2011年，當我發現我懷上我的兒子阿爾瓊時，我正忙著運營一家雄心勃勃，工作節奏非常快的初創公司。當時，我和丈夫都為即將為人父母而興奮異常。阿爾瓊的預產期是2012年夏天，不過那并不是一個迎接人生大事最方便的時候。八月是Piazza公司每年最忙碌的月份——Piazza是我于2009年創辦的一個大學咨詢和就業平臺。隨著學生和教授們陸續返校，我們要忙著簽約和吸引新用戶，調試網站，回答成千上萬的問題。2012年，我們的產品還在試運營。我的團隊還是一支由實習生和兼職人員湊成的臨時隊伍，既年輕又沒有經歷過考驗。不用說，我必須事無巨細地參與每個決策。

為生孩子休三個月的產假是不可能的，我只休了四天的產假。在我把兒子從醫院抱回家以后，團隊成員立即就聚到我家開會。我現在已經記不太清最初那幾個瘋狂的星期了——這可能是件好事，但我仍記得我當時感受到的那種內疚感：我沒有好好陪兒子，沒有在那些珍貴的小時光里和他在一起。

六個月后，我的工作時間又恢復到懷孕之前，不過我不再喝咖啡了（很不幸有些人跟著倒霉了），依然很難掌控自己的情緒。直到阿爾瓊的第一個生日，我還在努力減掉妊娠期的體重（這對于我來說比運營一家公司還費力）——每次見到一碗麥片，我都想把它狼吞虎咽地吃掉。

整個經歷比我預想的要困難得多。這似乎是世界上最明顯的事情，但對于有工作的母親來說，這的確是一場艱巨的戰斗。現在我又懷上了一個女兒，這次，我要向生理的現實讓步。懷孕是很辛苦的，產后恢復則更困難。我已經接受了現在的工作效率只能達到平常80%的事實。不過現在我還在做一些事，以確保這次我能恢復得更快一些——而且還要確保，就在我全心全意準備把一個健康的孩子帶到世上時，我的公司能夠像以往一樣運行良好。

照顧自己的健康。我從不重視健身，在印度長大的我從小就沒有養成這種習慣，這使我的第一次懷孕幾乎成了一場噩夢。由于我每天有好幾個小時都坐著，很少運動，所以到了第六個月的時候，我幾乎不能動彈。我們只好重裝了洗手間的衛生紙托，因為我夠不著它原來的位置。但這一次，通過一系列體重鍛煉（雖然仍然不喜歡），加上經常看脊椎保健醫師，我還算保持了比較好的活動能力。為了始終把保持健康放在第一位，我還專門在日歷上設定了鍛煉時間，經常是在每天的中午。而且只要可能的話，我會有意把事情委托給別人做。作為公司的創始人，我每天都很容易被大大小小的急事淹沒，所以放手把事情交給別人往往是比較難的。但有利的一面在于，懷孕第八個月時，我還可以走路！

制訂自己的日程安排。懷阿爾瓊的時候，我經常早上三四點鐘就醒了，而且很難再次入睡，因此經常在最后一分鐘取消早會。這次我不再接受10點以前的會議，有時甚至在中午之前也不安排任何事。如果我在四點起床，再也睡不著，我就不會再強迫自己入睡，而是打開電腦，享受一些不被打擾的工作時間，然后在上午補一覺，再去辦公室。為了節省體力，我選擇在家工作，盡量通過電話遠程遙控。為了保持冷靜，我基本上全天都在嚼冰塊，我的團隊只好努力對我嚼冰塊的聲音充耳不聞。靈活的工作安排提高了我的工作效率，也讓我更加理解其他為了照顧孩子而要求靈活工作的女性。

