Part I: the five carry strong principles -- Perspective: reframing your reality with a paradigm shift -- Balance: deciding to have it all, just not at the same time -- Community: choosing the company you keep -- Communication: creating confident and comfortable conversations -- Identity: losing and finding yourself through working motherhood -- Part II: the five carry strong phases -- Phase I: the B(TT): before trying to conceive -- Phase II: the TTC: trying to conceive -- Phase III: the hush -- Phase IV: the push -- Phase V: anticipating the great return (or not).

"Having a baby and a career can feel challenging on the best of days, nearly impossible on the worst. From figuring out how to tell your boss you're pregnant to sucking in your belly bump all day long at work, to working even harder to prove your worth, there's a lot to navigate if you're newly pregnant or are even thinking about getting pregnant- and trying to juggle it all can leave you overwhelmed. It doesn't have to be this way. You can do it all, just not at the same time. And not alone. Carry Strong offers a new approach to working motherhood that wholeheartedly embraces pregnancy as an integral and concurrent part of a woman's career-and flips the script on a cultural constant to re-frame pregnancy as an opportunity to retain, instead of lose, women in the workplace. Drawing from four original studies plus hundreds of inspirational interviews, executive and career advocate Stephanie Kramer outlines essential principles for navigating your pregnancy and work simultaneously. With powerful, real-life stories and expert advice, she shows you how to embrace perspective, shed harmful scripts about so-called balance, cultivate community in the workplace, communicate your needs, and navigate the shift in identity from working woman to working mother. Along the way, you'll discover the major career considerations you'll make at each unique phase of your pregnancy, from before the moment you decide you want to be a working mom through your decision to return to work after baby, if at all. Just because you carry something well doesn't mean it isn't heavy. For every soon-to-be mom, Carry Strong encourages you to carry your bump with a positive tilt, even if your hands are on your lower back. This motherhood manifesto shows how to unburden yourself from societal and self-imposed pressures and set yourself up for success for your pregnancy and for your future"-- Provided by publisher.