I had two months left of my 12-month maternity leave when the faint blue ?+? sign appeared on my pregnancy test. Once the initial shock of realizing my husband and I were going to have two kids under two wore off, I started to really panic. My next thought: How am I going to tell work"
According to a second pregnancy test I took, I was 1-2 weeks along. I frantically flipped through a calendar to figure out my due date and started doing the math. Seven months. All I had was seven months between my return to work and my eventual departure.
Any kind of excitement I might have felt was overshadowed by a giant cloud of guilt. Prior to going on mat leave I was a copywriter at a digital bank, but the only kind of writing I had done since was taking notes to track my son?s naps and feedings.  I was itching to get my career back on track; to dive head first into creative projects, have ?grown-up? conversations with co-workers, and find my way back to my love of writing. Seven months didn?t seem like enough time. I felt guilty for having to put my career on hold again. 
Is mat leave going to hurt my career"
I know many women who shared the same fear about their careers, whether it was their first, second or third mat leave. To me, it felt like a trade-off?while I was being granted this time to grow a family, I was also missing out on professional development opportunities and promotions. 
I was fortunate to work at a company that emphasized a work-life balance and was un...