I don't do a lot all day now. I should actually do a lot more but house keeping has never been my forte. and I am getting very tired and uncomfortable with the pregnancy.

I was a volunteer fire fighter in Merredin but I got pregnant just after we moved to Collie. I was so morning sick etc I was going to resign completely but my Merredin Captain said he could keep me on the books as a non active member until I was ready to transfere to the Collie Brigade as an active member.

Being in the brigade was great experience. I made some great friends and learned to do things I had never dreamed of. I would definetly recommend it.

I don't want to put my baby in childcare and my husband works shift work so working for someone else could be difficult. Especially as there are no Speech Path jobs within an hours drive of the town I live in. My family lives 3 hours drive away and Haydon's family lives in New Zealand so we don't have babysitters on hand.

I am considering trying to set up my own private practice and sheduling in clients on days Haydon is not working or parts of days when he is not working.. We are currently building a shed which will have one section divided off from the rest and a toilet put in. We plan on using it for guests (our house only has 2 bedrooms). The other part of the shed will be storage and a workshop for Haydon. I figure I can use the shed room to see clients in if I do private practice, especially as it will have it's own toilet.

The real question is how much demand for private speech path will there be in a town of about 10 000 people with one public speech path already employed at the hospital. It is about 60 km from our town to any other town. It will take a bit to set up in private practice so I hope the cost of setting up is worth it too. if my practice really took off then Haydon could cut his hours but I don't expect that much demand to be honest.

The other thing is that I really want one of us to be there for our child.

I feel the same way about leaving my son to someone. Thankfully, the hubby can provide for the family enough that I don't have to work, besides... childcare here is outrageous that I don't think I'll be bringing home enough money to be worth it after paying childcare expenses if I were to work.

I hope you can establish your own business. It'll be great for a mom to be able to work from home to stay with their children. I'm guessing it's a lot of work but I hope your plans become reality!