Penguins, Pregnancy, and Postpartum Comparison with Lindsay Ireland of the Detroit Zoo

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My guest this week, Lindsay Ireland, is a penguin keeper at the Detroit Zoo.  We talk a bit about being pregnant while working with penguins and then dive into how as a new mom it can be so hard not to compare oneself to other mothers and your baby to other babies. As a new mom, Lindsay found herself researching everything but realized that having her mom nearby helped keep her grounded and confident that she didn’t have to do the same as everyone else. 

We also talk about the finances of  daycare vs. deciding to stay home because all of your paycheck will just go to pay for daycare. Most in the zookeeping profession would feel it’s “worth it” to have their paycheck go entirely to daycare because they love their job so much. Lindsay and I talk about why zookeepers tend to embrace the persona of zookeeper wholeheartedly and see it as an identity. 

Finally, we talk a bit about schedules (hers is a rotating off schedule) and how that impacts family life and scheduling family vacations and events. It can be hard for extended family to understand how your schedule works and why you can’t make plans very far in advance. 

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