Your maternity leave is quickly coming to an end and a decision has to be made. You thought you'd be able to leave your baby and get back to work without any reservation. But it seems your feelings have changed. You love being home with your baby to watch her every smile and cater to her every need, but you long for adult conversation beyond the weekly bank visits and quick "hellos" in the grocery checkout line.

So what do you do? Today, it seems almost abnormal for Mom to stop everything and stay home with her children. In fact, in less than one-quarter of married households, the husband is the sole financial provider. Within the last century, the number of American women in the workforce has increased from 28 percent in the 1940s to more than 60 percent by 1998, according the U.S. Department of Labor. Between 1969 and 1996, the number of working married women with children increased by 84 percent, and by 1998, two-thirds of all mothers in married-couple families were employed.

By choosing to work again or to remain at home, each has its own set of consequences. On the one hand, you have your career back on track, a sense of purpose beyond your family, not to mention a second income. But then there are childcare expenses, occasional missed baby milestones and leaving her in the care of someone else when she's sick.

By choosing not to return to work, you can take care of your family and your home. That also means leaving your professional life behind and the obligatory tightening of the finances. This decision is never an easy one and often comes down to basic necessity. Here are two women who put their careers on hold for their children and had very different outcomes.

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