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Breastfeeding is not hard.

Wow, I can’t believe I just said that. Like many women, I faced challenges breastfeeding my first child and felt like a failure when I eventually abandoned it altogether. Now that I have succeeded in exclusively breastfeeding my second child, where I had “failed” the first time, I regard my previous experience in a much different way.

(photo courtesy Stephen Recker)

#1) Walmart is amazing.

Before I had a baby, I was an inefficient shopper. I'd easily stop four times an outing, and pick up one or two of my special favourite things at each stop. I preferred to give my money to local stores because I knew what they had was of really good quality, and I love to buy things fresh. Then I had a baby and discovered Walmart, or more specifically, the Walmart Superstore.

I recently realized I hadn’t seen my baby books in a while, and had no idea where they were.

My friends and family would probably agree that I'm quite the laid-back person, really. I didn't freak out during pregnancy when my life and my body was nothing but change. No more wine with dinner, no more late nights, no more 12 hour workdays, no more sleeping on my back. I didn't even mind when I had to retire my regular wardrobe, nor did I get upset when my husband finally made me wear my running shoes to work for fear of me slipping on the ice in the parking lot. We were so overjoyed with starting a family that none of that mattered.

I ’ve had two weeks back at work so far, and I have to say it’s gone pretty well. I was very apprehensive in the weeks leading up to my return to the real world, and increasingly anxious as the day grew closer. I cleverly arranged to take some vacation time after my maternity leave was officially up, and even more cleverly arranged to return on a Tuesday, instead of a Monday, as my first day. This worked very well since my sister’s wedding was the weekend before and, as per Murphy’s Law, Junior got a tummy bug and was vomitous for that whole weekend.

I have officially begun the ambivalent countdown to my return to paid-outside-the-house work. It’s four months and counting, which means that I am the proud mother of an 8-month-old. How on earth did that happen?? It seems like only yesterday that I was lugging around a person inside of me, anxiously awaiting any sign of contractions. My sense of time has been forever altered since I became pregnant and had a baby, and I’m pretty sure this is common to most parents.

We recently spoke to Laura who works for a pharmaceutical company and is preparing to return to work a year after the birth of her son.

Are you looking forward to going back to work?