I’ve now finished up a full week of work. And let me tell you, being away from Baby H has not been easy! Besides having it be incredibly hard leaving her each day, it’s exhausting working full time and being a mom. I feel like I’m always “on” and flip flopping between work mode and mommy mode.

I started back at work on a Friday. While I was given the option to instead go back on the following Monday, I’d heard that it was an easier transition to go back at the end of the week. The last two days of my leave were spent cuddling with Baby H. I didn’t worry about encouraging her to nap in her crib but instead just enjoyed having her sleep on me. These were our last days before real life and responsibilities other than her came back into the picture.

I thought I’d share some insight into going back to work and also shed some light on a couple of things I’d been wondering about.

Bottle Feedings
One of the biggest challenges to going back to work rested not with me, but with Mr. H. Since our nanny won’t start for a few more weeks, Mr. H is taking care of Baby H full time — which means he not only was tackling taking care of her each day, but he also had to transition her to taking bottles all day long. While we had been giving her a bottle almost every day for a few weeks before I went back to work, she’d never had a full day of bottles.

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Even though Baby H had been doing great with bottle feedings, the first day was terrible! She cried and screamed and basically went on a hunger strike. It reached such a point that Mr. H begged me to come home from work early (which I did – I missed my baby!). I did keep on reassuring him that she wasn’t going to starve and if she really needed to eat she would, and if he could get her to relax enough to nap, then hopefully her mood would improve so that she’d eat. It’s hard being the one who isn’t there, and it’s also hard being the one who is there while the tears stream down her face.

While I didn’t know how well she would eat over the first couple of days, I was incredibly diligent about tracking how much milk Baby H would go through on an average day. I had been tracking that she nursed around 8 times in a 24 hour period and I had read that she should eat about 24 ounces in a day. This equaled out to 3 ounces per feeding, and I guessed she would eat about 5 times while I was at work. While I left plenty of extra milk in the fridge, I assumed she would eat about 15 ounces while I was gone. Here’s how the first week has gone:

Day 1 7:30am – 4:00pm: 3.5 ounces
Day 2 7:30am – 6:00pm: 7.5 ounces
Day 3 7:30am – 6:00pm: 16 ounces
Day 4 7:30am – 6:00pm: 16 ounces
Day 5: 7:30am – 7:30pm: 21 ounces
Day 6: 7:30am – 6:00pm: 18 ounces

As you can see, it took a couple of days for Baby H to adjust, but once she did she became quite the big eater! She’s eating as much or more than I had estimated. It’s great! I pump somewhere between 14-16 ounces at work so to make sure I keep up with her, I also pump in the evening after she goes to bed.

Mornings
I also had been curious about how our morning routine would go to make sure we all were able to get ready in the morning and allow me to get out the door on time. Fortunately Baby H started sleeping through the night after my first day back at work, so she’ll sleep from around 8:00pm – 5:00am. It’s fantastic! Here’s a look at what our morning routine is like:

5:00am: Baby H wakes up. I nurse her and put her back in her crib to sleep.
5:15am – 7:00am: I eat breakfast, shower, put my makeup on, do my hair, make my lunch and make coffee. Meanwhile, Mr. H takes out the dog, feeds him, showers, eats breakfast.
7:00am: I wake Baby H up (she would easily sleep longer, but then I wouldn’t see her before work!). I nurse her, change her diaper, get her dressed for the day.
7:20am: Mr. H keeps an eye on the baby while I get dressed and gather everything together for work.
7:40am: Mr. H, Baby H, our dog Charlie and I all walk to the train. I head off to work and they continue on to take a morning walk.

Our mornings actually go like clockwork! The fact that Baby H goes back down after her early morning feeding is so incredibly helpful. Otherwise I would have to leave her with Mr. H., which is fine if we need to do that, but I like to let him sleep a little longer since he stays up late getting caught up on work. Since pre-baby my days started at 6:30am, needless to say it is tiring starting my day so early. But getting a long block of sleep at night definitely helps.

The Smiles
I’d hoped that since I’m the one who is gone all day, I’d see a big reaction out of Baby H when I got home from work. Unfortunately it hasn’t gone this way and it’s been hard on me. I know she’s still young, but I’d envisioned a huge grin on her face when I came home from work. Instead, Mr. H gets all the grins. While I hold her she stares and stares at Mr. H and gives him the big, goofiest grins! It’s like she hasn’t seen him all day instead of me. It’s tough – I want the big excited smiles! But I have to keep telling myself that she’s still itty bitty and that the grins will soon be mine too.

Daily Updates
What has helped during the workday are the pictures Mr. H sends me all day long. I love keeping up on their day and seeing how much fun they’re having! Trust me when I say that it makes each day a little bit easier. I thought I’d share one of my favorites.


Obviously Baby H is the daughter of a photographer because she knows how to work the camera!

I’m definitely learning how precious time is, and rushing home to spend those 2 hours with Baby H before her bedtime. It’s hard being away from her all day and I have to work incredibly hard not to be jealous of Mr. H getting to be at home with her! But I know that if I can’t be with her right now during such a huge transition, I’m so grateful that she’s with her daddy. And we’re so lucky that she’s transitioning so well: she’s sleeping, she’s eating, she’s smiling! We’ve got a happy little baby on our hands. As long as that’s the case, I know we must be doing something right.

If you’ve gone back to work after baby, how did your transition go?