The first few months after having a baby are a special time. It’s a time that feels magical, scary, happy, sad, overwhelming, and joyous all at once. As a full time working mom, it was really important to me to take advantage of those first few months that I had off of work, because I knew that it would be the most time I would get to spend with my sweet girl before going back to work! I had the best time during my maternity leave, and wanted to share some tips on making the most of your time off of work!
Be Prepared
The best piece of advice I can give you before you go out on maternity leave is to be prepared. This is the field I work in, and I see it so many times – mamas out on leave that don’t know what they need to submit, aren’t aware they’re only getting paid 60% of their pay, etc – and end up scrambling to figure things out once the baby comes. I promise you, when you are two days post-partum, wearing a diaper, with a baby on your boob every hour, the last thing you are going to want to have to worry about is your benefits. Contact your benefits department early, get everything ready, and know what you are entitled to ahead of time! This will allow you to just focus on your family during that time.
Find a Mom Tribe
This one is HUGE! When I got pregnant, I really had no one close to me that I could relate to. None of my friends had babies, and I really had no one to look to for advice or support. When my daughter was about two months old, I joined a class as Modern Milk called Happy Mom School – and I met my mom tribe. The class is a group of women with babies born within a month or so of each other. Most of us are first time moms, and we clicked immediately. We still get together all of the time, and I now have an amazing group of mamas that are going through the same things at the same time. It truly is so important mentally and emotionally to have that support!
Take advantage of the classes
One thing that I have noticed since going back to work is that most of the fun classes for babies are M-F during the day. The mommy and me fitness, music classes, swim, and baby play classes typically don’t cater to the mamas that only have evenings and weekends available. I am a sucker for these classes – I love any excuse to get out and meet other babies and mamas! I try to go whenever I have a day off, but taking advantage of these as much as you can during your maternity leave is a great way to get out of the house and meet some other moms.
Enjoy it!
This one might seem obvious – but it really does go by SO fast! Through all of the healing, crying, no sleep, and all of the other post-partum struggles, it is easy to forget to take a step back and enjoy. Your baby will only be a newborn once, and being on leave is a great chance to be able to build a bond with your baby and spend quality time together.
