Work has been a good release for me. I'm seeing bits and pieces of my old self. What is really tough though is when people ask how my maternity leave went. Sometimes I get lucky and they simply ask what we had. And I say we had a beautiful baby girl named Francesca. Today though when I told one client that I was back from maternity leave, he asked how everything went. Those exact words. What do I say to that? It was hard to avoid it. So I just told him, briefly, in as few words as I could. And then I had to choke back my tears, pause, and gather myself before I could continue talking. I'm sure people understand. But it hits me at unusual times when I least expect it. It's like getting side-swiped, but I still have to get up because I'm at work. Other than that though, work has been very, very good. I like what I do.

A couple of support groups meet at the beginning of the month, so I'm looking forward to going to one or two of those. We'll see. I'll at least try, and if I don't like it I don't have to continue. I've found quite a bit of support from an online group called Inspire Preemies as well as from a couple of people at work. It's amazing how many people have experienced the same thing, but you'd never know it. I guess you don't talk about it unless someone asks you directly. It helps sometimes when I imagine her watching over us.