Maternity Leave: Day 1
Decided I wanted to document how I am spending my 60 days of maternity leave because I want to be intentional about how I am spending my (last) leave ever. As a very ambitious working mom, I rarely have a moment to go to the restroom, do my hair, or sometimes even eat so reflecting on life and taking some time for me is an intention I set at the start of this leave. I am not sure yet if this will even get off the ground or what shape it will take, so bear with me on this whim. I am however the planner and creator of to do lists and dogged pursuer of checking things off said list so I have ambitious hopes of perhaps creating a blog- but that would take more ambition than I have on Day 1 ( still heavily medicated post-C section) can handle. So we’ll start with the intention to document and journal each day of my leave. [Edit: on Day 14 I got my blog up and running] and am now back posting the first two weeks that I wrote in word and late nights in Notes on my phone].
Reflections: Newborns are precious, but at this state a little bit boring. Baby is a healthy boy, and he is hungry. Since I’m breastfeeding this means I spend a lot of time just sitting, staring, and thinking and then came up with this idea to start the blog. But it also means I have been playing around on my phone a lot and sigh, been checking my work email despite a promise to myself not to. I did exhibit restraint on replying to emails because of my drug induced state. Technology today makes it too easy to stay connected. I planned to recharge during this maternity leave and disconnect but we will see. During my last two maternity leaves, I turned off my email on my phone but I have not reached that point yet. Perhaps, because I’ve reached a point in my career where my role is much more significant.. am finding it hard to completely turn off.
Positive Thought(s) of the Day: A positive outlook has always been important to me, so I plan to close every post with a positive thought of the day, no matter how small. Today I am enjoying the comforts of home and being cared for- the house is clean, the girls are entertained, and dinner is cooked. I am beyond lucky to have family close and far willing to chip in. I’m also enjoying being on paid leave for the next 12 weeks ( a policy that just went into effect THIS year at work), something less than 15% of women in the private sector don’t have the benefit of in the United States. I’m also very thankful that even though Hubs works for a small company, he is afforded 2 weeks of paternal leave to help out while I recover.
See below for the little face that was my muse in starting this blog:
