poll: so did your DH/SO take an extended time off when your kid(s) were born?

[AnnieW625]

Just curious. When DD was born DH took off most of the week she was born. DD was born on a Tuesday so DH didn't go into work on that day or Wednesday. We came home from the hospital on Thursday and DH had an interview so he went in for that and that only. He went into work on Friday, but I think he boss sent him in at noon. He didn't take any other time off except for two days or so when went on a trip to Norcal for a few days when DD was two months old. He then took 2 weeks off before DD started daycare (daycare was closed and I had to be back at work for training).

For #2 DH has offered to do the same again, but I am really hoping that he'll take two weeks off after the baby is born to help me get settled. Last time the first full week I was home by myself was hard, but it also got me into a routine and forced me to do things myself and I think that was good. My parents came when DD was 2 weeks old and that was kind of the turning point.

I do know that DD will continue to go to daycare so that will help too.

What did you DH/SO do?

(forgot the poll, so no options, but you get the gist, right?)

[goldenpig]

I was lucky. DH was able to take 4 weeks off the first time around. She was tough, not a good sleeper, problems with difficulty nursing and refusing bottles, poor weight gain etc. I think probably related to silent reflux which we later found out she had. So it was really nice to have him around to help. This time he has about 3 weeks that he can take by using up his accrued vacation and sick leave. Don't know if he will take all of it (depending on how things go with the new baby) but it's nice to know he can do it if we need to. Also, DD is in preschool half-day and we have a nanny 3 afternoons a week that we need to keep on the same schedule (because I want her to stay on full-time when I go back to work) so I think/hope things should be better this time around.

[LexyLou]

As much as I hate DH's company and how much he works the one wonderful thing is that they provide 2 weeks paid paternity leave with each child. He also gets 5 weeks paid vacation on top of that.

With DD1 he wound up taking 3 weeks off.

With DD2 he took the 2 weeks and then took another week off a couple weeks later after my mom left.

[Tondi G]

With DS#1 my DH stayed home for 2 weeks. With DS#2 I was going through some bad PPD/anxiety and he ended up taking off 3 weeks to help me cope with my issues and take care of DS1 who hadn't started preschool yet.

My mom and my sister both live close by so I had a lot of support from my family too.

[nfowife]

My DH gets 2 weeks off for paternity leave. He took that both times after I had the baby. It was nice!

[mom2binsd]

With DD he was off for about 5 days, but I was in the hospital from Sun-Wed due to c-section, he stayed home with me Thurs and Friday and went back to work the next week. He came home everyday at lunch (his work was about a mile away). I didn't need him home with me more than that.

With DS, DD was 3 (not in daycare we had in home childcare which we couldn't afford once off with baby)...DH had already moved out of state for a new job....FIL came and stayed and was AWESOME, better than DH really as he was so helpful with household duties, got the house all ready to be put on the market and with DS in the NICU and me with a C-section he was great at helping with DD who was very active.

If your older one will continue in daycare once the new baby arrives I think how much you want him around depends on whether he'll be a help or another mouth to feed!!! Certainly the first week is wonderful, for me, I like to do as much on my own, which is why I was happy to be solo with my first baby!

[California]

My DH came up with a plan that's worked out great for us each time we've had a baby (3x's). Each time he had over three weeks of vacation time saved up. Instead of taking it off all at once, he spread the time out by taking T/Th's off for a month and a half. His boss was happier with him setting up this schedule than taking three weeks off in a row, so it worked out great for everyone concerned. He did go in for a couple of afternoons/mornings as needed for meetings during that time. I loved knowing that I would always get a shower at least every other morning :p

[jgenie]

With DS1 DH took off two weeks then worked from home the third week. DS2 was born on a Monday night - DH took Tues and Wed off and went back to work on Thurs. He has a new job and went back to work since I had so much help lined up. My MIL arrived on Wed, the day we came home from the hospital, and stayed 1.5 weeks. My mom arrived the day MIL left and stayed for two weeks. We were on our own for a week then my brother came to help for a week. We are on our own for two weeks then my mom will be back for another week. We'll be on our own after that.

[MontrealMum]

Our situation was a bit complicated, but here it is. My province allows 5 days immediately for the birth or an adoption coming-home, then has 5 weeks paternity leave, and then an optional 1-2 years parental leave at reduced pay. You must choose whether you're going to do 1 OR 2 years at the outset and the % of your regular pay that you get is adjusted accordingly. Only ONE parent may take the parental leave if both parents work. Jobs are required to be held until your return.