讓員工做好準備。在我第一次休產假時，由于我沒有歇下來的打算，因此我也沒有花時間讓我的員工做好我不在的準備。而這一次，幸運的是我已經有了一批值得信任的員工，他們已經陪伴我走過了好幾年的創業歷程。我一直和他們一起做幾個不同的項目，而且在這些項目啟動的頭幾個周，我有意放慢進展速度。這些都不是特別重要的項目，不需要我全程監管，不過至少我知道，在我不在的一個月里，公司可以繼續前行。但是他們顯然沒有完全脫離我——這也不是我的性格。不過我希望可以把休產假變成一項資源，而不是當一個每天事無巨細親歷親為的領導者。我希望女兒的降生不僅能夠讓我有機會多陪陪家人，同時也給我的團隊提供一個成長、決策、自行解決問題的機會。

我意識到，能夠靈活地度過第二次孕期，實在是一件極為幸運的事。不幸的是，對大多數女性來說，這是無法獲得的奢侈品。也就是說，許多職業女性應該鼓起勇氣要求一些必要的條件。首先，我們大多數人可以留出至少一點保健和鍛煉的時間。在我的公司，員工們經常進行一對一的“散步”會議。也就是不坐在辦公室里開會，而是在帕洛阿爾托市中心的街道上邊走邊說。天氣不好的時候我們就圍著辦公室走（我已經學會忽略人們投來的奇怪眼光）。這種小小的改變就能讓你變得更快樂和健康。

其次是靈活性問題。我們不可能把所有的會議都拖到下午，但在如今這樣一個時代，為什么我們還要整天待在辦公室呢？有了筆記本電腦、Skype和谷歌Hangouts功能，我們偶爾也可以在家里開會，尤其是懷孕晚期上下班非常不便的時候。我知道，作為女人，我們有時候不好意思提要求，但是在人生的某個階段，你就是得自私一點，而這個階段就是現在（如果它能幫助你的孩子健康成長，這樣做就算不上自私）。

最后是棘手的產假問題。美國的產假政策離人們的期望相差甚遠，我見過很多女性和她們的經理一道，試圖找出創造性的解決方案來增補休假時間。以我們公司的市場副總裁為例，她在休完產假之后，第一個月是“半工作半產假”的狀態，所以她能漸漸地完成回歸正常工作的過渡。你可以問公司能否允許你不全勤工作，而是在家工作幾個月，或是用年假、病假來兌換額外的產假。或者如果你能接受不帶薪休假的話，那就堅決休假，不要有任何負罪感！

我已經等不及和家人一起度過30天的時間了，而我也同樣迫不及待地想重返公司——它是我的另一個孩子。

本文作者普賈?桑卡爾是Piazza公司的創始人兼CEO。Piazza是一家社交型學習與就業平臺，它可以幫助大學生與同學和導師實時互聯。（財富中文網）

譯者：樸成奎

In 2011, when I discovered I was pregnant with my son, Arjun, I was busy running an ambitious, fast-paced start-up. While my husband and I were beyond excited to become parents, Arjun’s due date in summer of 2012 wasn’t the most convenient time for this major life event. August is the most critical month of year at Piazza, the college Q&A and recruiting platform I founded in 2009. As students and professors return to campus, we scramble to sign up and onboard new users, tweak our website, and address thousands of questions. In 2012, we were still experimenting with our product; my team, a makeshift assemblage of interns and part-timers, was young and untested. Needless to say, I was involved in every decision.

Taking three months off to care for a newborn just didn’t seem possible. Instead, I took four days. Team members came to my house for meetings almost immediately after I brought Arjun home from the hospital. I don’t remember much about those crazy first few weeks — and that’s probably a good thing — but I do recall a nagging feeling of guilt that I wasn’t properly bonding with my son, or managing to be present during those rare, precious little moments.

Six months later, I was working the same hours as before my pregnancy, but without coffee (which was really unfortunate for everyone involved), and I still had very little control over my emotions. As Arjun’s first birthday rolled around, I was still struggling to lose my baby weight (for me, this proved much more strenuous than running a company – I’ve rarely seen a bowl of cereal I haven’t wanted to devour).

The whole experience was much harder than I ever expected. It now seems like the most obvious thing in the world, but working mothers really do face an uphill battle. I am now pregnant again, with a daughter, and this time I’m giving in to the biological reality of my situation. Pregnancy is hard; post-partum recovery is harder. I have accepted that I can only operate at 80% of my typical productivity level right now. But I’m also doing a few things to ensure that I bounce back faster — and that my company gets along just fine while I focus on bringing a healthy infant into the world.

