Happy Mum, Happy Baby by Giovanna Fletcher

Author:Giovanna Fletcher [Giovanna Fletcher]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hodder and Stoughton
Published: 2017-01-07T05:00:00+00:00

16

GETTING BACK TO WORK

GETTING BACK TO WORK

I knew before Buzz was born that I’d have to start writing again when he was around six months old. That way I could stick to my publishing schedule, which was something I was really keen to do as I’d only had two novels published by that point. It felt like a premature time in my author career to have a huge gap between publications and I didn’t want what I’d already achieved to just fade into nothing. I knew that if I wanted to fully establish myself in the literary world then I had to keep going and not have longer than a year between books. I’d planned with my fabulous editor to hand in the first draft of my third novel, Dream a Little Dream, a year after Buzz was born. That gave me six months’ maternity leave, and six months to write the book. I knew it was going to be a tight turnaround, but I was familiar with my method of writing and knew I was up to the challenge. I also repeatedly told myself how lucky I was that I’d be able to work from home and that I’d still see Buzz all day – I know some mums have to be out of the house for the majority of the working day, so it seemed I had the perfect job to work alongside motherhood. I’d been told through a friend that one author used to have her child peacefully asleep next to her while she cracked on with her writing (and she writes extraordinary books), so I had a wonderful vision of my baby in his bouncer, gurgling away, while I did the same – elegantly using my toe to rock his chair every so often.

Hahahahahaaaa … fool!

It became clear to me that this fantasy scenario I’d dreamed up simply wasn’t for us. Buzz needed more from his daytime companion. He lived off 90-minute naps and needed stimulation. I knew I wouldn’t be able to give him that and work at the same time.

Having the end of my maternity leave looming in the distance was difficult, as I expect it is for most mums. The realisation that I wasn’t going to be spending every second of the day with the little human I’d been spending every second of the day with since he’d arrived was incredibly tough. Whenever I thought about it I’d experience this heaviness in my heart – as though I was already starting to miss him even though he was still with me. This feeling intensified the closer I got to the change occurring, but even more so at the five-month mark, because it was at this point that Buzz’s personality seemed to switch on. He became a completely different baby. He was super funny and interactive. He suddenly stopped crying and decided to laugh at everything instead (something that, rather interestingly, Buddy also did at around this point). And he really loved me – this was just so very clear.

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