Something you wish you did on maternity leave?

financialdiva

I am far from bored, but I am trying to make the most of my leave which is already 1/3 of the way over!! 

What is something you wish you did while on leave or glad you took care of while on leave?  

ITGurl0626

I don't know why I holed myself up in the house while I was on maternity leave. I wish I took more walks outside with my baby.

nawlinsgrl

That's a great question, and I want to see what others have to say.  We moved homes 1 week after DD was born, so I was busy with that last time.  This time, I'll have two LOs, but shouldn't have any other major tasks to tend to, so looking forward to seeing what suggestions other have.

shannm

I had planned to organize my digital photos. Also all of the stuff from DS like early artwork, school pics, etc.. Never got to it though. Those six weeks went so fast!

jcath

I just really focused on enjoying the time and taking care of myself.  I planned for and used help - a night nanny and my parents came most mornings to let me sleep in.  I was lucky enough to have wonderful friends who brought us dinner for six weeks straight and the rest of the time I just enjoyed holding and cuddling those my little ones.  You never get that time back and its hard to realize how precious it is until its gone.

brazzale

I wish I'd relaxed at home a bit more.  DS & I were always on the go.  Traveling to see family, running errands, meeting friends for coffee or lunch, etc.  Felt like we had something once/day at least. 

one thing I'm glad I did - DS is an early spring baby and we had a super warm early spring so we got out for a walk almost every day, that was great.

jenspeidel

I really wish that I would have started DD's scrapbook.  It's so much easier to do as things happen rather than doing months worth at a time.

MirandaHobbes

Got most of the baby book done. Had a big garage sale. Visited my parents when I could. Did a lot of gardening. I had an easy baby!

2chatter

Nothing really.  I had 16 weeks and am glad I spent it enjoying my baby.

We did lots of lunches with friends which was awesome - I cannot dash downtown to grab a friend for lunch with my normal life.

I do wish - and this is not specific to maternity leave - I would have made more effort to take amazing pics of DS.  I was so busy - playing, nursing, lunching - that I just didn't put him in the cute outfits on the cute backgrounds and snap away as much as I would have liked that first year. 

cltk12

It was summer so ds and I went for a walk every morning and every afternoon. We had just built a house so I did a lot of house shopping and met others for walks, lunch, etc so I made sure that every 3rd day was a down day so we could cuddle and rest.

jf198400

Some things I did on both of my ML's was get newborn portraits taken, work on their baby books, planned and had the Baptism, cook and freeze some meals for when you go back to work, thank you cards for all gifts, wash and organize baby clothes in larger sizes.  On my 2nd ML I had my older DD home too, we went to activities like gym class, music class, storytime, children's museum, playgrounds, etc. pretty much everyday.  I really enjoyed getting the chance to do all those fun things.

thedash

I actually wish I had gotten a sitter or had DH take a day off near the end so I could have a few hours to myself. I needed a haircut and still felt frumpy when I went back to work. I didn't fit in my regular clothes well yet at 9 weeks PP but I didn't take the time to figure out some outfits I felt good in, browse TJ Maxx for some things that fit, get some new makeup and a haircut and eyebrows done. The first few months back I felt like I had no time for those things either because we were getting used to our routine, I was slammed at work, and I missed the baby!

itsmevkb

I really love just holding a sleeping baby so I made sure to really take the time to do that instead of always putting the baby down and running off to do laundry or clean out closets, etc.  Having said that, I did take the time to get some stuff around the house more organized and used the time to have fun with my older kids.  With all of my leaves except the first, I had an older child who wasn't in school yet when I had the baby so we would go fun places.  It was wonderful to have that time not only with my baby but with my toddlers.

bumpuser2505903

This is such a great post, it literally made me cry...must be the hormones! Anyway, I agree with a lot of the posters above. I enjoyed planning/hosting a Sip and See, newborn photos, got things together for Baptism (although it took place after I was back to work), worked on scrapbooking, visited with my family a lot. 

I'm looking forward to having a maternity leave with my toddler home this fall. I plan to still have our nanny to help but it will be so nice to go to Little Gym, the Children's Museum and the Zoo. All of the things I feel like I miss out on while I'm normally at work. 

financialdiva

itsmevkb:

I really love just holding a sleeping baby so I made sure to really take the time to do that instead of always putting the baby down and running off to do laundry or clean out closets, s.

