@EVERYONE That was incredibly helpful for me to read through all of your responses. Thanks for taking the time to reply—you guys are awesome! Lurve!
@miasmom That’s a good thing to look into. It would be nice to know if there’s room to be flexible!
@ubersiren Exhausting the front lines (family) before sending in the brigade (dad) sounds like a good idea! Though I’m also concerned about bonding time for them. (Not just when I’d need a second hand to help, but when it would be most critical for father and child to bond.)
@janbb His HR department told him that he gets three months of paternity of leave. I’m assuming that means that it’s paid, but I should definitely double check. I would love to spend the entire three months with him. But I think that would be a bit stressful to be gone from work that long. Even if it is paid, it’s not exactly as if time would stand still at work. He’d be returning to a lot of work and projects to catch up on (on top of the stress of being a new father). As for breastfeeding, yes. Would that affect his paternity leave as well? (Now, you’ve got me quite curious!)
@daloon It’s nice to get a father’s perspective too. =)
@cak I really like the idea of spreading it out! That way he won’t be so out of the loop at work. It seems to balance getting too tired (like daloon’s comment) and not being as needed (like casheroo’s mother). Plus he’ll get to experience more of it. =)
@filmfann We definitely asked our parents. But I think their opinion is a bit biased, as they’re probably over-protective of their future grandchild. Three months sound great, but there seems to be other things to consider too!
@sdeutsch The spreading out idea is sounding really good!
@YARNLADY His HR seems to be pushing for three months. I wonder if that’s related to the economy? Kind of like company-wide ‘holidays’. I know what you mean though. What you get is different than what you should actually take. We’re trying to gauge a good inbetween.
@augustlan You didn’t take more time after your second and third child because they were so close together. But would you have wanted the option? Or was it easier the 2nd and 3rd time around? (Less paternity leave needed.)
@Simone_De_Beauvoir We’re trying to be reasonable here. But three months is sooooo tempting!