Photo by Amber Engfer :)
Well, since my last post, I had a baby. A healthy, 9lb boy. And I started my 12 week maternity leave, which ended two weeks ago. I've gotten some questions (mainly from people who don't have kids) about what I did all day while on maternity leave, and I have to admit, that I had some strange ideas of what maternity leave would be like myself.
So, here it is, what managed to do, and what I didn't:
- Despite being set on it, I didn't watch any Downton Abbey. Or any full season of a tv show for that matter. I also haven't read any magazines cover-to-cover or finished any book that wasn't intended for children (and I mean small children, not teenagers like usual). I did watch a lot of the Olympics...and found a somewhat abnormal love for the British show Top Gear.
- I made one trip to the State Fair, which is a totally different experience with a crying infant.
- I went to one Gopher game. The other home game I could have attended fell on a day Brandon had to work, and I realized that carting a baby around a football game all by yourself doesn't actually sound like fun. We went to the zoo with my sister-in-law and nephew instead.
- I filled my time with BYOB (Bring Your Own Baby) Yoga, Baby Massage classes, and Baby and Me classes. I learned the secret about Baby and Me classes as well. Some people think classes with other mothers are there so that you get out of your house, are able to see that you aren't alone in your struggles to adjust to motherhood and in the end don't harm your baby. That is mostly true, except they aren't to prevent you from harming your baby. You wouldn't do that. They're to prevent you from harming your husband. Because at 2 in the morning when you're rocking a crying infant and he's fast asleep...you might do that. And, I maintain, if judged by a jury of your sleep deprived peers, you would be found not guilty.
- I did not go on any vacations, but did make a road trip to Owatonna - for ice cream, because let's be serious I still have priorities.
- I attended my 10 year high school reunion. Nothing like a reunion to make you feel old.
- I called the nurse line more times than I'd care to admit, obsessed over everything, and consulted Google far more than should be allowed. I've probably been sure my healthy son almost every affliction known to man. Note to self: don't Google at 3am. No good can come of it.
So now that I'm back to work, and the baby is attending daycare full time, I'm starting to see what my actual every day life will be like. It is hard to believe that the only days I'll get to cuddle full time are weekends, and that I have to spend the majority of my waking time with adults, not the baby that thinks everything I say is pretty much the most hilarious thing ever. Which is sad, because I could totally get used to that.
