For anyone who thinks maternity leave is a luxury, let me give you the real scoop.
Here's my day:
5-5:30am - Feeding
6-8am - Baby sleeps and/or lightly squawks in crib. I do exciting stuff including: brush teeth, pick up house, unload dishwasher and take some Excedrin. (Husband commented life with a newborn includes a constant, low-grade headache, so we're both hitting the Excedrin extra-hard.) This time may include eating breakfast, if I'm lucky. (Today includes blogging.)
8:30am - Baby up for another feeding.
9am - Diaper change. (She dislikes this.) Clothing change. (She dislikes this, too.) A rousing game of peek-a-boo while she's on the changing table. (This is a whole new level of dislike - maybe even hate. But my face super-up-close scares me, too, so I can't blame her.)
9:30-10:30am - Carry Baby around seeing what I can accomplish one-handed. Maybe walk around yard to get her some Vitamin D. Have Baby do "tummy time" which is when she lays on her stomach and practices lifting her head. (She doesn't like this either.)
10:30am-Noon - Baby naps. I pump (TMI, I know), try to get on the elliptical for 45 minutes and shower.
Noon-1:30pm - Repeat activities from 8:30-10am.
Here it becomes less structured. If someone comes by, she naps. If not, she's awake. We may throw in a bath, multiple diaper changes and a brief squawking session.
2pm - Take Baby and Trudy for a walk.
3pm - Feeding.
3:30pm - Diapers, diapers, diapers. This is her high-poop time.
4pm - Husband is usually home. Thank God.
4:30pm - Put her in the swing, leave Husband with a bottle and get the hell out of the house. Yesterday was a riveting run to CVS (my new favorite place) which I wrapped up by eating a Heath candy bar in the car in the parking lot and taking my sweet time getting home.
5:30pm - Follow-up feeding. Pass baby back and forth while the other person gets to do stuff like make dinner or possibly shower.
6pm - Back in swing so we can eat.
7-8pm - Family walk time with Baby and Trudy.
8-9pm - Witching hour usually accompanied by hiccups.
9pm - Feeding.
9:30pm - Put Baby down and keep fingers crossed she won't get back up.
10pm - Write at least two thank you notes for all the kind things friends have done for us in the last month.
No witty wrap up and it's 8:29am and motherhood calls. I love Charley, but miss my adult people. A lot.
Here's my day:
5-5:30am - Feeding
6-8am - Baby sleeps and/or lightly squawks in crib. I do exciting stuff including: brush teeth, pick up house, unload dishwasher and take some Excedrin. (Husband commented life with a newborn includes a constant, low-grade headache, so we're both hitting the Excedrin extra-hard.) This time may include eating breakfast, if I'm lucky. (Today includes blogging.)
8:30am - Baby up for another feeding.
9am - Diaper change. (She dislikes this.) Clothing change. (She dislikes this, too.) A rousing game of peek-a-boo while she's on the changing table. (This is a whole new level of dislike - maybe even hate. But my face super-up-close scares me, too, so I can't blame her.)
9:30-10:30am - Carry Baby around seeing what I can accomplish one-handed. Maybe walk around yard to get her some Vitamin D. Have Baby do "tummy time" which is when she lays on her stomach and practices lifting her head. (She doesn't like this either.)
10:30am-Noon - Baby naps. I pump (TMI, I know), try to get on the elliptical for 45 minutes and shower.
Noon-1:30pm - Repeat activities from 8:30-10am.
Here it becomes less structured. If someone comes by, she naps. If not, she's awake. We may throw in a bath, multiple diaper changes and a brief squawking session.
2pm - Take Baby and Trudy for a walk.
3pm - Feeding.
3:30pm - Diapers, diapers, diapers. This is her high-poop time.
4pm - Husband is usually home. Thank God.
4:30pm - Put her in the swing, leave Husband with a bottle and get the hell out of the house. Yesterday was a riveting run to CVS (my new favorite place) which I wrapped up by eating a Heath candy bar in the car in the parking lot and taking my sweet time getting home.
5:30pm - Follow-up feeding. Pass baby back and forth while the other person gets to do stuff like make dinner or possibly shower.
6pm - Back in swing so we can eat.
7-8pm - Family walk time with Baby and Trudy.
8-9pm - Witching hour usually accompanied by hiccups.
9pm - Feeding.
9:30pm - Put Baby down and keep fingers crossed she won't get back up.
10pm - Write at least two thank you notes for all the kind things friends have done for us in the last month.
No witty wrap up and it's 8:29am and motherhood calls. I love Charley, but miss my adult people. A lot.
Jenny, know exactly how you feel. Despair sometimes, especially during the witching hour. Found that an airplane swing attached to the porch beam and a great book of poetry really, really helped Clara and Gavin both once they hit around 4 months. Hours spent with me reading and singing and them swinging, saying 'gin' (as in Again, not as in gin and tonic) while I read poems was a highlight. This is NOT an easy time, not until finally, the baby smiles at you, and not at the picture you have taped near the changing table to stimulate her. Then, she becomes human, she will become amazing and wonderful. You're almost there, if not right there.
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