On July 22, 2007, I gave birth to my first child and, as with millions
of new parents before me, my life and my perspective were forever
altered. One of the first challenges I had to face as a new mother was
how to make it possible to spend as much time as I could with my newborn
son. Fortunately for me, I met the requirements to take time off from my
job as a prosecutor under the Family Medical Leave Act.

When I first found out I was pregnant and inquired about taking leave, I
was surprised to learn that such leave is totally unpaid. All of my
friends who hadn't had children were equally stunned as they, too,
assumed at least some of this leave would be paid. Additionally, because
I work for the government, I had thought that perhaps government
agencies would offer enhanced benefits to serve as a role model for the
private sector, but I was wrong.

I was permitted to use annual leave and after getting a note from my
doctor stating that I needed time to recuperate from giving birth (which
seems like it should be obvious) I was able to use my accrued sick time.
So I managed to get a few of the twelve weeks off paid but while I was
not being paid, of course, the mortgage still had to be paid, the
utilities still had to be paid, and my huge student loans from law
school still had to be paid, on top of all the new baby-related costs.
Still, I was able to take the full twelve weeks largely due to a tragic
event that occurred during my pregnancy---the death of my mother from
cancer.

My mother died two days after Christmas 2006, about a month after I told
her I was pregnant. She was very excited about her grandchild on the
way. I thought she might hang in there long enough to meet her grandson
but it was not to be. Much to my surprise, I learned after her death
that she had a small life insurance policy for which I was one of the
beneficiaries. I soon realized that this insurance money was the last
and best gift I ever received from my mother because it was what made it
possible for me to stay home with my baby.

Still, twelve weeks goes by fast when you are getting to know to your
own child. Twelve weeks of nursing him, holding him, rocking him to
sleep. Twelve weeks of changing him, bathing him, and learning what
soothes him. All too soon, twelve weeks had passed and it was time to
leave my tiny baby and return to work. I cried three times during my
first day back. To make matters worse, I soon discovered that finding
child care for a twelve-week-old baby was exceedingly difficult and
incredibly expensive. Thus, my husband---a nurse---left his job and took
a weekend job so we can take turns caring for our child. My husband
cares for our baby while I am at work during the week and I care for him
alone on the weekends while he works twelve-hour shifts. This means we
do not have to pay for child care but it also means we rarely see each
other and seldom are together as a whole family.

Adding to the difficulties of returning to work is the fact that my baby
depends on me totally for sustenance. The health benefits of breast milk
are astounding, with research suggesting it not only means fewer colds
and ear infections (and thus less parent absenteeism at work) but may
help prevent everything from obesity and diabetes to leukemia. Trying to
ensure my son gets these benefits while at the same time having to
return to work after twelve weeks has been an immense challenge. I have
found myself struggling to be both a full-time prosecutor and a nursing
mom, running to my office during recesses to pump breast milk and having
my husband drive my son to my office each day to nurse at lunch. Still,
I know that I am one of the lucky ones. After all, I not only had twelve
weeks to nurse my son at home, I also have an office to nurse and pump
in, unlike some other women I know including a part-time waitress (who
is thus ineligible to take family leave) who was trying to pump milk
wherever she could during her shift at Ruby Tuesday's, or my
sister-in-law who was ineligible to take the leave because she had not
been at her job for the one year required. She had to return after a
mere six weeks to a job site with only a port-a-potty to pump in.
Because of these impossible conditions, both of these women had to give
up breastfeeding---like the vast majority of women who return to
work---at unknown potential costs to the health of their newborns.

In conclusion, despite these financial, emotional, and logistical
challenges, I have benefited from the Family Medical Leave Act and I am
grateful to the Honorable Pat Schroeder and other Congress members who
created this incredibly important protection. To be honest, I was a bit
reluctant to come speak to you today because I know that I am one of the
lucky ones. I can't help but think about all the other workers who can
not benefit from this law. Those who work two or three part time jobs
and aren't lucky enough to be full time. Or those who simply cannot
afford to take unpaid leave. Despite how crucial the FMLA is, it still
does not go far enough to help enough people.

In the end, I want to say that if I'd had a choice, I would rather my
Mom had had a chance to meet my son and to hold him in her arms rather
than living off of her life insurance policy during my family leave. But
sometimes life is about doing the best you can with the limited choices
you are given and seeing a gift for what it is. So I am grateful for
every day of those twelve weeks that I was able to hold and nurse and
care for my son and I thank those of you who created the FMLA.But I also
thank my Mom for making it possible to actually use it. I know she'd be
proud of me speaking here today. She was a single Mom and worked as a
bartender and a maid to support my brother and me and then worked two
jobs and put herself through school to become a psychologist. Her legacy
was one of hard work and struggle and I now know how hard it must have
been for her to leave us with babysitters and go to grueling jobs. And
yet she fought to improve her life and to help me get where I am today.
That was her legacy. I don't yet know what kind of legacy I will leave
for my own child: our story is just beginning. Those of you involved in
creating, protecting, or even seeking to weaken the FMLA will leave a
legacy, too, and I challenge you to use the Family Medical Leave Act to
instead create an even better legacy for the future. Thank you for your
time and attention.