Maternity Leave

Once upon a time, there was a girl named Janna who was only going to take six weeks off after the birth of her first child.  In fact, she was willing to go back to work after only three or four weeks if circumstances necessitated it.

It's been eight, almost nine weeks now.

And she still doesn't really *want* to go back.

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It's not that I don't want to go back to work per se.  It's more that our original plan - for me to work just enough to keep my benefits - is incompatible with Chris's work schedule (new as of mid-October).  He's gone from 6am - 8pm, Monday through Saturday.  Ergo, we'd have to get a babysitter for two of my three requisite (to keep benefits) shifts, and that's assuming I want to work on Chris's one day off.  Which I don't.

We went back and forth on what to do about this dilemma.  It's not necessary financially or insurance-ly for me to be working, since Chris has benefits through his job and works more hours than both of us used to work combined.  However, it's costruction.  Getting laid off, even temporarily, isn't a matter of "if" so much as it is "when."  Trader Joe's doesn't pay enough for us to live on long-term, but it's absolutely enough to put gas in the cars and groceries in the fridge for a few weeks or a month at a time.  So I'm going back at twelve weeks part-time.

Extreeeemely part time,  Like, one shift a week part time.  I'll probably go back up to three shifts once Chris is working forty hours (as opposed to seventy) a week, but for now I'm going to be a few hours a week from being a stay at home mom.

Crazy, right?

I'm typing this with Levi sleeping next to me, and I can honestly say that while my social life is pretty limited these days, I have a hard time being away from him for more than a few hours.  One shift a week should be just enough to keep me from vanishing down the rabbit hole of home life...and honestly, I miss my coworkers!  I don't miss every day and certainly don't miss working full time, but it will be fun to catch up with all the customers who got to watch my belly grow from January through the end of September.  And now I have baby pictures to show off!