My maternity leave is officially over and today I head back to work. I am beyond sad to not get to spend the day with Madison, snuggle, kiss her face and play all day. I have had the most amazing time getting to spend 13 weeks with her while I was on maternity leave. It seems unbelievable that she will be 3 months old tomorrow. I still remember the minute she was born and the doctor put her on my chest. All I could see was her little face, thinking how little and perfect it was.
The early weeks of Madison's life seem like such a blur. Eric and I were taking a shot in the dark each day to figure out our new normal, a schedule for Madison and what she liked/didn't like in the way of soothing. As much as we felt prepared for her arrival, we were totally lost when we got her home and I wouldn't change those days for the world. The first few weeks, Eric would always take pictures of me with Madison and I would always fuss at him because it was right after I woke up. Now, 3 short months later, I am so thankful to have those pictures of us from her first few weeks.
After the first month, all of our sleep improved and Madison dropped down to only 1 night time feeding. This was so wonderful for our night time sleep and daytime productivity. Madison and I fell into a good routine during the day and started to get out of the house regularly. I have never enjoyed laundry, errands, cooking and cleaning as much as I have the past 2 months. We started a good routine to get a little bit done each day so that our weekends could be filled with family time when Eric was home from work.
As I go back to work today, I am excited to be back with my work friends and see all the little faces that fill our school each day. I have missed everyone and have started to feel very out of the loop the past month, most of which is my fault for really detaching myself from work and focusing on enjoying every little minute with Madison. Long story short, I love my job! I work with amazing people who are great to collaborate with. There are tons of little ones at school that I look forward to greeting this morning as they come into school. I can't wait to get back into classrooms and see the wonderful things going on, be a part of the exciting after school activities this time of year brings and prepare for next semester. As sad as I am to leave Madison, I know the people I work with will be there to support me as I move into our new normal. Only 2 1/2 weeks and then it is Christmas break!
