Bump, baby and going back to work
It’s been a while. But actually, I have a legitimate excuse this time. As you may know, I gave birth to our baby boy at the end of June. Then I blinked and now it’s 15 weeks later.
Xander was born on the 30th of June, two weeks ahead of his due date. In fact, he was born literally hours after I signed off work for maternity leave. I finished at around 5.30pm on Tuesday 29th and my contractions started less than five hours later. So I didn’t exactly have much time to rest (something I quickly got used to). Luckily, I felt prepared both mentally and physically and most of the things were in place to prepare for his arrival. Once things had got moving, I was too excited to meet our baby to care. (We didn’t know what we were having).
His birth experience was great—I was lucky to have a low-risk pregnancy and thankfully things progressed quickly and (relatively) calmly. I have hypnobirthing and some close friends’ advice to thank for this. Hypnobirthing armed me with knowledge about labour, helped to eliminate any fear I had around birth and ultimately guided me to relax up to and during the main event. If you, or any of your friends, are pregnant or hoping to be one day, I really urge you to look into it. Even if your birth plan doesn’t go to plan or having children isn’t in your life path, the breathing techniques, visualisations and positive affirmations can help you in any situation. And the education around the body and hormones is invaluable. I would go as far as to say it’s one of the best things I’ve ever committed to.
The last three and a half months have been tremendous, but also tiring and testing. Xander is a relatively ‘chilled’ baby, but he still has his many moments. Just when you think you’ve cracked an area, along come the grizzlies and sleep regressions. (Fellow parents, can you hear me?). But at the same time, I really can’t complain. The joys of seeing Xander’s new discoveries and the slightest of breakthroughs (albeit how temporary) are bliss, and it’s brilliant fun tapping into my childish self and making up songs and stories for him.
But now it’s time to get back to work. I feel ready and financially it makes sense for me to return. Of course, I’ll miss being with Xander all day every day, but I’m really looking forward to reconnecting with my clients and getting to work on some new contracts and projects. Plus, I’ll be working from home so I won’t be too far away—in fact, at first Xander will be looked after by close family or my partner in the same house, which helps to ease us in a little. So the whole thing doesn’t feel too daunting at all.
It’s a new chapter and challenge and little Xander will just be in the next room. For now, anyway.
Until next time x