Survived the First Day of Work!

lilbit255

I went back to work on Tuesday.  It wasn't as bad as I expected, but I think I got most of the crying out on Monday with DS when I realized maternity leave was officially coming to an end. He's with my parents so it wasn't as hard to leave him, but it was still pretty darn hard to drive away knowing I wasn't going to be able to just cuddle and spend time with my son all day!

I had yesterday and today off, and go back tomorrow.  Next week will be my first full-time week back which I expecting to be harder than this week since it will be a real workweek.  Here's hoping I don't have a complete meltdown then!

How's everyone else doing that's back to work?

Rhea77

I've been back to work almost three full weeks now. I work 40 hours a week plus commute two hours a day. I haven't had any major breakdowns, but I've definitely been tearful on a number of occasions. I feel like I never get to see the babies. When I am home in the evenings, unfortunately that is their really fussy time, so it's not very fun. Then they sleep most of the night. I am gone during their "prime time" so to speak, when they are awake, alert and happy. My MIL stayed home with them for two weeks and now my mother is staying home with them for awhile. I worry they won't know I'm their mom because they spend more of their waking time with someone else. (And I formula feed.) It gets me sad. Even though it was challenging, I miss those days of staying home alone with them and caring for them around the clock. I'm glad we at least got that time to bond, but now I'm suffering from major mommy guilt. I really wish I could just work part-time, but I am the primary breadwinner and we need my full-time salary to make ends meet.

MillerMama13

Extremely sad but surviving. The original plan was for DH to stay home with her while I was at work and he would go in when I got home. He was working part time but recently got promoted so now he works 6 days a week from 8 am to 6 pm for 2 months of training. I am the primary bread winner and I work full time so we had to enroll her in daycare. It happened so quickly that I didn't have time to freak out. He got the call on Monday and had to start on Wednesday. I balled my eyes out Tuesday night and shed some tears Wednesday morning before leaving for work.

You guys should be happy that you at least have family close by to watch your babies rather than strangers. My mom lives 8 hours away and mil lives halfway across the country so we didn't have any option other than daycare. It breaks my heart. Financially it's good and it's good for my DH because he feels better about himself being able to contribute more financially. But at the same time it still sucks!

So wish we could work from home or have longer maternity leaves like other countries do.

ejs1of3

I have been back a week. It is hard to leave but i feel like a real person again at the same time. I go home on my lunch hour and clean and do chores. I also have our daycare make sure that my lo gets tummy time during the day. This allows me to focus and spend all evening with lo without having to worry about getting anything done.

pinkglam7

I'm on my second week back and I hate it.  I wish I could be a SAHM but MIL watches LO for free. I work 40 hrs and have an hr commute to and from work.  You better beleive when the clock says 3 I am running out of the office to go pick up LO.  I put her in the sling so I can talk to her and spend some time with her while I'm getting everything ready for the next day.  The crockpot is my new best friend so I don't have to stand over the stove to have a nice dinner.  Some nights I feel like I'm running around like a crazy person.  I hope it gets easier!!

PipSqueak0313

Just completed my 3rd week of work -- The first week was extremely hard on me.  I cried dropping LO off, I cried while pumping before work, and I'm not a crier!  My 2 pumping breaks are great.  I'm the only one currently pumping at work so I don't have to worry about running into another pumping mom trying to use the pumping room and it gives me a chance to relax and concentrate on LO (or bump from my phone) depending on my mood.

I've found the days that I'm busy, the time flies and I don't have a chance to miss LO before it's time to pick him up. 

I've also found that returning to work triggered PPD more than anything else since LO was born - I'm so thankful that I had the dr start me on meds as soon as he was born knowing my predisposition towards it.

On a slightly unrelated note, the staff in the baby room took three pictures of LO (2 with M and 1 with O) and attached them to sticks mixed in with artificial flowers, held in with those glass pebbles in a flower pot that is decorated with LO's handprint, his name, and the year on it as his gift to me for Mother's Day.  I'll see if I can post a pic of it later.  I would not mind finding a new job, but I like his daycare which is about 2-3 blocks from where I work.