What challenges to expect at work after maternity leave?

[Anonymous]

First, how to get out the door in the morning...in the beginning it took upwards of 2 hours until I started getting things ready the night before.
The hardest job-related part for me was the loss of concentration, the inability to remember ANYTHING (new or old), and remembering how to stay organized. I'm still working on it...but luckily work in a very flexible, family-oriented environment with other moms. I also had to return to take over a large project, plus my previous ones...and I was just up front with my shortcomings, especially for the first few months when we weren't sleeping through the night. Once you get some decent sleep you tend to function much better
As for pumping, I am lucky to have my own office and have figured out how to multi-task while emailing or on conference calls. A nice 'please do not disturb - send an email if it's important' sign and mentioning to some key coworkers what the sign means has helped. However, as things got busier I found I was pumping less and less (3x/day, 2x/day, 1x/day)...so in addition to my son's self-weaning (he's 10 months), I've slowed BF-ing to once at bedtime and once in the morning. Once pumping is out of the picture, things get a lot less complicated.

[Anonymous]

I found the hardest thing was catching up with work once I got back. It took 3 months after returning to get to a normal pace of work (I manage a department, so the regular work was done while I was gone, but nothing else, so I had to dive into some new projects right in the middle of them). I think it was actually better that I was so busy - I had no trouble missing the baby or anything because I didn't have time to.

[Anonymous]

I had a longer maternity leave - 6 months - so the return to work was easier. My son was getting more independent and he LOVES his caregiver. So, it has been too easy to go back into my old work mentality, chained to the desk for hours, etc.

Too easy, because sometimes I'll forget to pump or I'll put it off so long that I'll realize it's time to head home. The problem is me, not my boss. I have to make myself take those breaks.

I do always get to leave on time, though. I'm not a salaried employee and we don't have an overtime budget, so I leave promptly at quitting time. Go union.

[Anonymous]

I found the daily routine exhausting for a while--get up super-early to shower and get dressed (partially, because you may be spit-up upon or peed on, or ?), nurse my son, eat breakfast, finish dressing, nurse one more quick time, and gather up everything (thank God for my husband)--purse, laptop, pump with all the parts, bottles for my son. Then to daycare, then work (and pumping), then back to daycare for pickup, home to nurse, put son to bed, wash bottles, etc., and then start it all over again. It does get easier as time goes on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:if you are going back to your same employer after a maternity leave, be ready for this one:

Everyone just thinks of you as the mom who just had the baby, not really as a strong performer if you are/were one. You'll get the question "how's the little one" a lot, especially from those who can't remember the baby's name. For me, this is a hard thing to get used to, and I try and pick and chose who I talk to about the baby or my home life, because I don't want that to be the first thing that people think about me at work.

I agree with this post if you work in an intense/male dominant place. I unfairly get a lot of "mom" perceptions placed on me. People think you are the mom, the house keeper, the cook, the laundry worker, the one who takes the kids t the doctor, etc. because that is what their wife at home is doing. But I have to fight this perception, because that is not how things are in my household. My husband does more than 50/50 at f the kids duties, and my resources and efforts are very available for work. When my kids are sick, my husband steps up to the plate more than 50 percent of the time that our parents are not able to step in. etc. etc. So I agree that the perception thing is very important to manage, because in many cases a lot of perceptions are unfairly placed on you as a working mom.