The day of the birth and following DH took his allowed 5 days off. This was good since he was exhaused from being with me in the hospital. Then, instead of taking his 5 weeks right away of paternity leave (allowed in QC), he struck a bargain with his boss that he would spread it out over the academic year which allowed me to return to school part time. His boss actually preferred this - he'd rather have had a PT employee, than have to replace DH (who is a senior IT guy) for 5 straight weeks.

So, two weeks after DS was born. I took class two days a week because that's when the semester started back up. Crazy, yeah. But at the time I was not thinking clearly. The first 4 weeks of classes for me were covered by my Dad who flew up. He also came on my "off" days and helped with cleaning, feeding, shopping, whatever. Then a week was covered by my mom (also flew up). I was very grateful to have my parents' help. The remaining weeks of the fall and winter semester were covered by DH's 5 weeks, and then parental leave kicked in and he opted to take one day off a week (when I had class) for the winter (what most colleges would call spring), and 2 days a week off for the summer mini-session when I took an intensive course and went away for a conference.

So, spread from Aug. to about July DH took time off, by days, here and there and we tacked our Aug. vacation on to the end of that, so it actually extended to a year that DH was mostly PT. DS' spot opened on the daycare list that Aug. so we put him in when we returned from vacation.

I very much appreciated having the "help" but looking back, it might have been better to have most of that help concentrated up front rather than straggled out over the year - and not have gone back to school right away! But I had a difficult recovery because I had PPD due to thyroid issues and my tailbone was broken in the delivery. Not something you can plan on happening ahead of time. I realize that you don't have these sorts of options since you're in the US, but really I think it's most important for that help to be there at the beginning - especially considering how limited the leave time is down there.

[Neatfreak]

Can't say so.

DD1 was born on a Monday, and he was back at the office the following Monday.

DD2 was born on a Wednesday. DH took Wednesday and Thursday off. That's all. I'm sort of bitter about that one b/c we're living overseas so I didn't really have a support system here.

[citymama]

Yes, but he was in grad school at the time so it's not quite the same thing. DD took off about 10 days straight from school (conveniently happened to be spring break too) and then went back to classes, but was home with me the rest of the time. The best part was he didn't start his new job till 6 months after DD was born (took the bar in between, which was of course a ton of work). And when he started his new job, he went part-time to split SAH parenting with me. He plans to do the same this time, although I'm not sure how much he will take off when the baby first arrives - 2 weeks straight and then PT, perhaps.

[elephantmeg]

For DS I was induced Sun eve, delivered by c-section late mon. Went home Thurs. DH went back to work Fri am. With DD she was born on a Tues and he went back on Fri I think... went home Thurs again. My parents were here that first week.

[WatchingThemGrow]

Roughly 2 weeks each time. Spotty grandparent help, nothing like I read here. A few days here and there, mostly in the 3rd week this time. I hired a PP doula (recommended here) for a few days in the 4th week to help me figure out how to survive with 3 DC under 37 mos. Your oldest will be of helping age, and that just seems so nice! Mine was in the "oh wait, how can I torture my 1yo brother" stage.

[MoJo]

I am blessed. My water broke for DD#1 on the last day of school (just a teacher work day) . . . so my DH (a teacher) was off all summer.

DD#2 is due about a week and a half after the end of the school year this year.

My mom also came for 1 week, which was great.

[Andi98989]

DS was born on a Wednesday and we didn't come home until Sunday. DH was off work while we were in the hospital and then all the next week.

We do have family 20 minutes away, but no one stayed with us or came over on a routine basis.

[egoldber]

With DD#1 he took a full week and then worked lightly for awhile. But he had just started a new job so couldn't take extended time off.

When Leah was born and then was critical, well he basically didn't work for a month. Thank goodness he had that flexibility, because I really can't imagine having to deal with everything at that time if he had not been there and available. It was still really hard on me when he did go back to work.

When our youngest was born, she was in the NICU for 11 days. He did not work during that time, but if she had been in longer he would have had to. After 2 weeks he did start going back into the office. But I was pumping around the clock for the first 6 weeks after she was born and could not have done it without his support. My MIL was also there to essentially care for older DD full time.

