by Jamie Reed posted in Parenting

Flying 1,300 miles away this week from my tiny baby boy seems like the worst idea ever right now. But let me back up for a minute:
When I first made plans to attend this particular work conference I?m headed to, I was 8 weeks pregnant. (32 weeks away from knowing what I was in for.) At the time, I knew I?d be leaving a 4-month-old baby behind, but it didn?t seem like that big of a deal. Three nights away. Three whole nights of uninterrupted sleep. Days of adult conversation and networking lunches. Evening parties and room service. I can handle that!
And now all I can think of is whether I can actually, physically get on a plane in two days.

 
I haven't always been this way. When my birthday rolled around, 3 weeks postpartum, my husband was insistent we get out of the house to celebrate. He arranged childcare with my mom, made plans with some friends, and attempted to convince me to leave our brand-new baby home for the late afternoon and evening. I didn't need any convincing. I was ready to get out of the house, and, while I was a little nervous about leaving the baby, I was more concerned that I wasn?t all that concerned about it.
Was it OK to want to go to dinner and have a ?normal? night with friends when you just had a baby" I felt a little guilty about my lack of worry that night, but I shouldn?t have.
The ?leaving your baby? anxiety set in over the next few weeks, and now it seems like gets harder to leave him each time. ...