After LO was born, the hubs took two weeks off. When he went back to work, my mom came every day for three weeks. After that, I was on my own but my MIL would help one afternoon a week and my mom would help one afternoon a week. I thought this was good!
But when my OB asked about how much help I was getting and I told her, she thought this was not enough support of a new mom and was concerned.
How much help did you have in the beginning?
grapefruit / 4049 posts
with my first baby, my husband had to go to work the day we came home from the hospital 
i was solo the first week. my mom and stepdad came for weeks 2 and 3... and that was it til I went back to work and sent her to daycare at 7 months.
with my second, my mom and stepdad were here for the first 10 days. then my hubby took a week off.
We have a housekeeper come in every other week.
persimmon / 1150 posts
we came home from the hospital on a thursday and DH went back to work the following monday, my mom came that monday and stayed till Friday. after that I was on my own... and I thought that was enough help...
GOLD / wonderful grape / 20289 posts
My hubby took a week off and worked from home for a week. Then it was just me during the day. My parents would come probably 4 times a week at dinner time and my inlaws would come once a week at dinner time.
pomegranate / 3008 posts
My mom and stepdad arrived the day after my son was born and stayed for about 3 days and made some food for the freezer but that was it. My husband stayed home the first week and worked 1/2 days for the second week and then was full time again after that. That was all the help I received and I was fine with it.
kiwi / 534 posts
With Liam my husband was home for a month with us. We also got our nanny right before he was born so she was there. My OB took quite the condescending tone with me and suggested I almost had too much help. You can't win haha 
hostess / wonderful honeydew / 32460 posts
My mom stayed with us for about 2.5 weeks and she left for CA. AFter that I was on my own most of the time. DH worked and would help out when he got home.
I thought I was going to die. Didn't get to eat my first meal til noon, hardly showered, didn't brush my teeth..
blogger / watermelon / 14218 posts
I would kill to have family nearby all the grandparents live 4-7 hrs driving distance away (and 2 out of 3 don't drive) and they try to come as often as possible, but they all have really busy schedules with work.
When RJ was born, Rob Sr. had 4 weeks off from work (paternity + vacation) and my mom was here for 4 weeks. My dad came for 2 weeks, went back for work for 1 week, and came back to get my mom and stayed for a few days, but he was mostly around just for entertainment. My mom cooked and cleaned every day and it was so awesome, especially since my recovery was over a month.
My MIL was here for a weekend after he was born. She and my mom cooked up a storm.
That's pretty much it. We have a grandparent or two about once every 3 or 4 months for a weekend or so. I'm really looking forward to the holidays-- my parents will be over for 4 days, then my MIL, BIL and his girlfriend (and their two adorable dogs) will be over for 5 days! Woot!!!
apricot / 489 posts
That's not enough support to your OB? That sounds like an amazing amount of support to me!
My husband took of 2.5 weeks and I was on my own from then on. Not only that, but he was working in another state so he was gone for 14 hrs a day. It was tough but I never really considered it as unmanagable.
hostess / wonderful grape / 20803 posts
That sounds like a lot of support!
I think my husband will take a week off and my parents will certainly be around as much as I ask them to be around.
pear / 1837 posts
Yeah, if I'm reading your post correctly, you had someone else around more or less all the time until the baby was 5 weeks old, and then you still had your husband at night and a grandmother a couple times a week?
That sounds pretty good to me!
I was super lucky with help- for the first week and a half, both DH and my mom were around, then my mom left and DH stayed home for another week and a half (he took off 3 weeks total), then when he went back to work my mom came for a week, then I was on my own for a couple days before DH's godmother came, then on my own for a couple days, then I went and stayed with my mom for a week.
pomegranate / 3388 posts
That sounds like a lot! Our family is across the country from us, so we don't have a lot of options. Right now the plan is that DH will stay home for 2 weeks. Around when he goes back to work my parents will fly out. My dad will stay for 1 week, and my mom will stay on for an extra 2 weeks.
Once baby is about a month old I'll be on my own during the days while DH is at work. We would love it if DH's mom would volunteer to fly out and help with baby once my parents leave, but she has yet to get our hints.
hostess / eggplant / 11068 posts
Yeah, I thought it was lots of support! But I think OB was concerned because of my history with depression - she thought I would need more support. But all is good now!
eggplant / 11824 posts
That sounds like a lot of support, which is awesome.
My husband is off for the summer from the day before my due date for almost 12 weeks straight (with some meetings and work he can do from home mixed in), so he’ll be with me almost 24/7 for my entire maternity leave, and then on his own with baby for a few weeks once I return to work.
My parents live 45 minutes away, and I’m sure will come to help, and my MIL might move out here and wants to come after the birth to help too (will stay probably 2 weeks, unless she moves out here).
coconut / 8299 posts
I was pretty fortunate because both my parents and in laws lived like 20 minutes away from us so they came by all the time. Let me tell ya...having parents live close by is AWESOME.
pear / 1639 posts
DS's dad made us move out when DS was 6 days old, so I moved into my parents' house. I had TONS of help then!
blogger / pomelo / 5400 posts
Luckily, DH has a flexible schedule in the summer, so he was able to be home pretty much whenever I needed him. His/my parents stayed for a few days, but not until after a few weeks. I genuinely did not want house guests right after the birth.
pear / 1554 posts
With our first baby, my husband took 2 weeks off work. Our baby was in NICU so we went to visit him everyday. We already had a cleaning lady so I didn't have to worry about housework at all. This time around since baby will be here shortly after Christmas, my husband is a little busy with work. My mom is already here from the states and will stay and help for 2 months.
grapefruit / 4056 posts
My husbans plans to take 2-3 weeks off after the baby is home, my Mom is going to come for about a week sometime in there, but thats all I am going to have, after the first 3 weeks I will have hubby for evenings and weekends, but will be on my own a lot. We live 3 hours away from our families, so if anyone comes otherwise, it will likely just be for weekends.
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