The working mom struggle

I found the section on infant daycare in Berger (2011) to be very interesting. Probably because I lived going back to work when my, originally premature, infant was 3 months old. Yes, I realized this was the norm in the U.S. (we go back to work after 12 weeks), however, nothing about it felt normal. My baby was taking medications for reflux three times a day, having horrible acid reflux, and I was still struggling to nurse her as much as I could. So, I consider myself lucky that my mom could take her full time initially for us.
I do not feel that it would have been any "worse" for my daughter if she needed to go to a daycare. However, she did require a great deal of extra TLC at that time and I am not sure if that could have been accomplished in a setting with many more children.
One part I found to be particularly interesting in this chapter was where a study was done by Huston and Aronson (2005), that showed that mother's working did not interfere with the relationship between themselves and their infants, the home quality, or the children's development. They state that in allowing for more time with their babies, mother's cut time out from time with their spouses, housework, and recreational activities (Huston and Aronson, 2005). So, at all costs, we as moms, do everything we possibly can to make sure we do not affect our babies by going back to work. This can come at the expense of our relationships with our spouses and also ourselves. I find this balance to be extremely difficult to maintain; and increasingly difficult with the addition of school this fall. I understand that we owe it to ourselves to enjoy life and stay healthy or else it will ultimately affect our relationships with our kids in the future.