I'm a teacher and before I had my beautiful boys I was very ambitious, was relieving in higher duties roles and actively seeking promotion. I loved the challenges, the stress, being part of the executive team in my school. I could never see that changing and thought I'd be looking forward to resuming these challenges when my maternity leave was finished... How wrong I was. I went back 5 days per fortnight in 2010 in an executive role and hated every minute I was away from my baby who was just 7 months I was miserable, anxious and resentful (also suffering from undiagnosed coeliac disease which didn't do me any favors either) I stuck with it, fell pregnant, miscarried and then struggled to reconceive. I made the decisions to go back to the classroom role 3 days per week in 2011 and it was the best decision I ever made! I fell pregnant in April and finished halfway through term 4 and actually enjoyed being back at work. I felt like I had some balance back in my life and actually rediscovered my love for the classroom. I'm now on 12 months leave and think (hope) I'll be ready to go back in 2013.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, going back to the RIGHT job makes it ok, but it needs to balance with your new family life. I couldn't maintain my old job life and didn't want to really either.