I started work again on Monday, though I took Monday off to drive back from Port Stephens where we’d caught up with my parents for the weekend. So yesterday was my first day away from Nathan, and Andrew’s first day of looking after Nathan.
I think the day went really well from Andrew’s point of view. He managed Nathan’s sleep very well, as well as I do, and feeding him the expressed milk seemed to work a charm too! The amazing thing that happened was that Nathan went to sleep in the pram!!!! It was a beautiful, sunny day, so Andrew took Nathan out for a walk in the pram and he fell asleep!! That has never happened before, though last time I took Nathan for a walk I thought he might go to sleep since he was so relaxed, and then he started figeting again. So I had hopes that the day he slept in his pram would not be far off.
On the other hand, my day wasn’t so good. I’d been woken about a million times in the night by Nathan, I cried when I left home, I had to wait ages for the bus since I’d just missed one, I got bombarded with all the crap that’s been going on while I’ve been gone, and expressing only went marginally well. Unfortunately I didn’t manage to express enough for Nathan for a single day and so we’ve had to take out a frozen container of milk each day to supplement the fresh milk. When those frozen stocks are gone, I guess the only option will be to buy a tin of formula. It just seems a shame to put so much effort into expressing, and still have to resort to formula, but if it has to be then it has to be.
People tell me that it’s easier to be at work than at home looking after a baby, but so far I think it’s the other way around! Mind you, maybe those people don’t have to wake up for a proper feed twice a night, feed back to sleep when he wakes inbetween, and express milk while at work to feed the baby for the next day.
Glad your first day back went reasonably well… You are a brave woman, I’d have blubbed like a baby all day at the thought of having to leave my kids, even though he is at home with his Daddy who loves him…
On the milk thing – he’s eating solids now yeah? eating reasonably well? Does he drink water? If he is eating solids and drinking water during the day I can’t see a problem with just giving him whatever EBM you have managed to express and just feeding him when you get home. He’ll probably be wanting a big feed by the time you get back and more than make up for not having it while you were away… As long as he’s eating a good variety of fruits and vegies and drinking water, heaps of milk is not essential during the day, just a nice bonus if it’s there.
Kate, Nathan just loves his solids. He has 3 decent meals a day and eats a lot of veggies and fruit, so maybe that is an option. It would certainly make it easier for Andrew not to have to take fresh milk with him when he goes out (if there is no EBM left). We don’t generally give him much water to drink, because he always has lots of milk (he LOVES drinking out of mummy’s water bottle or glass).
I totally agree with the other kate. Felix would never take my milk unless it was from me directly! He would just wait until I got home and have a big feed then 🙂
(mind you this was occassionally for a day at a time not a regular thing for days a week, I think any ebm nathan can get can only be a good thing).