Going back to work after maternity leave

I feel like I realy need to write about this tough topic: how it looks like when women gets back to work after maternity leave?

During the whole pregnancy and maternity leave the only thing women can think about is the baby. But after a year (this is how long maternity leave is in Poland) you start thinking about going back to work. Sometimes the break from work lasts longer, sometimes shorter. I can only tell you about my experience, and in my case it was a year.

Before my first day at work me and my husband decided to sign up our baby daugther to the nursery. We did it two months before my return to the office so she could get used to it and went through the diseases – which is normal at the nursery. We didn’t have many problems during this two months period.

Everyone around was talking how awesome it is to go back to work after maternity leave (even no-mums), so I was ready, full of optymism and simply hungry for new challenges.

And then everything just screwed up

Our baby started to be sick very often, I had to stay with her on sick leave, started to worry about work projects and even if my boss understood the situation I simply felt badly and also exhausted.

I started to think about parental leave but then we could lost our private medical care. We couldn’t let that happen when our baby daughter needed it the most.

I was so frustrated. I didn’t feel good about the whole situation. I wasn’t the mum for full time, I wasn’t designer for full time – I was always in between and nothing was right.

What everyone said with such a convenience was not true for me – back to work after maternity leave isn’t always awesome. Sometimes it is really hard. Sometimes you feel bad with it and sometimes there is no way out. If the situation would stay for longer I think I would have to make a tough decision to go on a parental leave, because it was too destructive.

So what happened that I feel good right now?

Well – magic. Our daughter feels better now. We did our best to build her disease resistance. I started to work more and I can finally focus on my projects. My husband helped me organize our family life so I can really get back to work.

In conclusion

Not everything is awesome for everyone. You need to find your own path. When you have problems in life it’s obvious you focus on them. Don’t blame yourself that you can’t think about something else then. Try to resolve your problems – but stay calm and positive. Family support is priceless. After every storm there is sunshine.

EM