s/o Getting better - when did you feel like you'd "recovered"?

MrsLnt

When I was winding things down at my firm last summer, they asked how long I'd be taking off and I said I thought I'd need at least 6 months to recover before even thinking of any PT work.  That was a figure I just pulled out of nowhere but, it turned out to be about right.  By 6 months, things felt "normal" again.  DH and I started doing things other than feeding babies and trying to get them to sleep, and trying to steal a moment or two of sleep for ourselves.  We resumed things we did pre-babies like home improvement projects (very minor ones), organizing closets, making bread in the bread maker, etc.

My mom's dentist has twins that are 9 months old.  He said he feels like he's just coming out of the hole.  

How long did it take you to feel like you were back to normal?

OrangeSmoke

I went back to work at 4 months and it was perfect.

I think the timeframe is going to be different depending on what kind of sleeper you get.  My boys started doing 10 hour stretches at 3 months, so a month after that, I felt like I finally had got it "together" to go back to work.

I cannot imagine going back to work FT if my kids were still waking at night consistently.  Nowdays I complain if one of them get up at 11 for a little snack.

 

LALASEPT05

I would say 6 or 7 months as well before I started to feel like myself. I think it took me about that long to get into a routine to get to know them to get them to sleep through the majority of the night and a nap! That definitely helped! I was afraid i would never feel 'normal' again and I'm not sure if i've gotten used to the way life is now or that things have gotten more managable. I think it is a combo of both. 

Our day will come

As the momma to 8 1/2 month old twin girls...I'll let you know when I'm there!  LOL

A friend of mine said it took about a year for them.

2shihtzus

Well, I had to go back to work when my boys were about 2 1/2 months old so I had to work for a loooooong time while still getting up several times a night.  It was very tough but just like anything else, you do what you have to do to make it work.  Looking back, it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be because we had already become pretty accustomed to functioning on not much sleep.

I would say I really felt like things got easier for me around 9 months old.  Our boys had definitely gotten more "fun" in the months before that but at 9 months, they could sit up and play a little more independently but also couldn't really go anywhere so they stayed where I put them which was nice.  I felt like I could actually cook dinner again, throw a load of laundry in, etc. and that's also when we sleep trained them and got them to finally take decent naps so that's when it really all came together for us I think.

preheatedoven

We are just now getting there. Last week I was finally able to start doing fun stuff for myself (craft projects, etc.).

nikinikinine

thanks for posting this thread. I literally had my first mommy meltdown two nights ago. It happened at 11 p.m. I was in the bathtub crying and telling my DH how I just wanted one part of MY life back. I love my babies, LOVE them. But they are my whole existence right now and every time I try to carve out time for myself it blows up in my face with either overtired babies or an overstressed husband.

I don't need a lot of time back, just an hour a few times a week.

Glad to hear we're close to a new semblance of normal!

sunnybrook.

I think it was about 7-8 months for me too. On top of the twin pg and delivery, my foster son of 18 months left us, we moved out of state where we knew no one, and my DH started a new job with long hours. It was a lot at one time.

amanda31H

I think about 6 months for me.  They were 6 months at Christmas time and I remembered feeling like I was finally starting to see my old self come back!  I think I felt fully recovered by 7 months.

kafunder

I thought I had it pulled together at 4 months when I went back to work, but then their sleep fell apart and so did I. I was sick for weeks on end, we were all melting down at least once a day, etc. I finally felt better at 6 months and really felt great by 8 months. Now, at 9 months, I've recovered from all that trauma enough to where I miss the babies so much when I'm at work (for a while, work was my total escape and while I missed them, I was loving being at work), and I just cut my schedule back to be home with the babies one day during the week.

Temp6313048411121614

I'd say we had it pretty much figured out around 4m.

MrsLnt

nikinikinine:

thanks for posting this thread. I literally had my first mommy meltdown two nights ago. It happened at 11 p.m. I was in the bathtub crying and telling my DH how I just wanted one part of MY life back. I love my babies, LOVE them. But they are my whole existence right now and every time I try to carve out time for myself it blows up in my face with either overtired babies or an overstressed husband.

I don't need a lot of time back, just an hour a few times a week.

Glad to hear we're close to a new semblance of normal!

Um, you made it nearly 5 months without one?  Impressive! 

I still occasionally feel like we'll never be able to do anything ever again and, maybe it's just that we don't do anything, but it does get better.  I just don't leave my house until they have had 2 good naps.  It sucks but, it sucks far less than having miserable, overtired babies. 

sescms2004

I would say probably at around 7-8 mos it was better, and at 9 mos, a lot better.  I went back to work FT (from home) at 3 mos.  DH also works from home, and we tag-teamed their care during the day until they were 6 mos old.  That was really tough.  Then we had a nanny start who comes 4 days a week, and it is a huge help.  It gives me a chance to run out for an hour or so during my lunch break.  Just going to Target is like heaven for me.

As for weekends, when it's the 4 of us, with no outside help.....we didn't really start getting out/doing stuff until 7-8 mos old.  I was too scared to interrupt their schedule and have them miss a nap, for fear of what would ensue.  Then we did it a couple times, figured out how to 'rearrange' naps on days when we get out, and we all got better at it.  I finally decided that getting out with them on the weekends was better for them than missing one nap.  They STTN 11 hrs and get 2 good naps a day during the week, so now I don't feel badly about a missed/shortened nap on the weekends, so we can spend family time doing something fun and getting them out/more exposed.  Getting out takes a LOT of work and DH and I end up more tired, but it is worth it.

Haven1

The first time I felt like "me" was when the gun went off at the start line of my first post-baby race at 10 weeks.  It was a piece of me that I had back, and I got really choked up about it. (And actually, I've had that same feeling at the start of every single race since.  I don't take it for granted for a moment how fortunate I am to have the support to be able to do what I love.)

About 5 months is when I really felt like we had a handle on things with the boys.  We were in a good routine, and the babies were so much happier and easier.  Hang in there ladies- it gets so much better!

blondek8

A couple of weeks ago.

I feel like I can finally breathe. I still have lots of WTF moments, breakdowns and still call in my Mom for help with evening stuff when my husband is working nights (which thankfully is only 1 week/month). But I feel like I can breathe again -- and trust me it's been a long haul around here with the whole PPD crapola.

I feel like I'm actually able to meal plan again, eat clean and get my arse to the gym 5x/week without having critical meltdowns about various baby related stuff. I really have to learn to "let things go" and enjoy life. It's a process. I'm so ridiculously A-Type that it's been REALLY difficult for me to adjust to the babies and frankly I didn't think I would ever. We've got a good routine going that works for us. It helps that the babies are getting really funny, interactive and curious lately too!

clarku2000

I had to go back to work at 7 weeks, so I had no choice but to put on a brave face and try to be "normal."  Honestly though, it wasn't until we moved from our tiny tiny apartment to our new house when I started feeling like we were back to normal, officially.  This was recently, when the girls were about 10 months.  I think it's because there's a room that I can gate off and let them play while I get stuff done around the house on my days off.