Returning to work
Returning to work after maternity leave brings a lot of emotions to the table. I remember feeling nervous, anxious, sad, scared, and just not ready to go back after both of my maternity leaves. Just to give you an insight as to what I do – I am HR, Marketing, and assist with IT at a local bank.
The first day I returned to work after my first child, I had a supervisor come up to me at 8:05am with a new hire and said “Hey Saige, this is the new loan officer. Could you go through the HR meeting with her and get everything set up for her in timeclock and on the network?”. UMMMMMMMM NO LOL. I just had 12 weeks off and I couldn’t even remember my password to log into my computer, no way was I going to remember everything that revolved around the HR new hire meeting! I asked him to give me a couple hours to get back into the swing of things and to make sure I had everything ready for her – thankfully he was okay with that!
When I returned to work after my first maternity leave, I was not pumping so I didn’t have to deal with that hurdle. However, leaving your three-month-old with someone for the first time never truly settles right in your stomach as a mother. With our first baby, we had a family friend watch him at her house while we were at work. She lived next to my parent’s house, 15 minutes away from us. My dad always came into town to go eat breakfast at the local breakfast shop. He volunteered to pick up Kaison and drop him off at her house since he was going to be passing by our house anyways. This saved us gas and worked out well for us.
I remember the first time I put Kaison’s car seat in my dad’s truck and watched him pull out of the driveway, I just closed the front door and cried while finishing getting ready for work. I cannot describe how much anxiety I was feeling that morning. I had separation anxiety from my baby, anxiety over how the day was going to go at work, anxiety over how my son’s day was going to go at the babysitters, and anxiety about how I was going to keep doing this!
We did finally get used to this transition. However, ever though we got used to it, working 8 hours a day just to come home and spend 2 hours with our baby before it was his bedtime was still rough and challenging. Knowing that someone else gets to enjoy watching your baby grow up and hit milestones more than you do is heart wrenching, but you got to do what you got to do. My husband and I were NOT in the position for one of us to stay home. We needed to work to provide the best for our son.
The second time I returned from maternity leave was different in many aspects. The top two reasons that made it different was…
1. I returned to work remotely after 8 weeks of maternity leave
2. I was still pumping when I returned to work.
Unlike the first maternity leave where I took the full 12 weeks off, I took 8 weeks fully on maternity leave then I took 4 weeks working from home to slowly ease back into the work environment. This was nice because I was able to be home if the nanny needed anything – I was worried she was going to struggle watching 3 kids after just watching 1 for a while. I was also able to get my pumping schedule down to where I could pump two times a day while at work for 30 minutes each. It was also nice that I could go upstairs and snuggle a baby if I needed midday pick me up.
Another reason this return to work was easier was because all the kids were staying at our house. We have a nanny come to our house rather than taking the kids someplace else. This helps assure me that they will be in a safe environment, they will have all the supplies they need (I don’t have to worry about forgetting to pack something), and I get to see them on my lunch breaks!
One of the hardest things that I had to go through when returning to work after the second maternity leave was having the leave my 18-month-old. He had grown attached to me while I was on maternity leave with the twins. When the twins would sleep, we would either be playing or cuddling up together watching a TV show. I would do crafts, dance parties, and read books to him. Just all the fun little things that mean the world to a little child.
When I began working from home at that 8-week mark, I would have to take my laptop downstairs to focus. We have a baby gate on our stairs and every time I would close that gate to go downstairs Kaison would just cry and cry because he wanted me to stay with him. It hurt me every time, but I knew this would make going back to the bank easier.
Now that the twins are almost 10 months old, they are starting to smile and crawl towards my husband and I as we walk in the door at lunch time and it’s the cutest thing. I love kissing and holding my babies during the day. As much as I hate not being there for the entire day with them, I love getting to interact with them for the hour lunch break I have. They make my day so much better!
Some items that helped me return to work after maternity leave are below!
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