On the downside, my frozen milk supply is completely gone :( There is no milk in my freezer for the first time since the babies were itty bitty. There is only the milk I pumped today. I am okay with supplementing with formula for the two or three shifts we have before the babies turn one. I have finally realized I am NOT super mom, and that is ok :)
We will probably breastfeed for several more months though, because we all love it. Today when I got home from work, Alan had just finished putting the boys to bed. Adam must have heard my voice though, because he started crying. I went in and nursed him, and he seemed to just melt into me. He quickly passed out, and I just stared at his sweet exhausted face for a while before putting him in his crib. :) (They go to sleep on their own really well too... I am working on a post about our experiences with sleep training.)
The NICU is a dangerous place to work though... if you are trying to wait to have children, or trying to space out your kids. I have started getting baby fever again ALREADY because of taking care of those little tykes. Especially those that are close to going home, but are still growing & learning to eat. They just sleep, eat & cuddle. So well behaved and ADORABLE. I was seriously about to come home & give my husband the, "I'm ready for another baby" talk.
Of course our babies were not so well behaved for him today (they had to pick today!), so I postponed that talk :)
2 comments:
Baby Fever! Yes the NICU does not help with this! I have been tempted a few times to just take a baby home in my pocket :) Just kidding!
When did you start working just 1 shift? I work nights and the plan at the moment is, after maternity leave to return back to work for 2 shifts a week. I am not sure if this is do-able. What do you think? My husband would watch the boys at night and my step-mom would come over during the day- so I could sleep before my next shift. I am just not sure if I will be spreading myself too thin.
Hmm, I think it's always a tough question, deciding when and how often to return to work. How long will your maternity leave be? I work day shift, so I can't speak to working nights. However that sounds tiring to me, with twin newborns.
I started working 1 shift/week after my maternity leave, which was when the boys were 3 months. BUT, since I'm PRN, I was first to be canceled & our census was really low, so I ended up working about 2 shifts a month. I was glad for this because my boys were still bad sleepers, so I would nap during the day to catch up, which I couldn't do while working.
The other side is, for me, work was a nice break from raising twin newborns. Somehow that was harder than having a 4 baby assignment at work :)Plus it's REALLY nice to have a full day of interacting with other adults. I think 2 night shifts a week won't be easy, but you will survive. PRN would probably be easier for you & your family, but that may not even be an option for you.
But everything gets EASIER every month :) There were times I really wanted to quit my job, but I'm so glad I hung on. Now at 11 months, I love my one day a week in the NICU.
I hope that helps a little :)
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