“It’s never a good time to get really sick, but in my case, it seemed extraordinarily ill-timed.” I plodded toward my car, lugging a heavy laptop, a lunch bag, the breast pump and a handbag, and looking like a pack mule on the verge of collapse. It was 7:58 a.m. on a Wednesday, and I felt sapped. Then again, no first-time mom who went to work after a 10-week maternity leave would be a poster child for vitality. As I reversed out of the garage, my phone buzzed. “I’m calling from Dr. H’s office.”