Maternity leave appreciation thread. Meet pigaletto (aka Archie) with whom I have had the distinct pleasure of chilling with for the past few months. Thread 1/15

“How was your maternity leave?” People will ask?

“Good” I will say, but here’s the truth of it. 2/15

It was hard. It was exhausting and exhilarating. It was impossible and wonderful. After a relatively speedy birth (fast = more painful in my case) I dislocated my knee postpartum and am still learning to walk. 3/15

Having a newborn can be isolating. Having a newborn, losing the ability to walk or leave the house in a global pandemic is merciless. (I won’t even get into the mastitis). 4/15

But I’m slowly putting myself back together and making my health a priority as I re-enter the workplace (Ask to see my collection of therabands, I have them in all the colors of the rainbow). 5/15

A couple etiquette things. Please do not ask how my “break” was. A desk job is actually a break from caring for a tiny human who does not sleep. 6/15

Please do not exclaim how “long” our leave is. Yes, Twitter leave is generous by standards in the United States (and I am grateful), but pales in comparison to other places like Europe, Canada and Australia. 7/15

Please do not ask “who is looking after the baby” - this is not a question fathers get I promise 8/15

DO feel free to tell me how cute my baby is when he crashes meetings. 9/15

DO support the flexibility I need to breastfeed and normalize cameras off when needed. 10/15

And finally, while I may have had a tough time, I was (mostly) not afraid for my life based on the medical care I received as a cisgender white woman. 11/15

More women in the US are dying from pregnancy and childbirth related causes today than in the past 20 years and black women are more likely to die from conditions like hemorrhage and preeclampsia... 12/15

... even though they’re not more likely to develop these conditions that threaten women’s health during childbirth. Source: https://www.momsrising.org/campaigns/maternal-justice 13/15

Please join me in sending some dollars to @momrising, their mission: “We believe that racism, misogyny, sexism, violence and all forms of hate have no place in our country.... 14/15

"And we are centered in our commitment to advancing policy and cultural change that make the world a better place for all moms and families.” FIN 15/15