Ugh. I have such an awesome little guy who lets me put him down that I am so guilty of this. I am going to make it a point to get a few extra nap time snuggles in now.

I have done his newborn pics and already sent his announcements. Planned and hosted a bday party for DS1. Already planning the baptism. Not a fan of scrap booking but i need to get some new pictures printed for the walls to now include DS2. Would love to visit family more, but everyone works. But lunch dates are a great idea though. Really need to start walking!! And I need to plan some fun outings with DS1!!

Thanks ladies!

NicoleWI

Same as PP--I wanted to organize all of our photos! Didn't get to it. I still have some days off since I'm starting back PT but I just don't think it's likely to happen.

I also need to update baby books.

redheadscu

I wish I had gone swimming with the baby more. He was born in late Feb, and I was on mat leave until July 1. The weather was beautiful, but I really didn't get him into the pool at my parents house until late June. They are very close, and LO loved the water, so I wish I had tried it earlier.

I also wish I had taken him more places in general. Even though he might've been a little young to fully enjoy the zoo and Fairytale Town and places like that, I think it still would've been enjoyable for both of us. I started doing some of those things towards the end of my mat leave, but I wish I had done it more and earlier, once he was old enough to take out and about.

One thing I'm really glad I did was take so many pictures both on my own and at portrait studios. All of the traditional big ones (JC Penney, Sears, Picture People) send out coupons. So, the photos were really cheap, and even though I only bought a few poses each time and they're all in a "traditional" setting, I have a record of his growth through the first year. I had photos taken when he was newborn, then at Easter (2 months), Baptism (3 months), 4 months, 7 months, Christmas (10 months), and 1 year. He'll be one tomorrow, and last night I was looking at his photos and couldn't believe how much he'd changed from picture to picture. You can see the milestones where he's pushing up, then sitting unsupported, then crawling, then standing. So, that's one thing I was really happy about. (started on mat leave and then continued)

anvloveskme

I wish I got out more with DD, but as a first time mom I was kind of a wuss about it.  This time, DD #1 will be in preschool and daycare part time, and I want to try to get out more with DD#2.  I am going to try to find a baby and me weight watchers meeting and get going on that right away.  I also wish I would have pumped more to have a larger freezer stash for when DD went to day care, so I will make more of an effort this time as well.

laurakaz13

Gone to the spa a few times.  Slept more.  It was summertime in Arizona, so we couldn't go outside. 

Otherwise, just learning to be a mom took up all my time. 

SunAndRain

I really enjoyed our weekly Mommy and Me yoga which we started at 4 weeks and our weekly swim class which we started at 10 weeks.  I also went to a breast feeding support group one morning per week which was a great way to connect with other moms.

I really wanted to make a digital photo album but that never happened.  I watched way too much TV (a few hours per day)

I walked as often as possible in the mornings but if I wasn't out by 7 AM it was all ready too hot.

I wish I had spent more time practicing cooking.

I wish I took more naps - I rarely did.

One month straight I spent every afternoon with DH's grandmother while she recovered from a broken hip.  Holding DD was part of her therapy.  And it gave me a break from cuddles and some nice social time.

 Twenty weeks flew by.

LoCarb

I wish I would've slept more. When the baby was sleeping I was busy working out, doing household chores, surfing the web,etc....

boogerbearoriginal

When I was on leave I wish I had cooked more for the freezer when I went back to work lol. Those would have been way more handy the first few weeks back when I felt like a walking zombie.

I wish I had taken more pics of Me/H with LO, instead of just pics of LO. I have a million of just LO, but very few that include all of us.

And I wish we had gone out more, taken advantage of the ability to go places. Obviously LO wouldn't know/remember, but for my own sanity. I spent way too much time holed up in the house when I could've been visiting people, seeing cool things, etc. 

LeahCK

I wish I had taken all of the advice from all of those women who said "sleep when the baby sleeps" instead of trying to "do things". I was too busy recovering from my natural birth to do a whole lot of physical activity so no regrets there.

Maybe have my sewing machine up so that I could sew/quilt a bit more.

That's really about it.