[♥ms.pacman♥]

i was lucky my DH took 3 weeks off. what was also a bonus was that i went into labor on a Saturday, DS was born early Sun morning so he didn't have to take any days off for the labor delivery etc.

and DH didn't take paternity leave, he saved up his vacation days so those were 3 weeks paid vacation days. he could have taken more days off and started going into the unpaid days off if had wanted to, but we figured 3 weeks was enough and saved up the remaining vacation days for when we actually want to take a vacation. :)

[o_mom]

All three of mine were born on Friday. With DS1 I think DH went back on Tuesday and my mom came that afternoon to stay for a week or so. With DS2 and DS3, my mom came ASAP to care for the other kid(s) and stayed a week and he went back Mon or Tues while she was still here. When she left, DH took two weeks of half days where he went in 2 hrs late and came home 2 hrs early. That let him help get everyone up and fed and then was home to help get dinner and do bedtime and I only had about 5 hrs of being alone with all of them at first.

[maestramommy]

Dh took off a week for Dora, two weeks for Arwyn, and I think one week for Laurel. However, for Laurel both my parents were here for a month. For the first two my mom stayed as needed for the same amount of time that Dh stayed home.

[billysmommy]

DH did take a couple of half days to help out each time which worked out great.
DS1 was born on a Friday evening so he was off Sat/Sun anyway. He did 1/2 days alternating am/pm for the first week.
DS2 was born at 2:15 on a Sunday morning. My mom came to stay with DS1. DH worked Mon morning and then came to bring me home Mon afternoon. My mom stayed until Wed morning. DH worked 1/2 days for a week again.
DH could have taken more time if needed but we didn't need him too. I'm the type of person who likes to have my new routine in place quickly so this was perfect for us.
We did schedule our cleaning lady to come in 2x/week for the first 6 weeks so I didn't have to think about that and my mom, MIL and SIL stocked our fridge and freezer with meals so we didn't have to worry about that either.

[Corie]

For our first child (DD), she was born by c-section on Wednesday. The next day
was Thanksgiving. So, he took off Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. He was back
at work on Monday.
This was VERY tough for me. It was my first child and I had a c-section.
My mom passed away many years ago and my husband has no contact with
his family. So, no help.

For our second child (DS), my husband took a week off from work. I had
another c-section. By week #2, I was back to driving DD to preschool.


Thank goodness that I had a cleaning lady!!! :)

[Melaine]

He took like 3 days off when I was in the hospital in early labor, but when the girls came home (2 weeks after the birth) we brought them home on a Saturday night and he went back to work on Monday.

[wellyes]

DH took three weeks. It was AWESOME. He was a better baby nurse than my mom (gives too much advice) or his mom (who I'm not close to). Expensive to go that long unpaid though.

If he can take two weeks - that'd be great.

[SnuggleBuggles]

With ds1 he took a week off. We had family visiting and I was ok.

After ds2 he took about 3 days off- we got lucky and ds2 was born on a Saturday morning so we had some built in recovery time. Again, I was ok with this because I wanted him to save his vacation time for when we needed it.

Beth

[lchang25000]

DH took a week off. He could've taken more off, but my mom was already here to help so I told him no need to take off any longer. She stayed for 1 month after DS was born.

[gobadgers]

We were lucky that DH was able to take about 3 weeks off with both kids.

[Cheburashka]

My SO called in when I went in to labor, and took off the rest of the week while I was in the hospital. He then took off the next week, using his vacation time. That was it. I wish he'd taken more time off.

[elliput]

DH took a week off when both DC were born. DD was born on a Friday evening and DS on Sunday afternoon. With DD he was also off for a couple days before as I was already at the hospital due to pre-e.

[g-mama]

My dh took off 2-3 days of work after each baby and then was back. It was incredibly hard because I had c-sections each time, broke my tailbone with the first one, and my mom had already passed away so I didn't have her either. I still remember trying to juggle the needs of my older two boys while I was hobbling around (shouldn't have been) after the third baby. I did have friends who took the older two here and there and brought them to their houses to play, thank goodness.

[bluestarfish18]

With DC#2, he was only able to take off a day.

But with DC#1, we were VERY lucky. His job allowed him to take a huuuuge break from work. He was able to stay home 5 months.

[JTsMom]

I don't remember how many days he took of exactly, but I want to say it was about a week and a half or so. We knew DS would need surgery, so we had to conserve some time so he could take off for that, and frankly, I needed him much more at that point. My mom came down for the birth, and stayed for maybe 5 days or so?

