2011年，當(dāng)我發(fā)現(xiàn)我懷上我的兒子阿爾瓊時(shí)，我正忙著運(yùn)營(yíng)一家雄心勃勃，工作節(jié)奏非?？斓某鮿?chuàng)公司。當(dāng)時(shí)，我和丈夫都為即將為人父母而興奮異常。阿爾瓊的預(yù)產(chǎn)期是2012年夏天，不過那并不是一個(gè)迎接人生大事最方便的時(shí)候。八月是Piazza公司每年最忙碌的月份——Piazza是我于2009年創(chuàng)辦的一個(gè)大學(xué)咨詢和就業(yè)平臺(tái)。隨著學(xué)生和教授們陸續(xù)返校，我們要忙著簽約和吸引新用戶，調(diào)試網(wǎng)站，回答成千上萬的問題。2012年，我們的產(chǎn)品還在試運(yùn)營(yíng)。我的團(tuán)隊(duì)還是一支由實(shí)習(xí)生和兼職人員湊成的臨時(shí)隊(duì)伍，既年輕又沒有經(jīng)歷過考驗(yàn)。不用說，我必須事無巨細(xì)地參與每個(gè)決策。

為生孩子休三個(gè)月的產(chǎn)假是不可能的，我只休了四天的產(chǎn)假。在我把兒子從醫(yī)院抱回家以后，團(tuán)隊(duì)成員立即就聚到我家開會(huì)。我現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)記不太清最初那幾個(gè)瘋狂的星期了——這可能是件好事，但我仍記得我當(dāng)時(shí)感受到的那種內(nèi)疚感：我沒有好好陪兒子，沒有在那些珍貴的小時(shí)光里和他在一起。

六個(gè)月后，我的工作時(shí)間又恢復(fù)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(gè)生日，我還在努力減掉妊娠期的體重（這對(duì)于我來說比運(yùn)營(yíng)一家公司還費(fèi)力）——每次見到一碗麥片，我都想把它狼吞虎咽地吃掉。

整個(gè)經(jīng)歷比我預(yù)想的要困難得多。這似乎是世界上最明顯的事情，但對(duì)于有工作的母親來說，這的確是一場(chǎng)艱巨的戰(zhàn)斗?，F(xiàn)在我又懷上了一個(gè)女兒，這次，我要向生理的現(xiàn)實(shí)讓步。懷孕是很辛苦的，產(chǎn)后恢復(fù)則更困難。我已經(jīng)接受了現(xiàn)在的工作效率只能達(dá)到平常80%的事實(shí)。不過現(xiàn)在我還在做一些事，以確保這次我能恢復(fù)得更快一些——而且還要確保，就在我全心全意準(zhǔn)備把一個(gè)健康的孩子帶到世上時(shí)，我的公司能夠像以往一樣運(yùn)行良好。

照顧自己的健康。我從不重視健身，在印度長(zhǎng)大的我從小就沒有養(yǎng)成這種習(xí)慣，這使我的第一次懷孕幾乎成了一場(chǎng)噩夢(mèng)。由于我每天有好幾個(gè)小時(shí)都坐著，很少運(yùn)動(dòng)，所以到了第六個(gè)月的時(shí)候，我?guī)缀醪荒軇?dòng)彈。我們只好重裝了洗手間的衛(wèi)生紙托，因?yàn)槲覊虿恢瓉淼奈恢?。但這一次，通過一系列體重鍛煉（雖然仍然不喜歡），加上經(jīng)?？醇棺当＝♂t(yī)師，我還算保持了比較好的活動(dòng)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(shè)定了鍛煉時(shí)間，經(jīng)常是在每天的中午。而且只要可能的話，我會(huì)有意把事情委托給別人做。作為公司的創(chuàng)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(gè)月時(shí)，我還可以走路！

