This week, I was finally able to finish work – hurrah! This was great on many levels, not least because over the last few weeks I have become more and more distracted by this massive life change P and I are about to undergo, and have started to worry that I just won't get it all done in time.
Plus I've been increasingly tired - by 3pm each afternoon recently, I really hit a slump, and no amount of cups of tea and Hobnobs helped! I also found it difficult to concentrate on or care about projects that will continue in my absence, let alone what was going down in office politics! Having said that, P describes my personality type as a "finisher-completer" and there has been a certain satisfaction in covering off outstanding tasks and issues in preparation for my maternity leave.
I pondered long and hard over the decision to finish now at the end of 33 weeks – I could have continued to week 36, however, a baby is considered full term by medical professionals at 37 weeks and I was anxious to have enough time to prepare myself, mentally and physically for the birth and then the baby itself. I've witnessed girlfriends and colleagues who have worked right up until the 37th week and then had the baby days later, only to be a bit overwhelmed by suddenly having a newborn to look after with no mental transition time. Now I feel like I can properly concentrate on looking after myself and the little one, and just enjoy the last few weeks that P and I will have together as just a couple.
I plan on making a project out of preparing the nursery and I would also like to catch up with all the other niggling, outstanding chores that never seem to get dealt with in the evening or over the weekends – you know, the boring stuff like filing that huge pile of paperwork and answering emails that should really have been responded to months before! Sounds like a riot, hey? So actually, while it would seem as if I have finished 'work', it looks like I still have quite a lot of work to do!
When did you or do you plan to finish work? What things did you or would you like to do for yourself afterwards in preparation for your baby's arrival?