What did you do on maternity leave?

[karinothing]

In the beginning watched a lot of TV. We had netflix, but I watched a lot of on demand stuff. Then I

- went to mommy and me movies
- mommy and me yoga
- museums
- lots of walks
- went to the zoo
- went on vacation
- hung out with friends
- went to mommy and me happy hours
- went to the library

ETA: I had a 6 month maternity leave. I needed to get out lol.

[Brie]

I didn't watch much Netflix. Just TV. Particularly TLC.

I tried to get out every day, even just for a walk around the neighborhood. We went to Target and the grocery store a lot.

[ECB]

HGTV was on almost constantly. I needed ML, wo question. But there is a fair amount of downtime/ need to veg out time. Especially at 3 am.

[jr009j]

We walked around the mall a lot.

[rt2008]

I watched a ton of t.v. And went on a lot of walks (it was summer, I definitely couldn't do that here right now!).

[pinkdutchtulips]

research for the upcoming Fantasy Football season .. i won my league's Super Bowl the year dd was born lol

[fbf2006]

I mostly watched TV and hung out with my mum (she stayed with us the whole time). I also did some work the first couple of weeks to help complete an audit.

[Jalapeñomel]

Mar 3, 2014 17:43:32 GMT -5 @this said:

I watched an ungodly amount of TV.

This.

I still don't know what to do with my time with this shitty weather and no car.

[Yankees21]

I haven't started my ML yet, but I think Netflix would be a must, especially for $7.99/month. There are so many series on there that I want to watch.

[Deleted]

TV and sweatpants.

[Deleted]

I was off for 6 months so it evolved over time. In the beginning, watched a ton of TV with a baby attached to my boob what seemed like around the clock. Once we moved past that we took daily walks around the neighborhood or a local lake, lots of wandering the mall and having lunch etc. I tried to get out of the house every day but it was the middle of the summer for a lot of my leave and it was incredibly hot and humid so we were limited in outdoor activities, hence the mall.

[SallySparrow]

I watched a lot of Netflix. A lot. We didn't have cable at the time, so it was Netflix or DVDs. Other than that, I did run errands (Target, grocery store, etc), and tried to figure out how to walk the dogs with a stroller.

[fortmyersbride]

1st ML: watched Gilmore girls and lots of baking competitions (I loved the extreme cake shows), BF'd, pump for my freezer supply, and went for a walk and to target most days.

2nd ML: watched Gilmore girls and top chef during the 3 hrs my older kid was at PS, BF'd pumped for my stash. In the afternoons we usually went somewhere (park, aquarium, kids' museum or play place) after picking up DS from PS.

[badgergrl]

Nurse and watch tv. Usually at the same time. Eat all the things in the house. Avoid going outside since the winter refuses to die.

[justjen]

Mostly sat trapped under a nursing/sleeping baby, watched a lot of tv and did a lot of gbcn-ing

[dbsk8dance]

We got through 5 seasons of LOST on my first ML.

[havarti]

Went for a lot of walks, drove the baby around for naps a bunch (and just to get out of the house), napped with my baby, surfed the web on my Kindle while bfing.

IDK -- it's all kind of a blur -- it seems like SO MUCH and so little at the same time!

[havarti]

Mar 3, 2014 17:51:38 GMT -5 badgergrl said:

Nurse and watch tv. Usually at the same time. Eat all the things in the house. Avoid going outside since the winter refuses to die.

This too!  A lot of Nutella and graham crackers were consumed!

[iheartbanjos]

Exercised daily, cleaned out closets one by one, picked up DD from preschool and didn't have to send her to aftercare. We normally did a puzzle or played a game before DH got home. I also did meal planning.

DD1 was colicky-like, pediatrician recommended a support group, colicky. We walked 7 miles a day and didn't do much else.

[LaceyV]

I watched a lot of Netflix and Hulu. We also went to target and the mall a lot so I could be in the presence of adults lol.

[mcfelix]

Watched 6 seasons of Dexter, lots of HGTV and TLC
Took walks through the neighborhood
Went to the mall
Went to a moms' group once a week

I enjoyed maternity leave but was happy going back to work. I have to say DS is a lot more fun now (7.5 months) than he was on ML. He's a little person instead of an immobile blob.

[Deleted]

Soothed a fussy baby, surfed the internet, slept, read books about how to calm a fussy baby, went shopping at BRU/BBB.

[sporklemotion]

Mar 3, 2014 17:51:46 GMT -5 justjen said:

Mostly sat trapped under a nursing/sleeping baby, watched a lot of tv and did a lot of gbcn-ing

This sums up the last 3 months of my life.  A lot of it depends on your baby and your tolerance for screaming.  My baby does not like to chill independently, and she nurses a ton.  So most of the day is spent on the couch.

 I do go out every day, but try to plan activities that will allow for a quick exit if E gets fussy.  If the weather were better, we would probably take lots of walks.


i did join a mother's group through a local community organization.  That has been huge.  Other friends have recommended looking for kids' activities at the library.  Even when your child is too young, it's nice to be around other parents.

[drloretta]

I became a total homebody. DD started falling asleep on me in the afternoons, so I got a lot of On Demand Movies We did a lot of walks around the neighborhood. I did a couple of GTGs for coffee and such.

[Deleted]

In addition to walks, the zoo, family visits, 1 bazillion trips to Target and GBCNing, I watched every single episode of a The West Wing on Netflix. My husband watched every episode of Battlestar Galactica and Breaking Bad up until that point.

[cricketwife]

Mar 3, 2014 17:55:15 GMT -5 iheartbanjos said:

Exercised daily, cleaned out closets one by one, picked up DD from preschool and didn't have to send her to aftercare. We normally did a puzzle or played a game before DH got home. I also did meal planning.

DD1 was colicky-like, pediatrician recommended a support group, colicky. We walked 7 miles a day and didn't do much else.

Wait.  Are you serious?  Are you just here to make us all look bad?

Me- feed baby, soothe baby, maybe pee.  maybe shower. TV and GBCN.

ETA:  and multiple visits to the LC.

[Deleted]

Slept! I took as many naps as possible. Pumped a ton (but that was because we had issues). Walked a ton - around the park but also to restaurants where I could sit for a while. Watched The Good Wife, Hearts of Dixie and some other shows. Went to stay with my family for a few days here and there. Took a couple weekend trips with H and DS.

[drink227]

Since this winter has sucked not much.
Lots of time watching tv (Netflix, on demand , amazon prime).
Read some
Support groups (BFing support group weekly)
Infant massage class
Sleep training class
Visiting people at work
Sleeping/napping/laziness

[elcjet]

Wow, look at all these overachievers!!

With #1, I just barely managed to survive and keep DS fed.

With #2, we did a weekly breastfeeding connections class.  DH and I watched 2 seasons of The Walking Dead every night....and by day I watched Downton Abby.  I met DH for lunch often, and sometimes we'd go for walks.  But pretty much, I was only home for 8 weeks so I slept when the baby slept and didn't try to do too much because I knew going back to work would really make me tired!  (And DS went to daycare, so I was out twice a day doing pickup and dropoff with the baby)

[sent]

I read a lot of MMM and other mommy stuff to figure out how to take care of a NB and if what my kid was doing was considered normal.

We were under strict orders to not go anywhere besides medical professional places. We had cabin fever very badly for these past 2 months. We did find a nice BFing support group to attend but missed 4 meetings due to the weather.

If I could take her out without having to dress her in 42 layers, I would probably be inclined to go to more places.