On Monday I go back to work after 6 weeks of maternity leave AND I ---- I can’t believe it!
Before I had MJ, I thought 6 weeks was a very long time; now it seems like all of 6 minutes. To be completely honest, I am excited to go back to work - I’m not really the stay at home type & I love what I do. BUT as a new mom, I do feel sad about the fact that I can’t be with him all day, in arms reach.
I was told A LOT of positive & negative comments about what my first 6 weeks would look like! Phrases like:
“Say goodbye to your sleep”
“You won’t get any sleep at all”
“Breastfeeding will be horrible”
“You can’t leave the house for the full 6 weeks & neither can the baby”
“You won’t have time to do anything but watch the baby”
The reality is, every person’s experience is going to be different and reflect their experiences with their baby! Here’s a little peek into what my 6 Week maternity leave experience looked like:
WEEK 1: It truly takes a village - My parents, sister, sister - in - law & Myles’ parents came all the way from Florida and spent the week helping Myles and I adjust. They prepared meals, cleaned up (& broke stuff but we won’t talk about that lol) and watched MJ here & there so I could sleep. When they say take all the help you can get - it is so true!
One thing I didn’t really prepare for as much prepartum was the healing process following a vaginal delivery. I’m not gonna lie, I tried to “return to normal” days after delivery and it resulted in me standing in the shower in tears from pain. A products that SAVED MY LIFE was the FridaBaby Mom Postpartum Recovery Essentials Kit which included:
Disposable Underwear,
Ice Maxi Absorbency Pads
Cooling Witch Hazel Medicated Pad Liners
Perineal Medicated Healing Foam
1000/10 recommend!!
MY biggest advice for week one would be to SIT DOWN, ASK FOR HELP & TAKE IT!
WEEK 2: Teamwork makes the dreamwork - By this point, Myles & I were on our own with our little man - and we welcomed the challenge! Unfortunately, Myles didn’t get paternity leave, and he still had 6am workouts with his team. So we pretty much created a shift system - I’d get up throughout the night and take care of MJ & when I was out of gas, he’d take it from there. I honestly don’t know what I’d do without Myles, he’s truly my life partner.
My advice here is, if you’re blessed to have a partner to help you - share the load!
WEEK 3: Godmommy to the rescue - this week I had to prepare for an in person interview & my best friend Kiana, MJ’s Godmommy, came to town to help and watch him for me. She also came on my birthday (the week prior) to bless me with the gift of uninterrupted sleep - I honestly didn’t know how much I needed it! I could spend all day writing about what she means to me and my family, but I’ll save that for another day! Yet another example of my AMAZING village.
A note about sleep - I do try to sleep next to him when he sleeps and when I need it! Doesn’t happen every nap, but I catch a corner of sleep every now and then. I wouldn’t say that I’ve said goodbye to sleep, but I have said goodbye to uninterrupted sleep! I’d say the longest I’ve been able to sleep is probably around 4 hours.
My advice here is, chose a BOMB Godmommy & get good sleep when you can!
WEEK 4: My Breastfeeding Journey - so I decided while I was pregnant that I wanted to give breastfeeding a try! I knew I’d likely want to supplement at some point but I wanted to see what my experience would be. I got 2 breast pumps, storage bags, breast cream, etc. When MJ was born, they did not latch him immediately and he actually went to the nursery for the night, where they fed him formula in a bottle. The next morning, I tried to get him to latch and it didn't work lol. It wasn’t until we got home from the hospital (day 3) that he successfully latched. From then until week 3, I strictly breastfed him & pumped.
Honest opinion - I love breastfeeding, I hate pumping! I just couldn’t make it a routine ( i.e. every 4 hours); that may just be my experience, but I just don’t feel like it's for me.I still breastfeed him throughout the day, and primarily at night, but I started supplementing with formula at 3 weeks.
Now it has been a bit challenging trying to find the best option for MJ, but here’s what I’ve tried so far:
Similac Isomil (Soy - based) - he was still extremely gassy (turning red and screaming to the top of his lungs) on this formula, so I switched to Enfamil NeuroPro Gentlease (Dairy - based) - not gassy at all (yay!) but he did struggle with pooping because his stools were harder. Didn’t know the struggle of pooping was normal or a result of the formula, so I tried Similac Alimentum - issa no for us, he didn’t seem to like it (drinking the formula slowly) and he remained constipated.
Out of the 3 I felt Enfamil Gentlease was the best, so we’re back with that for the time being.
My advice here - I need it! Lol If any moms have experience with supplementing, comment below and help ya girl out!
WEEK 5 & WEEK 6: I can actually do this - I’ve spent the last few weeks following MJ’s lead! He has honestly been such a joy and I’m so blessed to be his mommy - but we both have
our days. All in all I’ve realized, I can do this! God really blessed me with everything I need to be his mother. I’m enjoying the ride so far - but I know I have a long way to go!
I’ll keep you guys posted on my mommy journey as much as possible! & include links to any products that MJ loves!
Thanks for reading,
Aier