How am I going to do this?

[OceanPrincess]

Been there, doing that! I've only got one bub and the thought of going back to work terrified me too!

Now that I'm back, its not so bad. I'm doing ok. The house is a mess... the dishes don't always get done... I never iron anything anymore... and I'm exhausted, but hey, like you said, we still have our roof over our head, we always eat SOMETHING (it might not be the most nutrious, slow-cooked yummy goodness but so what) and we are not declaring bankruptcy just yet!

I too was concerned about forcing DD into weaning before she was ready - but I think she was ready. I tried expressing at work but it was just another stress for me to deal with and turned out she was fine during the day without it. She still fed first thing in the morning and I made sure I was home for her last thing before bed feed (fortunately I can do that with my work) and sometimes she'd have two feeds when I got home, but she has adjusted. And we're still doing those two feeds, four months later.

Two things made my return to work easier - the fact that I was pg and knew I had a definitive time frame for stopping again and also my support network. We have fantastic grand parents who look after DD, so no CC worries for us. But more than that - it is their ability to be flexible and bath DD and give her dinner when we need them to. They've also cooked for us on many occasions - so we get dinner without the stress.

If you are able to tap into a support network that will help. Do you have parents, family, friends around who can help out when things threaten to get on top of you? Even if it isn't with practical things like cooking or cleaning, but even things like looking after kidlets so you and DH can go grab a coffee, dinner, movie, something.

The nights that I have to cook dinner now are pretty stressful - but what has helped with that is a supply of quick, easy and relatively healthy meals that I know I can whip out at the drop of a hat. Being organised with grocery shopping helps too - or using Coles/Woolies online!

The other thing you can do is make sure you know what the kids need for the following day and (where possible) have it ready the night before. So once they are asleep for the night, you organise their bag for the next day - clothes, food (if required), sleeping aids (bit hard if they are currently sleeping WITH their aids hehe), all the stuff they need - so that in the morning, its a case of wake them up, give them their brekky or whatever they have first thing, change nappy, throw in the car and off you go. No fluffing around.

Other than that - I've had to let a lot of things go. I don't mean stop doing them let them go, I mean let go of my anxieties about being a "bad mother/wife/housekeeper" if I don't wash and dry every dish in my house before bed. Like the fact that my shower hasn't had a good scrub in longer than I'd like (not helped by my large belly!) and the fact that DH and I don't get fresh sheets every week anymore. You just need to prioritise - on my two days off I'd much rather be hanging with DD, playing and taking her places, than be stuck at home doing washing and cleaning.

I did get worried though at one point when DH said "Do our towels need changing? Mine's got a bit of a funky smell"