As I hit the halfway point of my maternity leave, I find myself suffering from a case of the maternity leave blues.
Really? This is supposed to be the happiest time in your life, right?
Well after thinking about it further, I’ve started to understand more why I find myself down at times during this unbelievably happy time. (Disclaimer: I’m by no means a doctor and this is my own thoughts on the matter.)
1.) Your body just went through an unbelievable experience and needs time to heal and hormones are FLOWING
2.) As a working mom, you go from being out of the house, meetings, emails, adult interaction all day long to no emails, no adult interaction and a lot of time at home.
3.) Your friends tend to want to give you space (I’ve totally thought the same thing) but really all you want is to hang out with your friends and talk and be the same kind of friend you were before you had the baby. You are still the same person
4.) For me, I’m taking about 3.5-4 months off for mat leave. Per my doctor, I wasn’t allowed to exercise or doing anything strenuous until after the 6 week, that’s HALF WAY THROUGH MY LEAVE. SUPER DEPRESSING
5.) As much as you crave the adult interaction, and love your job, the thought of going back to work and leaving that sweet babe eats up your insides.
6.) You are beyond exhausted (enough said)
7.) After all this, if you’re breast feeding, you can’t even DRINK. Ok and occasional drink, but I have some yummy bottles of wine that are just taunting me 🙂
I’m in no way writing this to make you feel sorry for me, but more for the other friends and family in your life that may be on maternity leave or soon be going on. Please remember they are still the same person and want and NEED your friendship more than ever during this time. So stop by and give that gorgeous new baby some love because who doesn’t love the smell of new baby!