制訂自己的日程安排。懷阿爾瓊的時(shí)候，我經(jīng)常早上三四點(diǎn)鐘就醒了，而且很難再次入睡，因此經(jīng)常在最后一分鐘取消早會(huì)。這次我不再接受10點(diǎn)以前的會(huì)議，有時(shí)甚至在中午之前也不安排任何事。如果我在四點(diǎn)起床，再也睡不著，我就不會(huì)再?gòu)?qiáng)迫自己入睡，而是打開電腦，享受一些不被打擾的工作時(shí)間，然后在上午補(bǔ)一覺，再去辦公室。為了節(jié)省體力，我選擇在家工作，盡量通過電話遠(yuǎn)程遙控。為了保持冷靜，我基本上全天都在嚼冰塊，我的團(tuán)隊(duì)只好努力對(duì)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(zhǔn)備。在我第一次休產(chǎn)假時(shí)，由于我沒有歇下來的打算，因此我也沒有花時(shí)間讓我的員工做好我不在的準(zhǔn)備。而這一次，幸運(yùn)的是我已經(jīng)有了一批值得信任的員工，他們已經(jīng)陪伴我走過了好幾年的創(chuàng)業(yè)歷程。我一直和他們一起做幾個(gè)不同的項(xiàng)目，而且在這些項(xiàng)目啟動(dòng)的頭幾個(gè)周，我有意放慢進(jìn)展速度。這些都不是特別重要的項(xiàng)目，不需要我全程監(jiān)管，不過至少我知道，在我不在的一個(gè)月里，公司可以繼續(xù)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(chǎn)假變成一項(xiàng)資源，而不是當(dāng)一個(gè)每天事無巨細(xì)親歷親為的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者。我希望女兒的降生不僅能夠讓我有機(jī)會(huì)多陪陪家人，同時(shí)也給我的團(tuán)隊(duì)提供一個(gè)成長(zhǎng)、決策、自行解決問題的機(jī)會(huì)。

我意識(shí)到，能夠靈活地度過第二次孕期，實(shí)在是一件極為幸運(yùn)的事。不幸的是，對(duì)大多數(shù)女性來說，這是無法獲得的奢侈品。也就是說，許多職業(yè)女性應(yīng)該鼓起勇氣要求一些必要的條件。首先，我們大多數(shù)人可以留出至少一點(diǎn)保健和鍛煉的時(shí)間。在我的公司，員工們經(jīng)常進(jìn)行一對(duì)一的“散步”會(huì)議。也就是不坐在辦公室里開會(huì)，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(shí)候我們就圍著辦公室走（我已經(jīng)學(xué)會(huì)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(huì)議都拖到下午，但在如今這樣一個(gè)時(shí)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(huì)，尤其是懷孕晚期上下班非常不便的時(shí)候。我知道，作為女人，我們有時(shí)候不好意思提要求，但是在人生的某個(gè)階段，你就是得自私一點(diǎn)，而這個(gè)階段就是現(xiàn)在（如果它能幫助你的孩子健康成長(zhǎng)，這樣做就算不上自私）。

最后是棘手的產(chǎn)假問題。美國(guó)的產(chǎn)假政策離人們的期望相差甚遠(yuǎn)，我見過很多女性和她們的經(jīng)理一道，試圖找出創(chuàng)造性的解決方案來增補(bǔ)休假時(shí)間。以我們公司的市場(chǎng)副總裁為例，她在休完產(chǎn)假之后，第一個(gè)月是“半工作半產(chǎn)假”的狀態(tài)，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(gè)月，或是用年假、病假來兌換額外的產(chǎn)假。或者如果你能接受不帶薪休假的話，那就堅(jiān)決休假，不要有任何負(fù)罪感！

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

本文作者普賈??？柺荘iazza公司的創(chuàng)始人兼CEO。Piazza是一家社交型學(xué)習(xí)與就業(yè)平臺(tái)，它可以幫助大學(xué)生與同學(xué)和導(dǎo)師實(shí)時(shí)互聯(lián)。（財(cái)富中文網(wǎng)）

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.