so we couldn’t tell, but then he called in the head radiologist to look at her hips on the ultrasound and we knew then that it wasn’t good news. He then proceeded to tell us that we would have to come back the next week to get her a pelvic brace because she was showing early signs of possible hip dysplasia.
As first-time parents, we didn’t know what to expect. We were so concerned and didn’t know what this was going to mean for our daughter. She hated having the brace put on, but once it was on she was okay. Nights were a struggle with sleep and it just meant a lot more hands-on with her than before.
Reason I went Missing In Action
So this meant I had to step even further back with my business. Which caused me to go missing in action. It was a hard decision, but I knew I had to do it for my daughter. I told clients that I had to take off some time and wouldn’t be able to work till the new year. Thankfully, they were so understanding and told me I’d still have a job when I was ready.
Fortunately, Rosalinde only had to have a brace on for a little over a month because her hip angles improved so quickly!
Now it is the beginning of the new year and I was able to reach out to clients and tell them I am available again for work. No more missing in action. I know there will be times where it’ll be hard to get work done, but I’ve learned to have open communication with clients is key.
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