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February 2011 Moms
sarag0116
member
1st week back to work...
sarag0116
member
I went back to work Monday and DD went to daycare. It was hard but not as awful as I anticipated. All in all though, I'm exhausted. I wake up at 5:30 and am busy until I finally get a shower at 9 pm. It's so much harder to be a working mom in my opinion than to stay home. All the preparations, the pumping, working all day, playing with DD and taking care of myself and household things is HARD. That's how it seems to be for me... not trying to start a debate or anything. Now if I had more than 1 child, I don't think I'd be saying that.
Hope those that have returned to work are making it... I think that's my goal... to make it to the weekend!!
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Re: 1st week back to work...
I'm right there with ya, girl! This is my first week back as well and although it's going fairly smoothly, I feel like each day is getting harder and harder...as in, I'm missing him more and more with each passing day. Once he hits a milestone, no matter how big/small, I just know I'm going to lose it. Evenings are a total b*tch b/c we want to soak up all of our time with DS until he has to go to bed but also need to prepare dinner, get ready for the following day and maintain housework. Much like you, I've learned rather quickly that it's no easy feat. I'm h*ll bent and determined to find a healthy balance though. You will too- we're not the first, right? I tell myself that ALL THE TIME and it's comforting.
If I can offer one piece of advice for those ladies whom have yet to return to the corporate world & your LO is attending DC....try to arrange DH to be the dropper offer- at least in the beginning. I'm a total newbie at this (day four), however, I feel like that's been an emotional life saver for me! I get the luxury of picking up DS at the end of a hard day and it's like a reward each afternoon.
I totally and completely agree! I know SAHMs put in a lot of work, too.. I mean, I was on mat. leave for 10 weeks and had a taste of it myself. But, something just feels so wrong about getting up at 6 to an alarm when DS is still sleeping soundly in the PNP beside me. Ugh. And then we have to scramble to get ready and be out the door by 7. I have to shower in the evenings now, and it has become way too common to go to bed and realize I ran out of time and didn't give DS a bath or do any tummy time that evening. There just isn't enough time in the day!
Anyway, hang in there
It does get better, but it never gets great IMO. My sweet boy is always on my mind.
I've been back for a little over a month, and it does get easier, even though I'm still exhausted. Like PP said, try to have DH be the dropper-offer. It helps a LOT. Some days I even squeeze in 30 minutes at the gym (GASP!) before I rush to get ready.
If I can give you any advice, it's just to not try and do too much. I go to work with my hair wet, no makeup, the house isn't always clean, and it's ok. I use my crock pot a lot and make lots of food on the days I cook so it'll last a few days. And if I stay up past 9pm, it's a miracle.
Also, if I can give any advice, it's make sure you have some quality time with DH every night. It's easy to forget how important that is, especially when you are trying to give LO a days worth of attention in just a few hours.
I agree. It really is exhausting and difficult emotionally being a working mom. We've been leaving DD at daycare and it's not fun leaving her with people we don't even know. We've been ok with it everyday except yesterday when we found out (according to the daily report), she was not fed between 10 am and 4 pm. They know she is to be fed every 2 to 3 hours (and NO more than 3 hrs in b/w feedings). So I am NOT happy. DH is on his way over to daycare right now to talk to them about it.
It's my first week back too. My parents came to town to take care of DD for this week and next, so she wouldn't have to go to daycare right away, which is AWESOME for me emotionally, but it's still so hard. She never really took a bottle before this week (not for lack of our trying--we tried introducing a bottle when she was 2 weeks old, and has never taken to it), so I've been constantly worrying whether she's been eating at all. Monday thru Wednesday, she only ate 5 ounces between 7 am and 5 pm. Poor little thing. She'd eat just enough to take the edge off, then sleep because she was too weak to play or do anything else. Thursday I worked from home and nursed her all day. Today my mom says she took 2 ounces without a fight early in the day. So she seems to be making progress!
Bottle woes aside, I am exhausted!! I hope we get more into a routine and things become easier, because I feel like I'm scrambling all day long to hold it all together.