Yes I know this blog has turned into a “mummy blog” as of late but to be honest being a mummy has become a massive part of my life, I am trying to not let it take over completely but when you are breastfeeding and your baby refuses to take a bottle you can’t really leave them for long. Every 2 weeks on a Saturday I religiously go and have my nails done and enjoy an hour of peace. Also the minute she is bed at night, I try not to think about her. Tonight a lady is coming to give me a massage, I am so excited and so grateful to my dear friend Coralie for giving me this gift! Talking of which Coralie has an amazing company http://www.macocobox.com/  that creates arts and crafts boxes for children on a monthly basis, they deliver to England so please have a look round her website (it’s in French but it’s amazing!)  And when she naps in the morning ( I could write a whole post about bloody naps!) I sometimes don’t know what to do with the free time! I tried not to waste those precious minutes doing boring household stuff, the gossip pages of dailymail.com are much exciting, as are writing blog posts!

Back to maternity leave…the first thing I have to say is I pity women who don’t get a choice to spend more than a few weeks or months on maternity leave. I know some women could take a year off and don’t out of choice but many women don’t have this choice either for job security reasons (US women for example) or financial women. We are very lucky in the UK to be able to have a year off and go back to your job, some women are lucky to get more than the statutory pay (if I worked for my husband’s company for example I would have 9 months off on full pay! Sadly I don’t work for the biggest asset manager in the world, not to name them…) I think it s a privilege to be able to spend the first year of your child’s life with them, many women dream of this. I thought I would be bored, I thought I would go back after less than a year but there is no way I would now (I know I might change my mind in a few months). I love being with her, I can’t imagine having to give her to somebody else all day every day, once in awhile would be nice though! She makes me laugh so much, she’s such a happy baby. I didn’t realize the pleasure you can get through them. For example she loves our baby sensory classes and it makes me so happy to see her so happy. I know how sad my husband is to not see her in the week and I could not cope with that, not yet anyway.

People said I would feel like this but I wasn’t sure.. Also one of the best things about being on maternity leave is being able to see your friends a lot more than usual and being able to spend time with family.I am really grateful for that. Not just having the weekends makes a massive difference. All this time doesn’t mean I have become a perfect housewife, I still have a cleaner and the fridge is still regularly empty!

These first few months are so precious and I would not have missed them for the world. I do have moments of “I can’t just eat cake and go for coffee for a year” and I really miss going out for dinner and impromptu trips etc.. And nothing really exciting happens, no trips to NYC, no nights out etc. I really need to organise some nights out (the one good thing is once she is asleep at night, she never wakes up before midnight so it’s safe to go out!). On the other hand I am really excited about our first holiday abroad, I cant wait to see her in a pool even though I am scared of the 4.5 hour flight! I can’t believe we might be “those people” with a screaming baby!

All in all I have adapted very well to not working! I have lost some freedom but gained some in other ways. I am grateful to live in a country that permits a long maternity leave and gives women the choice to be with their babies or not.