Monday was the day...back to work for me and off to day care for Ally. I was very fortunate to be able to take off the full 12 weeks of my maternity leave and with the way the holidays and university holidays fell, it was actually almost 14 weeks. I was able to spend the first three months at home getting used to life with a baby and all that comes with it. While I have much respect for those moms that chose to stay at home, I just didn't feel like it was an option for me for many reasons. I love my job very much and have a lot that I want to accomplish for myself and we want Ally to be well socialized and flexible. Karl and I began researching day cares in July and found a few quality options, two big ones that we really liked but one had a waiting list that was 9 months long and the other would be open right when we needed it. Its a long story but it actually turned out that we are still on the waiting list for the one we liked best that said a spot would be open when we needed it, and ended up getting her into the other place with the long list. Anyway, Ally started at Just us Kids on Monday and is doing great. I don't want to jinx anything because its only been two days but I really think this is going to work out great for all of us. I was not at all worried about taking her to a day care because she is still too young to understand strangers or have separation anxiety and we know we would not take her anywhere we didn't feel confident she would enjoy. I was on the other hand, very worried about how I would manage getting myself, the dog and Ally up, dressed, fed and out the door on time each day. I was really stressed on Sunday but we got everything packed up that night and Ally went to sleep a little earlier with no issues. I got myself up at 6 and ready, got Ally up at 6:45 to clean up and eat, Karl got himself ready and took care of Ella and we were all out the door by 7:45. We got all of her things put away (extra clothes, 3 blankets, diapers, wipes, bottles, burp cloths, bibs, etc...) and she went right to the "teacher" with no issues. It really wasn't too hard to say good bye and leave her because she was so happy. I called at lunch to check on her and she had been napping for two hours then Karl called later in the afternoon and she was busy playing. She did great! She was happy to see us when she came home, slept great again at night and was ready to do it again the next day. I am very lucky that I have a pretty flexible schedule at work when I don't have morning meetings so I will always take her and Karl will be picking her up since he is always done by 5 and I am not. Ally has been pretty tired the last week but hopefully she will continue to nap well at day care and sleep great at night. I am also really hoping that day care allows us to be on a more regular sleep and eating schedules since I've been having a hard time getting it going on my own with her.
My first day back to work was pretty uneventful. We had a big basketball game Monday night so I worked 8am-9pm but really didn't have a lot of responsibility. I spent most of the day digging myself out of a mail and email hole and visiting with the coaches and other staff I work with to make sure they knew I was here. I am still nursing Ally in the morning and at night, and putting the milk into bottles while I am at work. I was scared of it at first but I think its going to be very manageable for now and we will consider making the switch to formula once she starts cereal and other solids next month. This transition will also help me to keep more regular hours at work and not be there all night because I feel like I have to. Now I am forced to put trust in others and get home to be with my baby! It is hard when I do have to work those long days and I don't get to see her or spend time playing but she needs daddy time too. We are very comfortable with our decision to have me go back to work and to take Ally to day care and we hope things will continue to be a success.
No comments:
Post a Comment