I have two weeks left. TWO weeks. Part of me feels like I was in the hospital last week and the other part feels like it was a year ago.
Maternity leave is much different the second time around. I chose to keep Collins home with me the majority of the time. Yes, it was harder sometimes, but the boys sleep so much so it gave us lots of good quality time together. I would say the first 5-6 weeks of maternity leave I would send her to daycare at least one full day each week. That was because I was shuttling back and forth to appointments and needed more sleep time early on. Then for about 4 weeks she hardly went at all, and it was great... We had a great routine. And then... She started preschool two weeks ago and that has given me good alone time with the boys. So I feel like we've had a good combination. My last week I will probably send her after preschool to her caretakers so I can soak in my last days alone with the boys.
So...how in the heck do I do it?!? Ha! This is the number one question I get and I think I amaze people with how much I get out and GO. That's just my nature though. I cannot stay at home all day every day. Hell, i can hardly stay home all day for ONE day. The first four weeks, I had a LOT of help from my mom. Since I couldn't drive the first two weeks she took us everywhere. She was over at our house a lot helping out as well. Sometimes she would take Collins and go do things which also helped. She went back to work in August though so I quickly learned how to manage alone:-)
I will go ahead and admit, when we are home all day Collins watches too much tv, but I'm giving myself a pass on that for now. It's just the easiest when dealing with twin newborns and a toddler! If I was going to be a stay at home mom I would try and make more craft/play time activities...but I'm not so that's just not a priority for me right now. She's very good at playing dress up, coloring/painting and playing kitchen alone but regardless each play session only lasts about 20 minutes at a time. I don't have a triple stroller so I can't do long (exercise type) walks by myself but I will take the boys out in the front yard and Collins can ride her tricycle up and down the street in front of our house and she loves that! And if I have been home all day.... As soon as Mikey gets home we either go on a golf cart ride, a walk or I'll run an errand just to get out and about for a minute.
As far as sleep goes...I've honestly been amazed at how NOT tired I am, for the most part. When the boys were up twice a night at first I would just put c in bed with me when she woke up and let her watch cartoons while the boys and I kept sleeping. Now, if I need to... I'll nap when Collins naps... If I need it I can generally get at least an hour with all three sleeping:-) Right now the boys are giving me around 6 hour stretches at night and that puts them waking to eat around 5:30 or 6... Depending on what time I nursed them that night. I can usually get about another hour after this feeding before collins wakes up and then I'm good to go!
I don't feel like I do a crazy amount of stuff by myself with them but we do get out. We've been to the zoo, target and out to get breakfast or lunch several times. At least once a week we will go meet Mikey for lunch. It's just so nice to get out and about. The key to all of this for me: relax and go with the flow. You can't let a little crying bother you nor a kink in the schedule. Just go with it. I would say I'm a pretty laid back momma, but I have to be to handle this!! And I will say... The boys are pretty good... Graham cries a good bit in the car but he's generally fine when we get where we are going. Like most babies, their fussiest time is at night and we are generally home then. (Or on a golf cart ride Bc that cures any crying!)
A typical day (when we don't go anywhere) :
Collins and I go downstairs for breakfast around 8/8:30 and the boys sleep till 9, then it's time for their first feeding.
I nurse the boys every three hours and in between that they play a bit/have some awake time and sleep. (I mean what else do babies do?!)
Collins watches cartoons or plays in her playroom all morning. I feed her lunch around 12:30 and then it's nap time for her. She's generally down for 2-2.5 hrs and during this time I play with the boys, clean/laundry or nap if needed.
When Collins wakes up I try and keep tv time to a minimum and this is when we try and play outside some.
We are all very excited when daddy gets home around 5:30/6 and then we either walk, go to pool, or run errands as a family or I'll go out by myself.
Cooking/ dinner time is always the craziest. This is when the boys can be fussy and we are trying to cook, soothe them and entertain Collins! We try and eat around 7:30 and then it's bath and bed for Collins by 8:30.
Right now, the boys stay up till around 10 and Mikey and I enjoy this time loving on them.
It's a circus for sure but I wouldn't have it any other way!!!
Sorry for the longest post ever!
Gotta document the chaos:-)
A few pics from our days:
Precious, precious family!!! xx
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