It depends on everyone's personality, but for me, I was actually relieved when everything went back to normal and it was just DS and me. I really wanted to get our routine figured out for myself, and I just felt like nobody was doing all that much to help anyway, so I might as well get things down on my own.

The C/s did make things a little tougher, but I was very lucky that I had a really easy recovery. I bf'ed, and that was the most challenging aspect b/c DS had serious nipple confusion issues, and we got into a supplementing cycle that was really hard to break, I was pumping, nursing and ff, and it was just craziness, but nobody could really help w/that.

We just started talking about this time yesterday. I'm still not sure what we'll do- probably a week or so. It might be nice to do a couple of days, go back for a couple of days, come home for a couple of days kind of thing. I'm praying to the childbirth gods for an easy vaginal delivery this time, and that we can have a nice, normal experience. (Crossing my fingers and toes)

[hopeful_mama]

DH was supposed to get 3 weeks paternity leave, but he was in the middle of a critical project and didn't want to leave them in the lurch. They came up with an arrangement where he'd work from home, but for a much longer period of time.

This actually worked really well for us. He took two days off while I was in the hospital, then started working again the day after we came home. He would work all hours of the day and night, even on weekends, but the baby and I came first so he'd stop and assist whenever necessary. He was mostly home for 2.5 months though he started going in a couple days a week after the first month, and my mother would usually come up those days. At the end, he even took 2 weeks completely off (he's required to take 2 weeks off with minimal contact every year, and it was year end so had to be done). That gave us a chance to catch up on many of the things that had been slipping with him working constantly for so long. And gave him a chance to spend some relaxed time with the baby, not trying to juggle her and work at the same time.

Due to some health issues the transition to managing everything on my own in the daytime was pretty hard for me, and I really don't know how I would have managed otherwise. I will miss this arrangement the next time around.

[Roni]

My DH didn't take too much time off the first time around, but my parents lived close by at the time and stopped by to help a lot. The second time around, DH took off 2 weeks, one of which was a company shut-down, scheduled around dd's due date. Unfortunately, she came 2 weeks late! My mother also came to help out (to be with dd1 while I was in the hospital) , & she came just before the due date, to be sure she was here in time. By the time dd was finally born, most of my help was gone! (I somehow did fine, though, and just hung out at home.) So, the third time around I'm going to make sure I have help after the baby is born! (I will have help in the form of the big sisters, but someone has to shuttle them around to school and activities--that's my biggest worry. They will just be starting a new school year, & one will be starting middle school--ahhh!)

[secchick]

DH was a first year law student when we had DD, and he took off the day she was born. My mom stayed with me that first night, and after that DH would come by to visit in the evenings, but he was slammed with reading and studying and couldn't fall behind. When DS was born, same deal, DH was working and took one day off but I was on my own at night the whole time. DH stayed with DD to keep her routine as normal as posssible. She stayed with my parents the night before, since we had to get up at 4 am to get to the hospital for my scheduled CS.

[HIU8]

For DS, DH took 2 weeks off. Honestly, after a week I was begging him to go back to work. He was driving me insane (note: we lived with my parents as our house was being gutted so I had my mother, father and grandmother there as well).

For DD, DH took almost a week off. He had an important meeting he had to be at. I think he took a total of 3 days. My dad was also here to help me though.

[hellokitty]

DS1- DH took 1 wk off
DS2- DH took 2 wks off (and his co-workers complained)
DS3- DH took 2.5 wks off (and once again his co-workers complained, btw he doesn't get paid leave, he had to save his PTO time)

He was my only help. My mil and my mom never stayed after I had my babies to help out, so I relied heavily on my DH.

[michellerw]

DH is an Army contractor with limited vacation and he only started around Thanksgiving, so he couldn't take a lot of time. I was induced Wed, emergency c-section Thurs morning and he took Wed-Mon off. His mom helped us get home from the hospital and my mom has been here since then; she leaves on Friday.

Neither of us love it, but the situation is what it is.

[kdeunc]

We were fortunate. DH used sick leave/vacation and was home almost 6 weeks with DS1, 4 weeks with DS2 and 2 weeks with DD. It was nice having him home to help. I had c-sections (although with fairly easy recoveries) all three times.

[AnnieW625]

Thanks for all of the insight so far. DH can take paternity leave and he can get it all paid depending on how much sick leave and or vacation he wants to use. I think he can use sick leave for a week, and vacation for the rest (I don't think his HR is very strict about that though so he could probably use more sick leave; my HR is very by the book). I want him to save as much sick leave as possible (ours carries over each year and DH has been with his ER for 5 yrs; so he has lots of time!) as I will have no sick leave once I come off maternity so for a couple of months he'll be home taking care of sick kiddos while I build up my sick leave again.

