End of Maternity Leave

That 10 weeks flew by. Actually, I can't believe its already been that long.  This past weekend I returned to work, thus marking the end of my maternity leave. (insert sad face here).

I was sad knowing I'd be leaving the kids all night, I was worried if they would cooperate for Derrick or if I would come home to a frazzled fiance. I wondered if Evelyn would be a pill while I was catching my sleep during the day.

When I left, I was scared. Derrick was already getting frustrated, Evelyn was refusing to go to bed and the boys were whining and crying.  Derrick says "Is this how they are all day?!?" My response: "Yup, have a good night!" As I strolled out the door.  That's not entirely true. They aren't like that ALL day, sometimes they sleep!!!  But they do have their times/moments where they drive me to the edge of a cliff, push me off, then smile and pull the string. I'm not talking about the one attached to my heart, although it may feel like it, I'm talking about the one for the parachute that is about to save my sanity.  Their smile = my parachute.

I was recieving text message after text message for the first hour I was at work.  The last few weeks they boys had not been sleeping more than 2 hours at a time again... Talk about frustrating.  They were doing it to Derrick, who had not prepped himself for the night time battle he was about to endure.  Then, nothing. No messages, no phone calls... Apparently the boys had decided it was a good idea to actually sleep for extended periods of time for their dad. What the heck!?!?! They slept 4 hours straight, ate, and instead of staying up like they tend to do for me they went back to sleep!  I got home, fed them and crawled into bed myself. 

Saturday night went even better for him. I didn't receive a single text message until 3:30am after I had text him to check in. They boys were sleeping..... again. Go figure.  During his time with them he managed to convince them to suck on a paci instead of gagging on it. He got them sleeping for at least 1 extended period (4 hours is extended in this house), and kept them alive and happy. In fact, he didn't just succeed, he soared.  I was impressed.

Sunday night I was worried, I was exhausted from enduring my first overnights back at work. We crawled into bed and miraculously got 4 hours of sleep (almost)!  They got up every few hours after that, but this was a vast improvement from recent nights. I felt like a whole new woman.

Recently I got a new app for my phone called "Wonder Weeks".  I've been reading it and studying it, its really quite accurate. It talks about the mental development and milestones a newborn experiences. According to this app, the boys spent the last 2 weeks in a "stormy period".... ahhhh that explains it.  Its a period of time where they are getting used to another leap in development, things have changed, shifted. They are crabby, clingy, needy.  Yup, that about sums it up. Now we should be entering a "sunshine period". A point in time where they will be happy, content, smiling and learning. I am going to enjoy this.  I know full well that soon, we will endure yet another leap and another stormy period. I just hope the next one is easier than this one...

Now that I know Derrick can handle it, despite his lack of preparations for himself.  I can go to work confident that all 3 kids are under the best possible care. I can enjoy socializing and being around people I am eye level with. I can enjoy a short break from my everyday life.  And Derrick can enjoy some daddy/child time with the kids confident that he can do this and be just fine.