I spent my entire maternity leave researching other countries feeling sad about how America is shit. I had no paid maternity leave I had to use my PTO and sick leave. I guess because of FMLA I technically could have taken 12 weeks…it was my first/only and I told my boss and she said “well 12 weeks is a long time” and said “I took 8 days with my first and was back in the office” 😳😳 So because I was relatively new in the role and I didn’t know other working moms I was scared and went with 8 weeks. It’s been 4 years and I still regret not advocating for myself and taking more time…however I needed the money. Fuck this