Back to Work, Baby! The Emotional Whiplash of Rebuilding Your Career & Leaving the Baby Bubble

Back to Work, Baby! The Emotional Whiplash of Rebuilding Your Career & Leaving the Baby Bubble

From Bottle Service by Sarah Merrill Hall

May 18, 2026 · 36 min

About this episode

Sarah discusses the challenges of returning to work after years of focusing on motherhood and the emotional complexities involved.

For the first time in four years, Sarah officially doesn’t have a baby at home anymore… and instead of feeling liberated, she’s..well.. lost 😅 In this episode, Sarah opens up about the unexpected identity crisis that can come with re-entering “full-time work” after years in the baby bubble. Navigating freedom, guilt, ambition, pressure, and the weird realization that you no longer have motherhood as the built-in reason your career has been on the back burner. Sarah talks honestly about feeling behind professionally, struggling to find direction again, and what it’s actually like trying to rebuild momentum after years of surviving in reactive mode. PLUS, we tackle truly important cultural conversations like The Valley and why we all need to normalize asking our friends for their hand-me-down baby gear. Resources from this Episode: Get on SHOPMY Email your questions to Sarah@bigkidproblems.com for a chance to be featured on the show! Want more from Sarah? Personal Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@SarahMerrill_Hall⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Share some Laughs: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@bigkidproblems⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Check out our new Show IG! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@bottleserviceBKP⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Shop Sarah's Pregnancy/ Postpartum Must Haves on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Amazon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Shop…

People in this episode

Host: Sarah Merrill Hall

Topics covered

  • career transition
  • parenting
  • identity crisis
  • work-life balance
  • cultural conversations

Keywords

  • career
  • motherhood
  • identity
  • freedom
  • guilt
  • ambition
  • baby gear

Sponsors

Quince, RULA, Little Spoon

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: bigkidproblems

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