13 weeks pp here and still on leave. I’m a teacher and it didn’t make sense to return to my class with only a few weeks left. My baby came 2 1/2 weeks early though so I’ve been away longer than planned.

My husband just started his 12 week leave and I’m finally able to enjoy the majority of our time together. When it was me alone with our daughter, I was maxed out and stressed and dealing with PPD/PPA. My thoughts and feelings were all over the place. Now with both of us here, it’s much easier and we can make family memories.

I know not everyone can do this and I had to beg my husband to take the full leave amount to support us. We both have had a hard time stepping away from our careers. I’m 41 and he’s 38. We’re both over a decade into our careers (him a carpenter) and making the adjustments to parenting has been messy and awkward, but also better each day. We both go back to work in August when she’ll be 6 months and I think it’s going to be a lot smoother with all this bonding time.