My parents were really cool when they stayed with us, I think they stayed with us for four days and it was a huge help. Mom did some cooking, dad did the yard work and just relaxed. My in laws came for one day, but they really just came to see the baby. I was fine with that. My in laws would drive me batty (and DH too) if they were staying under our roof. We never hear the end about only have one bathroom!

[jenfromnj]

DS was born on a Tuesday night (c-section), but I'd been in labor since Monday morning, so he took that entire week (M-F) off and returned to work the following Monday. He'd originally intended to take an additional week off, but it didn't work out that way due to a work-related emergency.

[mommylamb]

DH took 2 weeks off when DS was first born, then after my maternity leave was over when DS was 3 months old, DH took just over 3 months off for paternity leave. He works for a foreign government that has a welfare state, so they are more understanding about paternity leave than most private US companies and he was paid.

[billysmommy]

It depends on everyone's personality, but for me, I was actually relieved when everything went back to normal and it was just DS and me. I really wanted to get our routine figured out for myself, and I just felt like nobody was doing all that much to help anyway, so I might as well get things down on my own.


This is how I felt about it too

[crl]

We adopted DS from China. We landed at Dulles after 2 weeks of travel and 24 hours straight in airports and on airplanes at around 8 pm. He was in court (attorney) at 8am the next morning. He did take some time off sporadically, but even when he didn't go in he was working from home.

Catherine

[arivecchi]

With DS1, DH took a week off, I had 3 months off.

With DS2, DH took about 3 days off :( and I had 3 months off.

[megs4413]

DD was born on a sunday and he didn't go back to work until the next monday (so a whole week).

DS was born on a thursday and he only took off thursday and friday.

[m448]

For my first he took off two weeks and my mom was here for the third. For my second he took off three weeks and after that worked some days from home since we'd asked people not to visit before the first month.

For my third my husband stayed home for 2 weeks and my mom for third. I tell them all the time that the best gift that third time was being able to rest in my bed, with the baby sleeping on and off, watching TV or reading while my mom or husband took care of the house and the olders. The older kids would pop in to visit with me and their sister but my job was the rest. By the third week I was sitting out in the living room but still resting. I loved it and made the transiton to 3 amazing. I really did avoid a deep PPD well by having the blessing of my mother and husband to bear that load. I've set up the same thing for this time.

I can say that some of the most ingrained and precious memories with my daughter are of me sleepily nuzzling her in bed as she nursed during those first weeks of life.

[DietCokeLover]

Our business closes for the winter months, so with DD (Dec) we were closed already when she was born. DS (Nov) was born about 3 weeks prior to our closing for the winter, so he continued to "work" then, but since we live at our business, he was readily available.

[slworld]

DS was born on a wednesday & we got home on sunday (I had a c-section & DS had to be in the nicu for a bit due to fluid in his lungs & a small VSD diagnosis). DH took off the next week & he worked from home the week after that. My mom was also there to help.

[mecawa]

My DH did not take any extra time off with DD1, with DD2 he took 4 weeks, he was only suppose to take a week, but she had very unanticipated medical complications and he ended up having to take a family medical leave. If it weren't for that it would have been a week, with DD1 he went back the day after we got home from the hospital.

[LarsMal]

DH did things a$$ backwards! With DS he took 3 weeks off. It was nice having him home, but it was just the three of us...man, I didn't know how lucky I had it!

With DD1 he took 2 weeks off.

DD2- He had just started a new job a couple months earlier. I was scheduled for a c/s on a Wed. afternoon. He took that Wed-Friday off, went back to work the next Monday for a week (while my mom was with me) then took the next week off. That was it. I would've given anything to have the 3 weeks with #3!

[dotgirl]

With DD, my then-husband was unable to take any time off from work - we were young and he had a menial job with no sick time, no vacation. I was released from hospital 2 days after we had her, and was home alone - I was 19 and it had honestly never occurred to me that I wouldn't just rest for a couple days and then be fine, so I didn't make plans to have help. Not a good plan, do not recommend. ;)

With DS, my current husband took 2 days off for the delivery (cause it took 2 days for the little guy to show up!), and then an additional 2 weeks after that. His mom & dad came out after the first week, and stayed for 2 weeks, so all in all, I had 3 full weeks of help before I was alone with DS.

