Recover from delivery

[visitor]

Dear all , how much time did it take for you to recover from a delivery ? I am almost 32 weeks pregnant now but homeschooling is very light at this moment :-(

[Another Lynn]

In my experience, it was easier to homeschool after delivery than it was at the end of the pregnancy.  After delivery, give yourself a couple weeks to establish nursing (if you plan to), and hopefully get to one feeding per night (instead of up and down all night long), and by then everyone may benefit by a return to a gentle school routine.   :)

[jeremmy]

^^ I agree. I was so antsy that I went back into homeschool a few weeks after delivering. This was even with difficult pregnancies and hemorrhaging. However, the last few months of my pregnancy were super light if we did anything. I should mention that we read on the couch while I nurse and I checked school work while still on the couch, so it's not like I jumped into anything that requires physical strength. The big change was that school was when I was nursing or the baby was sleeping, not at a set time. But my kids have always been young enough that that didn't bug them (had my last baby when my oldest was on 3rd grade).

[Junie]

I don't remember how long I waited with all of them, but for the most part it was only a few days before we were back homeschooling.  I knew that if I took "a little bit of time" it would be a long time until we were doing anything academic.  Many days in the early weeks were **very** light -- maybe only one workbook page -- but what helped me was jumping right back in and then building back up as I was able.

[MinivanMom]

I've always taken about 6 weeks off. I find it's actually easier to homeschool with a nursing newborn than it is to homeschool at the end of pregnancy. Those last 3 months of pregnancy are really tough.

[LMCme]

I'm homeschooling a 5 year old, so the stakes are a lot lower, but I didn't do school for a good month or two before delivery and then started back probably 6-8 weeks after.  And then went back slow.

 

My only regret is that I didn't take off the last three months of pregnancy... I wasn't a great teacher and was a bear to deal with those last couple of months.

 

LMC

[Hobbes]

I was good to go with homeschooling two weeks after birth with both my third and fourth. I was gentle with my own expectations for the first little while, but we were definitely all ready to have something to do and to be back in our normal routine.

 

I much prefer having a baby out than in. :)

[Ms.Ivy]

For the first few weeks after delivery, homeschooling was pretty much the only thing I could do.... because as others mentioned, I could do it from the couch while nursing.  I always encourage moms to think about getting help with housework so they can spend as much time on the couch as possible!.  

[Holly]

We start back within a week or two. :leaving:  My kids need the structure...a few weeks of bored kids is enough for me!   I also find it easier to HS with a newborn than while pregnant (or with an interrupting toddler).  When we go back, we focus on the basics, listen to some books on CD, and work on "home ec" a.k.a. chore time.  We aren't doing lots of hands-on projects, unless they are organizing them and cleaning up afterward.  We may have some "late start days" around 3-6 months if the baby is colicky.  

[Peaceful Isle]

About two weeks after, and I had c-sections. 

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

We start back within a week or two. :leaving:  My kids need the structure...a few weeks of bored kids is enough for me!   I also find it easier to HS with a newborn than while pregnant (or with an interrupting toddler).  When we go back, we focus on the basics, listen to some books on CD, and work on "home ec" a.k.a. chore time.  We aren't doing lots of hands-on projects, unless they are organizing them and cleaning up afterward.  We may have some "late start days" around 3-6 months if the baby is colicky.  

 

 

We were similar.  I did not have the headspace and concentration for the last month of pregnancy, but we got back into things very quickly afterward because everyone was more comfortable on a routine.  I had easy deliveries, so that helped.

[Gabrielsyme]

Taking note as number four is due right before Christmas. There's a natural break for holidays after baby but I'm hoping I can maintain momentum through the fall. I had a rough first and half of second trimester but feel ready to go back now. I know from experience though that I'll feel soo much better in the weeks after delivery than I do now. 

[happypamama]

We allow for up to six weeks, but thus far, we've taken about two. I've had easy births and easy babies, though, which helps a lot. I take naps when I need to, and we maybe don't get everything done every day for a little while, but after about two weeks, I'm usually feeling pretty good, nursing is well established, baby sleeps in a wrap a lot, and the big kids are getting bored. Our baby is due the end of March next year, right about when I was intending to take two weeks of spring break anyway, so that should be about perfect. If we go too long on our babymoon break, we will go into May/June more than anyone wants to, but it will depend on how the baby and I am.

[Bluegoat]

I'm also planning about two weeks, but I've purposfully tried to make the year very open and go, and set up things they can do without me.  I'm not too worried.

 

Though, it was a reason we dicided to send our eldest to ps this year, a year earlier than we intended.  There were other reasons that made it seem a reasonable choice but part was that she needs more of my attention at the moment.

 

[visitor]

Thanks all ! I am 33 weeks pregnant now it is really hard to Homeschool . I hope it will be better after delivery . We are still on track but we all need the structur .

[TKDmom]

I took off about 6 weeks total. A month of that was before the baby was born. Everything was easier for me after birth than during pregnancy. Newborns just sleep and eat, and I kept my expectations low, but I was ready to do something with my new found energy post pregnancy.

[2_girls_mommy]

I took a full week off,focusing on baby and dr. appointments and staying up all night with baby, but kids still had some stuff to keep up for extra curriculars, with my dh off for the week to drive them around. By week two, I was driving them to all of their extra curriculars with the newborn and had my babysitting kid back with us full time.  By week three we were back to school work full time, and I taught at co-op again with baby snuggled up in the Moby Wrap.

 

I will say we did some things gently. We didn't do as much output for some of the content subjects for a month or so. And then we wrapped up the year with a big project for history after a couple of months after delivery to make up for it.

 

 

[Janeway]

I would be better homeschooling from the recovery room than in my last trimester, seriously. You should just not worry about going light now. You can catch up after the baby is born.

[mykidsrmyjoy]

For the last birth (our fifth), we got back into school a week later. It's amazing how great you feel even one week after giving birth, compared to those last few months of pregnancy! I have been blessed with babies that generally sleep well at night, which really helps. If I were up most of the night with a fussy newborn I probably wouldn't be so ready to start back.

 

I just really appreciate routine and order and start feeling like I'm going to crawl out of my skin if things get too chaotic. I'd rather have the children on a schedule and in school than have more time to sleep in and then everything fall apart the rest of the day.