6 Years and 4 Months Maternity Leave about to end ...

I have been fortunate to be able to stay home with my kids for the last 6 years.

When Norah was born, I couldn't stomach leaving her for 11 hours a day in the care of someone else.  I didn't want to miss all those milestones.  I wanted to be there for all those illnesses and boo boos.  I wanted to teach her the alphabet and her numbers.  Even though I longed for my career to have daily adult conversations and to challenge my brain.

Then Donovan came along.  He needed me 24/7.  I am so lucky that I was able to watch him grow developmentally and make sure he met his milestones.  Doctor visits were my "social time".  Researching his genetic disorder and weird medical quirks was my job for the better part of the last 4 years.

This past April, I was blindly contacted by a gentleman about a job.  He had acquired my resume through a 3rd party, a gentleman who worked at JumpStart.  I was introduced to this gentleman via an email introduction through a friend right before Donovan landed in the hospital in February 2011.

I didn't know until I hung up the phone and googled the gentleman's name did I realize I was speaking with the President and CEO of a company.  We met a week or so later to talk about the company's product management needs and how I might fit their needs.  Very "high level" discussion and was pretty much told that he was just networking and would be in touch, but it might take a while before I heard back from him.  I was encouraged to keep in touch if I was interested.  Jon and I sat down that evening and talked about this potential opportunity.  We both decided that it was time for me to consider going back to work, I would need to in 6-9 months anyway in order to ensure that Donovan got the same opportunity to go to Lake Ridge Academy as Norah has.  I emailed the President/CEO and told him that yes I was interested and yes I would make full-time work.

Jon and I started researching preschools for Donovan.  And a friend of mine called me to tell me about the school her sister teaches at.  Then Donovan was at his speech evaluation and the speech specialist said that she could do his speech therapy (if needed) at this school too.  Jon and I went to see it and it was perfect.  Absolutely the perfect place for Donovan.  I also got the bonus of knowing a good friend was teaching him and would be with him everyday.  I couldn't ask for anything better than that!  Turns out Donovan absolutely loves school.

A month went by and I finally received an email from the President/CEO that the job was being "officially" posted and that he would consider me a candidate if I was still interested.  He was then passing the baton to his colleague, the CFO to handle the interviewing and hiring process.  Another month goes by and I finally received a phone interview.  Another month and half goes by and I get the face time with both the CFO and the CEO/President.  24 working hours later, I was asked to come in and interview with what is now going to be my colleagues.

When I stopped working 6 years ago it was a gamble.  I really thought that I would lose my career and would once again have to re-invent myself.  I threw tons of ideas up in the air and all required that I go back to get more education.  Time and money I really didn't have to give to school.  I can't be more excited to say that I get to have my career back and at a higher level then when I left my career 6  years ago.  I will be a Senior Product Manager for a home health care manufacturer.  Working with products I want to work with, in an industry I want to be in.  I know that all the knowledge I have received from mom's boards and blogs and Noonan Syndrome will help me be a better product manager.

I know someone "upstairs" has looked down on me.  Opportunities like this don't fall in most people's lap, and especially mine.  I can't be more grateful to my friend who encouraged me to contact the gentleman at JumpStart.  I can't thank the gentleman at JumpStart enough for forwarding my resume on to my new company.  I can't thank my new company enough for looking past the fact that I have been a stay-at-home mom for the last 6 years and even knowing that my son has a genetic disorder - yet still were impressed enough with me to hire me.

I am looking forward to this new adventure.  I will certainly miss my valuable time with my kids and the ability to be completely flexible, but we are all in a good place now and the time is right.

Thank you Jon for letting me have these last 6 years with our kids.  It meant the world to me that I could be there every day.  I love you!