Like a lot of people, while I appreciated the help, and definitely knew how important it was after DD, I was happy at the end of 3 weeks to start establishing a day-to-day routine with DS.

[fivi2]

Our situation was kind of a mess... I was hospitalized for 10 days before the birth. I think he stayed with me the first day, but then had to go into work (nasty client complaining). He didn't work full days, but did work a lot. My mother showed up a couple days in, but she is the opposite of helpful.

Then the girls were in the nicu. Again, he took off a couple of days (and it was over christmas, so he had a few holiday days) but he definitely started working again while they were still in the hospital. After they came home, he took another day or so before going back. So, no extended leave, but it added up to a lot because of all the chaos.

[GaPeach_in_Ca]

With DS1, DH took off 2 weeks. Baby was born on a Monday and he went back to work 2 Mondays later. My parents were here (my mom for the first 2 weeks, dad for last) and then his parents were here also in that first 2 weeks. Meanwhile, baby was sleeping or nursing most of the time. Lots of ping pong was played. My mom & his parents did a lot of cooking. We went out to eat a few times. It was a bit of a let down to have everyone leave at once and then it was just me & baby that first day DH was back at work. Naturally he picked that day to start projectile spit-up. :D

With DS2, I think he took off maybe 1 week? Not sure. DS2 was also born on a Monday. My mom was here again. DS1 kept going to daycare. I think DH only stayed home that first week, if all that, because he felt like there was nothing for him to do, which there wasn't too much. My mom was great at cooking, cleaning, doing craft projects ... while most of the time baby was again sleeping or nursing.

I didn't really feel like I needed more help either time.

[Moneypenny]

DH took two weeks off. I think I would have been fine with him going back to work after a week, but his brother died right at the same time and I think it did him good to have an extra week off.

[ThreeofUs]

DS1 had a really rough start and was an intense and high-needs child. After taking about 2 months off, DH took 2.5 years of career break - worked about 1/2 time, didn't go to the field, etc. Thank goodness he was full (full prof vs assoc or assist) and able to rearrange everything. I'm honestly not sure we would have made it through so well without that constant support.

With DS2, a much easier birth and much more happy child, DH took a month off, a few weeks of 1/4 time and then 1/2 time, and then went back pretty much full time.

ETA: We have no family to help, so it was just us and the odd doula or babysitter.

[bubbaray]

I'm trying to remember -- I think he took 2w off with both.

[MamaMolly]

In DH's job parents (moms and dads) don't get maternity/paternity leave, they have to take time they have on the books or FMLA time. It just so happened that DH had several weeks (I think 4?) of leave he *had* to take and was able to defer it until DD was born. It would have been great if he hadn't been sick pretty much the entire time and absolutely and completely useless. Like it would have been better if he hadn't been there kind of useless.

I'm trying not to think about what it will be like this time.....:(

[kerridean]

Military. He went back pretty much the next full day after we returned from the hospital. I am still bitter:)

[shawnandangel]

DH had 2 weeks paternity leave and then he took an additional week off after that. The 4th week he worked from home and I was alone starting week 5. It was wonderful.

[kijip]

With T, my husband took his full FMLA, stretched onto a pt work schedule.

With F, he took more than a week and he also took the quarter off from school. So he was just working 3-4 days a week with no school until F was 3-4 months old.

[Melanie]

With my first he lost his job 2 weeks before he was born. So he "took" three rather stressful months off! LOL. As a new mom I DEFINITELY needed the extra help, but I think at some point it just became a hinderance to us figuring things out. Of course those are new parent mistakes.

With our second he took 3 weeks and that worked out really well.

[twowhat?]

Mine took 6 weeks (2 vacation, the rest unpaid). I could not have managed with twins otherwise. And even after he went back to work, MIL (who was with us the entire time since they were born) stayed for another couple of weeks to help me transition. And it was STILL hard as heck. Man oh man I do NOT miss those days.

[buddyleebaby]

DC1- 2 weeks
DC2- no time at all. He was able to be there for the day of birth and that was it. I checked out of the hospital myself.
DC3- nearly a month.

[klwa]

Dh took off while I was in the hospital with both children. Then, when DS was born, my mom stayed home with me most of the first week & when DD was born my dad did. DH then took off about 2 weeks after I went back to work to give me a chance to reacclimate without worrying about DC being at daycare.