Tuesday, July 24, 2018

Night Nurse

I had a few comments and emails wondering if I could fill yall in on the night nurse situation we had!  Of course!

This is how it went down:

I always had read on my local Mom's Facebook group that there were a group of girls organized by one gal that all worked together at a local hospital on the mother/baby floor.  I never needed anyone with Molly Anne because well, I just didn't need help.  This time after the c-section and having an almost 3 year old, I raised my hand and said, yep, I need help!  

Anyway, one of my friends had used this group and said it was the best money spent ever and that the girls were wonderful that had helped her!  Done.  

I texted the head girl one night and the next night Jen appeared at our door at 9pm!  My Mom was still in town and Kevin of course was here so when she got here, we all sat in the den chatting about what Grady was doing - eating sleeping bathroom, repeat!  We gave her the scoop and since my Mom was still here, Jen stayed in Grady's room with him.  Kevin kept the monitor to keep ears on Molly Anne and I slept in the other guest room so I could SLEEP!

I set my alarm for 5:50am and Jen left at 6am.  About 8 consecutive hours of sleep.  SUCH A GIFT!!!

Jen came 5 times over the first 7 weeks.  She got me through the 2-3 times a night wakings and until Grady started only getting up once a night (around 7.5 weeks).  I felt like a new human when he only got up once a night ha!  

She always came at 10pm (except the first time when she came at 9pm).  I'd go to bed at 8/9pm and Kevin would let her in.  I would just text her the scoop on what Grady was up to before I went to bed.  Then I'd set my alarm for 5:50am and see her in the morning.  It was really nice having her those first few weeks when I had a question about something with Grady or my own recovery.  

Oh and after Mom left, she hung out in our den and watched TV or whatever.  She kept the monitor with her.  I told her she should drift off to sleep because I really didn't care as long as she heard him of course.  I don't think she did this but I was fine with it if she wanted to do that.

The burning question - $30/hour.  Worth every penny.  It was temporary and we knew that.  

Jen was wonderful and I ended up having her come every time to keep some consistency versus using different girls!  

So that's it!  Highly recommend!  It made me a better Mom those first few crazy weeks.  I was SO productive the next day after having sleep and probably a lot nicer to be around!  ;)

7 comments:

  1. What a gift to yourself~ that is a fantastic group! I have never heard of that but WOW - what a blessing for a new MOM!! I think it is so important to ask and get help when you need it no matter what!!!

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  2. Im always so curious how this works with nursing? I had to get up and pump so it was just easier to get up and feed the baby

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  3. Responding to Alexis Patrick above: I used a night nurse for the first 2 weeks while nursing, and she would just bring the baby into my room when it was time to feed, then I texted her when he was finished, and she came and got him, burped him, changed him, and got him back to sleep. It was very easy, and I agree with Beth, money well spent! I still had to wake up every 4 hours, but it was nice having the baby in another room. Newborn grunts/noises would make me wake up every time.

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  4. Asking respectfully, did Kevin not feel comfortable getting up with the baby during the night?

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  5. Another blogger wrote about a night nurse. Hers also did meal prep in between baby duty. Sounds like a win/win for all.

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  6. This is so interesting to me. A friend of mine recently used one and I'm pretty sure she used the same team coordinated by the girl from the hospital. She even helped her work out a pumping schedule so she could use milk from the day time to bottle feed at night. I totally might reach back out to you about this when it gets closer to baby boy's arrival because Madeline was still waking up at least three times a night at 8 weeks old and I'm honestly kind of terrified if that is the case this time since my husband travels all week every week. Thanks for sharing!

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