LaToya M. Sutton

I always envisioned that I would be a stay-at-home mom. But once my maternity leave was up, I knew I couldn’t realistically afford to give up my paycheck to be at home with my baby.

The first week back at work was rough. There were tears — lots of tears. I finally have the baby I’ve waited years for, and I have to spend eight hours away from him every day. It really doesn’t seem fair. But, after two months back at work, it has gotten easier.

Then, there’s breastfeeding. We got off to a rough start with it, and I made the difficult choice to supplement with formula but my goal was to get my son back on breast milk exclusively. I knew going back to work would make that goal a lot more difficult to achieve. I haven’t given up, and I’ve done pretty well with pumping during the day and breastfeeding exclusively at night.

I do love my job, but I can’t help but feel everyday that I’m missing out on so much of my son’s life. Deciding to go to work instead of being home with him is, I’m sure, just the first of a lifetime of sacrifices I’ll have to make to do what’s best for my child.

Related articles

• Pumping for the future – thoughts on life and work balance in the Foreign Service (3rdculturechildren.wordpress.com)
• Study: Longer Maternity Leave, More Breastfeeding (blogs.wsj.com)
• What Mom should be paid (dontmesswithtaxes.typepad.com)

Tags: Breast milk, breastfeeding, family, home, Mother, Parental leave, Parents, stay-at-home mom, working mother