Maternity Leave

I feel blessed that I had my baby in India because working mothers get six whole months of paid maternity leave!

I have known girl friends who had no choice but to leave 12- week old babies at day care to keep their careers, or who were so guilt-ridden they decided to forsake their careers for the sake of their babies.

I also feel blessed to have such an amazing support system at home, and to be able to afford a nanny, but more than all of that, I am particularly blessed to have had extremely understanding managers and colleagues through this journey,

Six months is an awfully long time to stay away from work, and by the end of month three, i was itching to get back. My business head and manager were okay for me to work a couple of hours every day (part time) for the remaining 3 months of my ML, and gradually increase the number of hours I worked for the next 3 months post my ML. Thus I was able to gradually and seamlessly start working full-time, instead of suddenly being away from the baby. I will always be indebted to this employer of mine for this reason.

ML was also a time for recouping and getting back in shape. Yesterday, while speaking to a friend, N mentioned that I “swam like a mad-woman, day after day”. I may not agree to the mad-woman part, but the hourly swimming routine really helped. I couldn’t keep it up after joining work full time, but I really hope to start again!

This was also when I tried to learn to crochet, but crocheting needs long, uninterrupted hours- and with a baby, something like that is elusive.

I do not recall doing anything other than these,  but the point I am trying to drive home here is that Maternity leaves are such a blessing, and I am so glad I had a good one.