This wouldn't have been possible without my mom's help. Babies grow fast and they go through new phases every so often, so once you feel like you've got the hang of it, everything changes again.
Knowing that my mom's watching over Amy while both Fernando and I are in a meeting means a lot. Working remotely for a distributed company has surely made things easier for us, but without her assistance returning to work so soon would have just been a dream.
Everything turned out great for me, but there were many external factors involved that should be taken into consideration:
- Not all pregnancies are easy. Not every woman will feel fine throughout the pregnancy and not all will be able to work until the very last minute.
- Not all babies are created equal. Some babies have colics, some others suffer from reflux, some don't have a sleeping cycle until they're 6 months old, and some have all of these at once.
- The baby blues are real. Getting back from the hospital and adapting to this new lifestyle takes a lot of effort. Your body hurts, your baby cries, and you don't know what's going on with your life most of the time.
- Time doesn't make it easier. One would think that after a while everything falls into place and you can quickly find a routine that works, but this hasn't happened for me yet.
- It takes a village to raise a child. Two hands aren't that much to take care of a baby. The more you've got, the easier it gets.
1 Second Everyday continues to grow and improve day by day and I'm constantly enjoying these enhancements. That's why, to make our current policy better, I would love to see it extended to 12-weeks paid leave for maternity, paternity, or adoption. Plus an additional 4-weeks paid pregnancy leave for moms-to-be. With the opportunity for employees to split up or reduce as needed. Moreover, I would like to see the company enforce at least 4 weeks of that time off to make sure the employee has time to truly disconnect and focus on their family.