Maternity Leave (or not) when you're Self-Employed

Well, I’m officially back in the swing with work.  With Jason I didn’t take much of a leave at all – just the few days I was in the hospital from Thursday to Saturday plus that Sunday – but I only worked a few hours each day for the rest of that month.  Jason was a super-easy little guy so I was able to ease back in while he slept and it all felt pretty seamless.

I decided to take a slightly longer leave this time around (a week and a half) mostly because it’s been such a busy year that I needed a break.  Having a baby felt like vacation.  Ha!

I suspected it wouldn’t be quite so easy to get back to work this time with Rosie just because we’ve also got Jason in the mix during the day.  On the flip side, we have childcare now (and didn’t until Jason was 2 months old) so with Matt and I both working from home we’ve got 3 adults around to wrangle with both kiddos.

Most people seem pretty shocked that I don’t take a longer leave but honestly no one should feel sorry for me.  It’s true that I don’t get paid unless I work.  And it’s also true that I don’t want to be out of the minds of my clients for too long, lest they find someone else to seek counsel from.  But the main reason that I don’t mind getting back to work quickly is that getting back into my routine, even a yucky work routine that I would ordinarily bemoan, makes me feel good.

I love the newborn stage.  Even with the constant nursing and diaper changes and middle-of-the-night feedings, I relish it because there's nothing like the snuggle of your newborn's warm skin against yours.  Still, the lack of a schedule and structure to the day makes me feel a little unmoored.  Getting back into my work routine helps me feel like myself again after the huge event that is birthing a human being and recovering from said birthing.

I look back on my maternity leave with Lily so fondly.  4 months of getting paid just to be at home with my baby was euphoric.  But once I went back… well, I could write a whole book about the b.s. I endured after going back but that would be a huge digression.  So instead I’ll just say that it was really traumatic to go from the euphoria of a fully paid maternity leave to the b.s. that I won’t be digressing into now.

So in sum, not getting a real maternity leave is a bit of a bummer but for me it's much less of a bummer than having to make that transition from a full leave at home back to work in an office.  There’s not much of a high but there’s also no low either.

Lily doing some sort of Darth Vader ballet the other night.

Family selfie at Jason and Rosie's 1st baseball game this afternoon.  The kids were all amazingly well behaved and we had a really good time.

Jase enjoying his favorite book of the moment. He informed me "I'm reading" before climbing up into the chair.

Getting to know each other.

The only shot of Rosie's onesie since she spent the whole game snuggled up to me in the sling.

Lily loves holding Rosie.