Returning to work 2 months after giving birth

I delivered my first corporate facilitation since giving birth and wanted to reflect on what it was like getting back into the swing of work since giving birth.

Technically this isn’t really “going back to work” in the sense that I don’t have a full time schedule, but it is in the sense of engaging with clients while figuring out how to coordinate with a newborn.

The pros:

During the facilitation I got in the zone and it felt like the most normal thing I’ve done since giving birth.

The cons:

Physically and logistically it wasn’t hard to coordinate child care and go to work. But mentally I definitely felt a burden for the weeks leading up to the facilitation.

I’d get up at 3am with the baby and would sit on the sofa breastfeeding and thinking about emails I’d need to send or wondering about how to design the flow of the workshop. This was a lot more stressful than pre-baby because I felt a lot of guilt about not being mentally present with her, and I also worried about leaving her for the day and about whether or not she’d take a bottle (she had been rejecting it for a couple weeks prior to the session).

My learnings are that I am capable and open to doing more training, however I want to avoid anything that is too unfamiliar that requires a lot of mental prep work. I am also open to doing coaching sessions since I don’t have mental burden between sessions.

It’s a work in progress but all part of the transition!