Back to Work

Well, I guess all good things have to come to an end. Today was my first day back to work.

It had been 8 months since I left work in December to head to the hospital and ended up admitted - it doesn't seem that long ago. I'd planned to take the (generous) 6-month leave that my firm offered as part of its "Parental Leave Program," but since I was in the hospital on short-term disability I ended up with some additional time off. The extra time at home was certainly a blessing, since Hannah is now just over 6 months old. I think it would have been much more difficult to leave her when she was smaller (and eating much more frequently).

Hannah woke up at 5:15am today, totally negating the big discussion Jon and I had last night over whether we should wake her to nurse if she was still asleep when it came time for me to leave. Jon is watching her this week and next, before he heads back to school, so I think that makes the transition a little easier. Plus, I'm going back to work on an 80% schedule, so I will be off on Fridays.

Jon said she was great today and only got really fussy once. I wasn't the emotional wreck that I thought I'd be...I just went to work and did my thing there...and came home. Hannah smiled big and leaned toward me when I came in the door (and then cried when I ran upstairs to change my clothes...I could hear Jon telling her "Mommy will be right back"). She also ate 3 times in 3 hours, so I'm not sure if she was waiting for me to get home or what.

It will certainly take some adjusting to get back into the swing of things at work (wearing heels all day was a HUGE adjustment for me!), and right now I don't have too much to do, but I'm sure that is only temporary. I'm just happy that things are going well so far. It is nice to be out and about with adults, but I didn't mind playing on the floor most of the day either.