By Amy Blakeslee
Apr 29, 2010
Ah, motherhood. You sank into your role with great gusto, eagerly nesting in preparation for the birth of your baby and thinking that six weeks kind of seems like a long time. Then labor hits, you push and help your child struggle forth and the rest is a big blur. Week five has arrived and you will be back to work in a matter of time. Your “kind of a long time” flew by with two sets of wings and now you are in full-on, red-alert, scramble-the-troops panic mode. What are you going to do and how will you ever cope?
Prepare yourself sooner rather than later
They say that preparation is the key. “They” are giant morons most of the time; however, on this one they are right. Do not wait for week five to try a trial run. Do not wait for your first day back to work to be the day you introduce baby to babysitter (even if its grandma). Take a day that you are feeling pretty good and let your soon-to-be child care provider take it from there. Your trial run could be an hour or so or maybe more if you can stand it.
When you find yourself sniffing baby blankies and humming lullabies, you have had enough and can go back home. Your mission was two-fold: First, you were reassuring yourself that you could get out the door without going into mommy meltdown and you proved that the house would be standing when you came back. Practice runs allow you to get into the swing of leaving the home without baby-and should help you transition once it is time to do it for real.
Go back to work part time at first
Unless, you are really hurting for the money, try to work part time or work out an arrangement where you telecommute for part of your hours. If you do not work a job that would allow telecommuting, then try to work up to your full time hours gradually if you can. Remember, even though medically you might be cleared to go back to work, you are still working with short sleep rations and might be still recovering from pregnancy and childbirth.
Rest when you can
The week before you go back to work, try to get a routine worked out so that you are not overly exhausted on that first day. Studies show that exhausted drivers have the same reaction time and driving skills as a drunk driver. You are a danger to yourself and others if you drive while sleep deprived, so try to get as much extra sleep as you can. Nap when the baby is asleep. The dishes can wait.
If you are still breastfeeding
Make sure that you tell someone in human resources that you need time to pump your breasts as well as the ability to store your expressed milk. Make sure that you label your milk very clearly. “Jan’s Milk” will not deter a thief who will assume he or she is stealing milk that belongs to Jan. “Jan’s Human Breast Milk” tells the milk snatcher that this is not just Jan’s milk but milk that came out of Jan. That ought to slow them down a bit.
I miss you, I miss you not
It is perfectly all right if you miss the baby. It is perfectly all right if you are glad to be out of the house. It is perfectly all right to do them both at the same time. And, it is perfectly all right to use your break to sniff a blankie in the bathroom, cry over a picture and then wash your face and knock them dead in a business meeting five minutes later. Before you know it, you may soon find yourself no longer singing the back to work blues!
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