Roo Douglas, 36, is married to firefighter husband Stef 32. They
have a one-year-old son Olly.
Why firefighting appealed to me
I considered firefighting when I was younger as I knew a bit about it:
my uncle and grandfather were both firefighters and I fancied it. However,
although I was very fit, I was also too small. So, I decided to work in
the circus as a juggler and acrobat instead! After that I became a became
a PE teacher.
One of the school trips I took the kids on was to the local fire station
and the officer there asked if I'd ever thought about joining... I guess
it rekindled a spark! By then I'd met my husband and he was also a firefighter
and his lifestyle and the idea of the shifts really appealed to me. A
year or so later, I saw an advert in a women's fitness magazine of a fire
engine's windscreen with "Sharon and Tracey" written across it. I just
knew that I had to apply. I was accepted and the rest is history.
There are no other women on my station... yet, but that may change one
day. Women fire fighters are still few and far between at the moment.
However, I get on with the men just fine. Obviously, there will always
be those who like you and those who you don't but that's a part of life
in any job, with anyone.
I told them about the pregnancy straight away
When I became pregnant, I couldn't wait till the 'safe' 12-week period
was over: I had to tell my watch when I was five weeks pregnant precisely
for safety reasons: it just wasn't worth exposing myself to all those
risks by not saying anything for a few more months to keep it a secret.
I believed that it was better to just tell them anyway, rather than to
disappear suddenly, with no reason, from a close-knit team whom I trusted,
if something bad happened. I also figured they'd have been there for me
if the worst had happened too, so why worry about telling them?
My colleagues were fine about it: they teased me a lot but were very
supportive. However, I had to stop firefighting there and then and work
in the offices at HQ for the rest of my pregnancy. I really missed working
with the guys at the station but I made lots of new friends at HQ and
broadened my understanding of our organisation, which I'm sure helps me
immensely now. The fact that I was based in an office job at HQ meant
that I was at least spared shift work and could attend all my antenatal
check-ups without any problems.
I waited till as late as possible to go on maternity leave and ended
up completing my final day at work four weeks before my due date. However,
I'd hardly been there for the last three months anyway because I suffered
badly from pre-eclampsia and had been in and out of hospital.
Returning to work
I loved the time I had off with Olly but, even though I was entitled
to a year's maternity leave, I wanted to go back after six months because
I'd already spent a long time away from firefighting and didn't want to
lose my skills. I also needed the money! I had to go back full time though
to work as an operational firefighter, so that meant a 48-hour week. (It's
no wonder I'm always tired!)
Just before I returned to work, I hadn't really thought about the inherent
risks of my job and the impact that could have on my family if anything
unfortunate happened (although I think some people assumed it would be
an issue for me). However, I did experience some doubts but this is my
job and I have never doubted taking a big risk for a big gain, so to speak!
It actually seems to bother me less now than before.
I was very conscientious in preparing for returning to work before my
leave was up. I had to get fit again. That was fun after a C-section and
high blood pressure! My post-pregnancy gift to myself was new £100 trainers:
how many of us would choose that?! However, more than anything, I wanted
to show my colleagues that I could still do my job properly: they needed
to be assured of this - and rightly so - because we depend so much on
each other. I do have to be very fit compared to your average woman, so
I embarked on an intensive training regime of running, press-ups, sit-ups,
chin-ups and cycling, all squeezed in around new-mother exhaustion.
I remember my first run vividly: I just wanted to give up after five
minutes. I remembered the 'toxic ten' minutes that you have to overcome
and, tearfully, I struggled to a hopeless, almost walking-pace 12-minute
run. I knew though that I just had to grit my teeth and keep going. I
still do. But I love to go running now, it makes me feel so good afterward,
even if it's the LAST thing I want to do. I also get an hour each day
at work that's set aside to keep fit for my job, so I make the most of
that.
Doing
shifts: at work and at home
I returned to a different station - closer to home - so I wasn't working
with my original watch. My new team were very supportive in my retraining
and helped me get back up to speed with any procedures I felt I needed
a refresher on.
My husband Stef and I are on different shift rotas: I do two days and
then do two consecutive night shifts while he does days. The good part
is we can cover all but four-and-a-half hours of childcare between us.
The downside is that we don't sleep together in the same bed four nights
out of every eight and then don't actually see each other for 48 hours
within that period at all. Some would say that's a good thing!
The bonus is that it gives us both one-to-one quality time with Olly
and we do equal amounts of parenting. I'm so proud of Stef because he's
a brilliant father and I never worry about Olly when he's looking after
him. Due to our limited time together, we have to make an effort to family
things and 'coupley stuff' in the short space of time we are all together.
Men gossip as much as we do!
I would definitely
recommend my job to other women. But you do need to be fit, not afraid of
getting dirty and not mind breaking your nails! Above all, you need to be
confident in your own abilities and not worried about what people think
of you. You are under a microscope at work purely because you look, think
and express yourself differently but how you let that focus affect you is
the key to your success.
Although the uniform never fits, and men never look into fire engines
for 'sexy women firefighters' I feel lucky to understand men a lot better
than I did before. Oh, and did I mention that men love to gossip just
as much as we do?!
Tell your story
Do you have an unusual job that you are combining with parenthood?
Let us know by writing to editor@babyworld.co.uk
"Men
never look into fire engines for sexy women firefighters…" 
Doing
shifts: at work and at home 