I’m taking care of myself. I was never big on working out. It just wasn’t part of my upbringing in India, which made my first pregnancy something of a nightmare. Because I spent hours each day sitting and doing very little exercise, I was barely mobile by month six. No, really: We had to reinstall the toilet paper holder in our bathroom because I couldn’t twist around to reach it. This time, I’m staying (relatively) mobile with a combination of weight-training (still hate it) and regular visits to my chiropractor. To prioritize my health, I’ve blocked out time on my calendar for workouts, often in the middle of the day, and I’ve made a conscious effort to delegate where possible. It’s easy, as a founder, to get swept up in every minor office emergency, so this has often been difficult. But the upside is that at eight month’s pregnant, I can actually walk!

I’m making my own schedule. When I was pregnant with Arjun, I’d wake up at 3 or 4 in the morning and, unable to fall back asleep, end up canceling my early morning meeting at the last-minute. This time, I’m not accepting meetings before 10 a.m., or sometimes even before noon. If I wake up at 4 a.m. and can’t sleep, I no longer beat myself up. I just turn on my computer and enjoy some uninterrupted work time, then take a mid-morning nap before heading into the office. I’m also working from home and doing remote calls as much as possible to conserve energy; my team has had to learn to block out the crunching sound of the ice I chew 24/7 to keep cool. Having a flexible schedule improves my productivity — and has given me a lot of empathy for other women who desire flexible arrangements as they care for young children.

I’m preparing my team. Because I had no intention of slowing down during my first “maternity leave,” I spent very little time preparing my staff for my absence. This time, I’m lucky to have trusted employees who have been with me for several years, and I’ve been working with them to figure out discrete projects they can accomplish while I take it slow during those first few weeks. They’re not mission-critical projects that would require my oversight, but at least I know the company will be making progress during my month away. They’re obviously not getting rid of me completely—that’s not my personality—but I’m hoping to spend my maternity leave more as a resource than as a day-to-day hands-on leader. I want my daughter’s birth to be, in addition to a chance for me to spend some meaningful time with my family, an opportunity for my team to grow, make decisions, and figure things out on their own.

I realize that I’m extremely fortunate to be in a position to have this flexibility for my second pregnancy. Unfortunately, most women don’t have this same level of luxury. That said, there are some accommodations that should be within reach for many professional women who summon up the courage to ask. For starters, most of us can carve out at least some minimal time for health and fitness. At my company, it’s common for employees to have “walking” one-on-one meetings. Instead of booking a conference room, we have our conversations strolling the streets of downtown Palo Alto. And in bad weather, we just walk around the office (I’ve learned to ignore the strange looks)! You’ll be surprised how just this small change can make you happier and healthier.

Then there’s the issue of flexibility. We can’t all postpone meetings until noon, but in this day and age, why do we really need to be in the office all day? Between laptops, Skype, and Google Hangouts, we should on occasion be able to take meetings from home, especially late in the pregnancy when long commutes can be particularly uncomfortable. I know as women we can sometimes hesitate to ask, but if there’s one time in your life you should be selfish, it’s now (and after all, it’s not selfish if it’s helping your baby thrive).

And then there’s the thorny question of maternity leave. While the maternity leave policy in the U.S. leaves a tremendous amount to be desired, I’ve seen lots of women work with their managers to figure out creative solutions to supplement their leave. My own vice president of marketing worked part-time for a month after her full-time leave ended, so she was able to gently transition back to her job. Ask if you can work part time, work from home for a few months, or creatively use your vacation and sick days to get that extra time. If you’re fortunate enough to work at a firm that provides adequate paid maternity leave, or if you can afford to take unpaid leave, then by all means take it, and don’t feel guilty!

I can’t wait for my 30 days of family bonding – nor can I wait to return to my other baby, my company.

PoojaSankar is founder and CEO of Piazza, a social learning and recruiting platform that connects college students with classmates and instructors in real-time.