mat leave tomorrow - what do I do after as feeling a bit lost!

[cotswolder]

Just that really. Finish work tomorrow on mat leave - due early jan. So used to working, doing e-mails, having a job! that I'm already feeling a bit lost/down and not sure what to do with myself even though I do work at home a fair bit.

Normal evening conversations with DH are are based partly on what we did today. Think mine might be a little boring for the next month....

Any advice beyond keeping busy????? Planning to make curtains for nursery, lots of dog walking (or as much as I can with my aches and pains) and seeing few friends?

Sit on the sofa, eat cakes, watch crap TV and MN.

appreciate it! DS arrived three weeks early so I didn't get to do all the stuff I had planned (pg massage being the one I was looking forward to the most)
I think I managed to do some knitting ... that was about it!

Be prepared to be a lot more tired - I stopped at this time when I was pregnant with DS2 - born late January.

I had an afternoon sleep every day, and planned one other thing to do per day.

I also had some marking to do but I left it until January when I was rested enough to face it again.

With Christmas coming up you won't see the time go by.

Oooh I'm so jealous. I had planned to use my maternity leave to sort out photo albums and generally organise the house. Didn't happen.

Lunches with friends, lounging on the sofa, watching christmas tv, reading mn - all sound good to me

What mylife said.

Seriously once you have cleaned/washed/bought bits/packed bag etc to your satisfaction all you will actually want to do is meet friends, eat, laze and sleep.

Do all of it without feeling a bit guilty. Especially the sleep.

Get everything ready - bags, nursery, food in freezer, etc, etc - then spend the time either resting/relaxing, doing fun stuff that will be harder with a newborn or doing stuff to help prepare you for labour, like walking.

I'm so tired all the time now that daily naps are a must if I'm to stay awake past 6pm and I don't actually have all that much time spare.

What mylife said

I have very fond memories of doing precisely that when expecting dd1

And if you go on to have any more DC there is zero opportunity to laze and slob around...

I started mine last monday, i am due in 3 weeks but had ds1 3 weeks early so last time finished work on friday and had him on the monday. Was really looking forward to being off but i am bored already. Day time tv is rubbish all my friends/family at work so no company. Everything is ready for baby, cleaned, washed and cooking for freezer done.
Just waiting for baby now.

I am 38 weeks tomorrow, have done everything I need to do for baby and am absolutely bored to death.

Daytime TV is brainmeltingly inane.
I can't read books/MN for 10 hours a day.
The freezer is full.
Baby's clothes are washed.
It's far too cold to enjoy walking about.

Bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored

oh i am so . I went into labour at work [but didn't work it out until the evening] and so never got leave. I would make the most of it by sleeping.

Have you got all your nursing bras etc?

I got mine the first day I was on mat leave (pacing myself so I could pack my bag another day and buy cot and so on) but I never got the chance. DS was early.

If you have your hospital bag ready, all your baby stuff ready and have done the nesting thing (if you want to) then I suggest mainly lying around! [grin}

Seriously you will be busy enough after you have the baby! See friends for lunch, lie around watching TV, definitely do the afternoon nap thing, maybe go and have a massage/pedicure/manicure.

This is the last time for a very long time it is going to be all about you - enjoy!

God I am just thinking back to my 3 weeks leave. It was wonderful .....

read books, go to the pictures, start checking out cafes in the daytime for which ones seem baby friendly (by which I mean space for buggies), sleep lots, have long baths enjoying the silence, watch films all the way to the end (seriously, Can't remember the last time DP and I watched a film all in one go, we're too knackered to stay up late enough and our DS is a good sleeper).
really, enjoy it and don;t worry about being boring, hopefully your DH will be happy that you are chilled out. I didn't realise how tired I was at work until I stopped.

Also, its december - go shopping during the weekday when its less crowded

oohhhh thanks all. Will get things ready and then chill and not feel bad about it after reading what you have all said! Will show this to DH I think as well.

Quite looking forward to afternoon naps and watching tv over christmas. Think I might write a list of targets which will include that long bath and watching a film from start to finish - can't remember when I last did that!

Already getting addicted to MN!

just finished my first day of mat leave - am due in three weeks. my MW said its the only time you legitimately have off for yourself so make the most of it. by that do stuff for you. yeh, get all the nesting/sorting thing out the way and just enjoy the freedom of doing nothing. i've got a pile of books i want to read; i plan to lounge in the bath at least every other day - bliss! use this time to get the xmas cards done and in the post - and your xmas shopping. i've been suprised how tired i am so grabbing the odd catnap here and there is a luxury too. if you can afford it book a trip to the hairdresser/have a massage/mani-pedi etc.

remember, you need this time to rest up as much as possible so do not feel guilty about doing nothing!