WAHM on maternity leave?

Being a WAHM can be tricky, in that you have to find a balance between the W and the M.

For me, the M will always take priority over the W. But when I had my second baby, I realised just how important the W had become as well.

I gave up taking freelance writing assignments in late pregnancy. And found it surprisingly hard. It seemed things were just starting to take off. I was offered a repeat assignment by a client that would have been several hundred Euros, but had to turn it down. It was the right thing to do, as I might not have finished job in time, and in any case, I needed to focus on my soon to be expanding family (plus, I was moving house, twice, but that's a different story!).

If I had been working a job out of the house, there'd be no question. I'd be on maternity leave before and after giving birth. No question about taking those final weeks off and no way I'd be returning to work within several months of having the baby.

As it was though, within a week of having the baby, I found I was putting myself under pressure to at least return to my various casual earners. No idea where this pressure was coming from, exactly. The money itself is insignificant enough to not make a difference anyway. There's no clients I'm trying to build a reputation with.

It's just this desire to be something more than just a M. Even if at this newborn stage, that is the most important job of all.

I continue to struggle with the balance. How do others experience this?