It’s been a while since my last post.
If I have learned nothing else from this new lifestyle of mine, I have learned that there is very little time for “Me Time”. My husband usually manages to find his “Me Time” but what I get is usually about 30 minutes a day and is spent doing something productive, like washing bottles or packing bags for tomorrow or cleaning my house.
Did I mention that I went back to work last week?
Did I also mention that I have always been somewhat of a self-sacrificing person (a.k.a. Martyr to my sister) – it drives my husband and my sister CRAZY – I end up taking on more than I can handle because no one else wants to. Believe me when I say this is not one of my better traits. And becoming a mother has added a whole new dimension to my martyrdom. For example, this is how my “relaxing evenings” went last week…
5:05-5:10 pm – Pick up baby from day care
5:15-5:30 pm – Home. Put baby in swing and pump a bottle’s worth of milk for baby
5:30-6:00 pm – Fix and eat dinner
6:00-7:00 pm – Clean up dinner dishes, make 6 bottles to last the next 24 hours.
7:00-7:35 pm – Feed baby
7:35-7:40 pm – Change his diaper
7:40-8:05 pm – Entertain baby,
8:05-8:10 pm – Put him down for a nap,
8:15-9:00 pm – Pack my lunch, lay out clothes for both myself and the baby to wear tomorrow, load the dishwasher & run it, and pump another bottle of milk
After all that is done, I might have had about an hour to watch tv with my husband before I had to feed the baby again.
In the meantime, my husband’s evening went something like this…
5:00-5:35 pm – Drive home from work – face hectic traffic
5:35-6:00 pm – Take off clothes in middle of kitchen, dance suggestively around wife and hint at what you would like to have happen later in the evening, & eat dinner
6:00-9:00 pm – Play video games
On the upside, at least we have a pattern….
I should say that this routine is only one week old, and in my husband’s defense, he was sick last week and couldn’t help with the baby that much. And in my defense, I thrive on multitasking—I love it! It’s like the achievement of a lifetime to get as much done in the smallest amount of time possible.
Also in my husband’s defense, yesterday afternoon, he took the baby from me and sent me to the mall with my best friend for 2 whole hours!
All that to say, I am exhausted, have very little personal time, and am looking forward to my husband being healthy and able to help more.
BUT don’t think I am not enjoying my new life. My Little Man is the best reason ever for me to be this exhausted, and to be honest, I don’t miss my “Me Time” that much, considering I get to spend a lot of quality time with the little guy. He is 9 weeks old today, and over the last 5 weeks he has really started to come alive. For the sake of those who want to know and my own personal memory’s sake here is a timeline of his activities over the last several weeks.
4 weeks – Little Man started making eye contact, moving his head to follow things he had his little eyes on and grasping onto things. Sleeping in about 4 ½ hr stretches at night.
5 weeks – Baby smiles started showing up, although not in response to anything specific.
6 weeks – Little Man started cooing and smiling in response to us as well as in response to his favorite little toys. Slept his first 6 hour stretch.
7 weeks – The cooing turned into gurgles in response to us talking to him, he started moving his head from side to side to explore the world around him. Sleeping has been varied between 4 and 6 hours.
8 weeks – Smiling has turned into laughing – which sounds more like a high pitched squeal of delight than laughter, but it’s awesome. Techy is a pro at making the little guy smile and laugh, which obviously makes him the best dad in the world. The Little Guy has even more control of head movement, including holding it up for several moments at a time—we put him in a Bumbo chair this week, just so we could see if he would like it, and he successfully held his head up for about a minute. Little Man got his first round of shots this week and weathered them like a champ. Barely cried at all and was so well-behaved after they were over. He also got his first cold this week – either that or he is suffering side effects from the shots – whatever the case he has his first runny nose and cough.
If I have learned nothing else from this new lifestyle of mine, I have learned that there is very little time for “Me Time”. My husband usually manages to find his “Me Time” but what I get is usually about 30 minutes a day and is spent doing something productive, like washing bottles or packing bags for tomorrow or cleaning my house.
Did I mention that I went back to work last week?
Did I also mention that I have always been somewhat of a self-sacrificing person (a.k.a. Martyr to my sister) – it drives my husband and my sister CRAZY – I end up taking on more than I can handle because no one else wants to. Believe me when I say this is not one of my better traits. And becoming a mother has added a whole new dimension to my martyrdom. For example, this is how my “relaxing evenings” went last week…
5:05-5:10 pm – Pick up baby from day care
5:15-5:30 pm – Home. Put baby in swing and pump a bottle’s worth of milk for baby
5:30-6:00 pm – Fix and eat dinner
6:00-7:00 pm – Clean up dinner dishes, make 6 bottles to last the next 24 hours.
7:00-7:35 pm – Feed baby
7:35-7:40 pm – Change his diaper
7:40-8:05 pm – Entertain baby,
8:05-8:10 pm – Put him down for a nap,
8:15-9:00 pm – Pack my lunch, lay out clothes for both myself and the baby to wear tomorrow, load the dishwasher & run it, and pump another bottle of milk
After all that is done, I might have had about an hour to watch tv with my husband before I had to feed the baby again.
In the meantime, my husband’s evening went something like this…
5:00-5:35 pm – Drive home from work – face hectic traffic
5:35-6:00 pm – Take off clothes in middle of kitchen, dance suggestively around wife and hint at what you would like to have happen later in the evening, & eat dinner
6:00-9:00 pm – Play video games
On the upside, at least we have a pattern….
I should say that this routine is only one week old, and in my husband’s defense, he was sick last week and couldn’t help with the baby that much. And in my defense, I thrive on multitasking—I love it! It’s like the achievement of a lifetime to get as much done in the smallest amount of time possible.
Also in my husband’s defense, yesterday afternoon, he took the baby from me and sent me to the mall with my best friend for 2 whole hours!
All that to say, I am exhausted, have very little personal time, and am looking forward to my husband being healthy and able to help more.
BUT don’t think I am not enjoying my new life. My Little Man is the best reason ever for me to be this exhausted, and to be honest, I don’t miss my “Me Time” that much, considering I get to spend a lot of quality time with the little guy. He is 9 weeks old today, and over the last 5 weeks he has really started to come alive. For the sake of those who want to know and my own personal memory’s sake here is a timeline of his activities over the last several weeks.
4 weeks – Little Man started making eye contact, moving his head to follow things he had his little eyes on and grasping onto things. Sleeping in about 4 ½ hr stretches at night.
5 weeks – Baby smiles started showing up, although not in response to anything specific.
6 weeks – Little Man started cooing and smiling in response to us as well as in response to his favorite little toys. Slept his first 6 hour stretch.
7 weeks – The cooing turned into gurgles in response to us talking to him, he started moving his head from side to side to explore the world around him. Sleeping has been varied between 4 and 6 hours.
8 weeks – Smiling has turned into laughing – which sounds more like a high pitched squeal of delight than laughter, but it’s awesome. Techy is a pro at making the little guy smile and laugh, which obviously makes him the best dad in the world. The Little Guy has even more control of head movement, including holding it up for several moments at a time—we put him in a Bumbo chair this week, just so we could see if he would like it, and he successfully held his head up for about a minute. Little Man got his first round of shots this week and weathered them like a champ. Barely cried at all and was so well-behaved after they were over. He also got his first cold this week – either that or he is suffering side effects from the shots – whatever the case he has his first runny nose and cough.
Although I am looking forward to the next stage, I am trying to remind myself that as difficult as these days are, this is the only time that my baby boy will be this size and in this stage, and I need to enjoy every minute of it.
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