What did you partner do?

Question

We are expecting quite a long stay and wondering what dad should do? 
We are 3 hours from hospital and I’m obviously staying there to pump etc. 
I’m conflicted between getting my partner to use his paternity leave now while we are just sitting next to his bed or him going back to work and just coming up on weekends and then using his time off for when we actually get to take him home, or at least hold him
Where did your partner stay during your NICU stay and how long was it?

Answer

I would save his time off but see if you can have different friends/family meet you at the hospital each day for lunch.  It was so nice to have someone to talk to for even 30 minutes a day.  Otherwise I had a hard time stepping away and I’d just spend the whole meal wanting to get back to my baby.
Also ask your hospital if you get free meals (I was given a meal a day voucher because I was pumping).

Answer

After our daughter was born, my husband spent 2 weeks of his paternity leave immediately and then spend the other 4 weeks when she came home. In hindsight, I wish he had saved more for when she came home. Maybe I was a little selfish but I’m glad I got her all to myself during weekdays (we lived close to our NICU and he would visit after work on weekdays but couldn’t stay long enough to hold her). You’ll definitely appreciate having him around more when the nurses aren’t there to help!

Answer

Our son was in the NICU for 3 weeks. I stayed at the hospital an hour away from our home. My husband stayed home and worked so that he could be home with us when the baby was discharged. It was the best decision we made. It was a lot of work with a preemie in the beginning and I’m glad he was there

Answer

My boyfriend didn't start his leave until our son came home. He was in the NICU for three weeks but at birth was expected to stay about 6 (born at 33+1). If he would have stayed that long BF would have probably started leave after about a month. We didn't want him to "waste" his leave & felt his time off would be better spent after baby came home. That being said, we live less than 10 minutes from the hospital & don't have other kids so it was easy for him to  spend time at the NICU.

What did you partner do?

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