Maternity Leave

 
One of the prompts today over at Working Mommy Wednesday is: Maternity Leave - How long did you take? Were you ready to come back? How did you survive/manage? Tips for new moms returning to work?

Baby #1 - With Connor, I worked up to the week before my due date.  I was able to take off the full 12 weeks of FMLA leave that my work provides.  As a first time mom, I was partially ready to go back, partially not.  I was lucky enough that Connor would be staying with my mom and MIL while I worked.  It was a hard adjustment, leaving my little baby behind while I went off to work. 

Babies #2 and # 3 - With the twins, I was huge (obviously).  It was hard to drive and such, so I worked up until week 36 of the pregnancy.  I had about a week and a half before I was (voluntarily) induced.  So that gave me about 10 weeks to be home after the babes were born.  Because of the chaos that is THREE kids under TWO, I was more than ready to go back to work and get some rest. ;)  Managing work, with 3 kids at home, was tough.  I pumped everyday at work, which was a pain in the you-know-what, but also gave me nice breaks in my day. 

Tips for new moms:

• morning organization - have things ready the night before - bags packed, lunches made, clothes laid out, especially if you are taking the child somewhere for daycare
• don't hesitate to call and check on your child if you miss them a lot!
• take a picture or two of the baby to place on your desk
• meal plan. and realize that those first few days back could have you picking up fast food on the way home.
• save the evenings for spending time with your child.  it's ok to let the housework go when you first get back to work. do what you can to make it liveable, but don't stress out if you don't get to vacuum every week!
• go to bed early - this ties in with leaving housework behind. your baby is probably still not sleeping through the night, plus you are getting up and going work all day, so you are exhausted.  REST!