Nice to meet you!

First, a little about myself to give some context to the rest of my thoughts. I am (almost) 28 years old, I have been married 5 1/2 years and gave birth to our first child at the end of 2007, our son will be 12 weeks old tomorrow. My maternity leave just ended, and this past week was my first full week back at work. I have very mixed feelings about being back at work full time and apart from my baby. My mom was a stay at home mom and I always pictured myself doing the same thing, without really questioning whether that is what I wanted or not. Financial circumstances were the main reason for me returning to work so quickly, but this whole process has forced me to do some soul searching about my thoughts on working now that I am a mom. For the last 3 months my life has revolved around the rhythms of my newborn's life. Sure I met friends for lunch, and did things for my own fun these last 3 months but my day was structured around his need to eat, sleep and "play." It felt so natural to slide into this lifestyle and going back to work feels like an abrupt, unnatural break.

On the other hand, I like working. I like earning money, and the intellectual challenges that are part of my job. There is also something about preserving some of my independence that is very attractive-something could happen to my husband or his job and I would be okay. I like that feeling.

I am trying to work through my thoughts and feelings as I figure out my new identity as a working mom.