- Joined
- Sep 17, 2018
- Messages
- 8
- Reaction score
- 1
Hi all!
I am 31 weeks and going strong! Baby girl and I are doing quite well, and as I type this, she feels like she's channeling her inner marathon runner!
I was just curious if there were any other vet techs/animal nurses in here! I work as a surgical vet tech and I'm currently in school working on a pre-vet degree with vet school in my sights (Though that may take a bit longer now!
).
As a surgical technician, I mostly work with animals healthy enough for surgery, so it's very rare that I am exposed to any particularly nasty drugs/diseases/anything like that. The biggest hazards I face are exposure to anesthetic gasses and aggressive patients, and our shifts are 10 hours long, so that has been a big struggle.
My employer is a small, non-profit surgical clinic that is BEYOND supportive! Neither of the head veterinarians have had children, but our clinic manager just had a baby last year, and she has always acted as an advocate for me. Honestly, the hardest part for me has been having to take it easy. I really dislike having to ask for help lifting, or requesting shorter shifts, or avoiding handling situations that I would never have batted an eye at before considering the health and safety of my baby! I always used to pride myself on my fear-free handling of aggressive patients, but now I try to avoid handling aggressive patients at all, and it makes me crazy!! I can't wait to return to clinical work after maternity leave.
Anyway, enough about me!
To all my fellow technicians (or veterinarians!): what have you found to be the hardest part?? And is your employer supportive and accommodating? I'd love to hear your stories and thoughts about being pregnant on the job!
I am 31 weeks and going strong! Baby girl and I are doing quite well, and as I type this, she feels like she's channeling her inner marathon runner!
I was just curious if there were any other vet techs/animal nurses in here! I work as a surgical vet tech and I'm currently in school working on a pre-vet degree with vet school in my sights (Though that may take a bit longer now!
).As a surgical technician, I mostly work with animals healthy enough for surgery, so it's very rare that I am exposed to any particularly nasty drugs/diseases/anything like that. The biggest hazards I face are exposure to anesthetic gasses and aggressive patients, and our shifts are 10 hours long, so that has been a big struggle.
My employer is a small, non-profit surgical clinic that is BEYOND supportive! Neither of the head veterinarians have had children, but our clinic manager just had a baby last year, and she has always acted as an advocate for me. Honestly, the hardest part for me has been having to take it easy. I really dislike having to ask for help lifting, or requesting shorter shifts, or avoiding handling situations that I would never have batted an eye at before considering the health and safety of my baby! I always used to pride myself on my fear-free handling of aggressive patients, but now I try to avoid handling aggressive patients at all, and it makes me crazy!! I can't wait to return to clinical work after maternity leave.
Anyway, enough about me!
To all my fellow technicians (or veterinarians!): what have you found to be the hardest part?? And is your employer supportive and accommodating? I'd love to hear your stories and thoughts about being pregnant on the job!
