Thursday, November 19, 2009

New York Office Mom 24/7


Every mom dreads D-day…the day she returns to work and has to leave her little baby in the hands of a stranger (which means anyone other than mom). Most likely it’s the first day that mom has been apart from her baby for more than 2-3 hours…at least that’s how it was for me. I would long for a couple of hours to myself when I was on maternity leave – just a few hours – to run errands, do my nails, even make a quick stop at a nearby shopping center. Alone time was hard to come by, so when anyone offered to take care of the little guy for an hour or two, I accepted without hesitation. Little did I know that once I returned to work and had to be separated from him for almost 8 hours/day, I would wish I could get back those hours I willingly gave away.

As I began to countdown the days, hours, minutes to D-day, everyone would try and console me and tell me that it would get easier over time. I believed them…I mean, women experience this all the time – especially the working women of today compared to the women many moons ago – but what I didn’t realize was how hard those first days would be.

I remember that first day, it was a Friday - thank God for that! It was so hard not to look at the time. As soon as I got home, I ran to him and started balling. Of course he greeted me with the biggest smile and had no idea what was going on, and that mommy had left him for so many hours..but I couldn’t control myself. I wouldn’t let him go and held him so tight, that I had to check if he was still breathing at one point.

Fortunately, I was blessed with having the choice of leaving the little guy with a trusted family friend, who had raised two beautiful girls, lives close to home, speaks Spanish (very important for us) & has the gentlest of souls...Not every mom is as lucky as me though, and I cannot imagine what that must be like. It’s hard enough leaving him with family or a close friend, but having to leave your little one at a nursery or with a new sitter must be so difficult. You do what you have to do right…?...but it’s NOT easy, no matter what anyone tells you. What was REALLY important for me when returning to work, was peace of mind – it was the only possible way I’d be able to function without picking up the phone every hour or biting my nails until there was no more nail to chew.

It’s been about a month or so since I returned to work, and yes, it has gotten easier, but I still find myself feeling really guilty (that will never go away) & racing to get home to Lucas, bumping people on the street, subway and the bus. Note to all my fellow commuters out there, you don’t want to mess with a mom anxious to get home to her babies, especially during rush hour on NYC’s wonderful and well organized (sarcasm) MTA system… I’m just saying, there is no way that your reason for rushing is more important than mine. Don’t say I never warned you!

So now I get home and am greeted with the biggest of smiles and the happiest of baby noises…I can’t imagine coming home to anything better than this, even if my job begins all over again from 6-10 when yours ends after a 9-5 workday. It’s all worth it – regardless of whether I’m never able to watch TV in real time (thank you DVR for coming into existence), have a spontaneous night out with friends or catch up on much needed sleep.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

What a new mom cannot live without!

The perfect opportunity to get your hands on those must have items for baby on the way is through your baby shower registry. When you're a new mom it's hard to guess which items you'll actually end up using, so I'm going to list a few of them that have saved me a number of times and have definitely come in handy:

1) Fisher-Price Papasan Cradle Swing - My Little Lamb (when nothing calms your little one down, strap him in, it works wonders).

2) SwaddleMe's - I underestimated how useful these would be...baby's are used to being nestled in a mother's womb for around 40 weeks, so it's no surprise that when you put the little one in this cozy fleece bag, he's going to sleep more comfortably and in turn so will you.

3) Soothies (pacifier) - if you can get the hospital soothies they give to newborns, try to get some extras! Every baby loves this particular pacifier for some reason and prefers it over the rest. If your hospital doesn't give you any, Babies R Us and other retailers sell it, just look for the "Soothie" brand.

4) Infant Video Monitoring System - it's worth every penny for the piece of mind this product gives you, especially when it's time to move your little one to his crib and your bound to have many sleepless nights due to worry and anxiety.

5) Fisher-Price Rainforest Waterfall Peek-a-Boo Soother - there are many of these soothing products out there that play music and have colorful lights, but I loved this particular one.

6) I was really not impressed with the Evenflo Nestino Odyssey Travel System Stroller that my husband and I picked out. I'd recommend going with one of the jogging strollers even if you don't plan to jog,since the maneuverability makes it all worthwhile.

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