Maternity Leave Part Deux

As it turns out, this maternity leave was all about asking for help. Because I made it past the "how am I ever going to get my life/independence back" phase from the first one (reality is I just have a new normal) this maternity leave was hard but in a different "man it's hard chasing a two year old and managing an infant" kind of way. Ultimately, I realized I had to swallow my pride & admit there are professionals available to help make life a whole lot easier. Because time is more valuable than ever, I wanted to make sure we took care of a few things before I went back to work.

My first call was to a lactation consultant. Drew was born tongue tied meaning the frenulum under her tongue was too tight to allow her to touch the roof of her mouth or even stick her tongue out. It usually means difficulty breastfeeding, and even speech and orthodontic issues later in life. We had it corrected at 10 days old, but unfortunately it wasn't done completely. Drew was gaining weight okay but beating me up quite a bit. Those motherly instincts kicked in and urged me to request the help of a lactation consultant. Her diagnosis: she was still tongue tied :( Because I toughed it out so long my milk supply started to get low and I only had 2 weeks before going back to work to get it corrected and have her feeding well again. Having the procedure redone at 11 weeks broke my heart but thankfully she won't remember it and both Craig and I were confident it was the right decision. She's been nursing so much better, my milk is back where it should be and now were working on getting her to take bottles again with that new tongue!

To make my leave even more fun (sarcastic tone), we also decided it was probably time to get a surgical consult for Regan. He's been limping since October from running him too hard on our bikes. The vet gave us some anti inflammatory pills and said to have him rest, sometimes this is enough to get him well again. By March he still couldn't walk without limping so we decided to move forward and correct his meniscus and CCL tear (equivalent to human ACL surgery). I still had 8 weeks off so the sooner the better in order for me to help take care of him. It was hard seeing that look on his face when we picked him up, "Why? Why? Would you do this to me?" but now that he's got his swagger back and can go on walks again I know he's much happier :)

Next on the list was a housekeeper. Truth be told, I wanted this for my birthday too :) Craig has helped a lot with the cleaning since Allison was born, but I joke with him that things are "Craig clean". He wipes surfaces, but doesn't get under or behind things. I accepted that the house would never be as clean as before with the first one, I just can't accept that it will be even filthier moving forward so it was time to get a housekeeper. My goal is to spend time with the girls on the weekends rather than stress out about maintaining our household. Craig is going to have his hands full watching 2 girls now so he was also on board to ensure he still has time to cook (which he loves) and get the yard done. Between dishes, laundry, and managing the toddler toy tornado I'm sure there will still be plenty of cleaning to keep us busy.

And finally, before I go back to work we decided it was time for us to see a financial advisor together. Craig had gone before we were married, I chose to manage my my own money and retirement accounts. We each have our 10 year anniversaries with AJ Fire and Nestlé Purina respectively and with two kids it seemed the right time to get an expert opinion on how we can also achieve a few (if not all) on our long wish list of things we want to buy/do. You know... boat, camper, second home, more travel! And finally, we wanted to setup a 529 plan for the girls and get our wills done. Yes, the financial advisor was probably the most important one to check off the list!

Which brings us to today... With both girls, I went back to work the week of Mothers Day. Kind of bittersweet, but I am looking forward to working again. Well except for the no naps part and the fact that I'll be perpetually tired for at least a few months. Then again, no one said parenting would be easy!