Thursday, January 15, 2009

half-success....?

up at 230am.
up at 330am.
up at 600am.

BUT i only picked him up out of his crib at 330am. more or less cuz i felt bad for him. it had been 8 hrs since his dinner and i didn't want to lay in bed and wonder if he was hungry....

at 230am, i popped the pacifier in his mouth and patted him until, yes, he did fall asleep! i sat there in the rocker in his room, waiting for the impatient, frustrated outburst and he was really sleeping!

until 330am. which. made me mad. until the 'what if he's starving' line of mental questions.

and then at 600am, i heard him but it wasn't so much crying, as it was talking/whining/yelling. nooo sympathy there. i rolled over and tried to ignore it. it went on and off until 8am, when i went to get him up for the day and he was happy as clam.

i tried to fill him up the BRIM with milk all through the evening last evening, hoping it would help him sleep better, but it didn't work at all. he was up earlier in the night, than he was the night before, having eaten HALF that amount. it may just be nothing scientific. who knows.

***********

i have a question for all you moms out there with young babies....what's your daily routine look like? either i'm horrible disorganized, lazy, tired, busy....but i cannot seem to find enough hours in the day to do everything. and i read that some of you go to playdates...and parks...sit by warm, toasty fires, next to your baby as they sleep....

wow. playdates at this juncture in my life, seem like SUCH a time luxury. stroller walks? parks? watching my baby sleep?? that sounds INCREDIBLE, but i don't feel i can spare the time!!!

play by play:

800: isaac is up for the day
800: nurse him, change him, get him dressed, put him in swing, make coffee, brush teeth
845: pump (and blog, clearly...since i'm trapped in this chair)
915: take him out of swing and set him on blankets with toys downstairs.
920: pour cup of coffee, straighten up nursery, go downstairs to play with him.
1000: he's rubbing his eyes...time for nap.
1010: jump in shower, iron clothes, make-up, hair, make bed, clean up bedroom, and IF there is time, do dishes from dinner the night before.
noon: he's up, nurse him, change diaper
1230: bring him downstairs, more tummy time, floor playing, bebe Pod playing, sometimes he can entertain himself for spurts of time. sometimes i must stay there with him. drink coffee. watch FOX. if i'm fortunate and remember, i'll grab lunch since breakfast is a thing of the past.
200: down for afternoon nap. this is my longest stretch of time. he will typically sleep 2-2.5 hours. so it's a MAD DASH to get to emails, phone calls, bills, coupons, dinner prep, any other cleaning in the house i'd like to do, laundry, pump again, (remember i'm back responding to clients now!), prep fed-ex shipments, etc.
400: isaac's up! feed him, change him, bring him downstairs.
430: this has been when i'll put him either in his bebe Pod OR the exersaucer, bc i'm trying to get the dinner going in the kitchen. (we've committed to eating dinner by 6pm each night...long story)
530: play with him until chad gets home.
600: we eat dinner/isaac goes in swing in his room, he'll doze off for 45 min-1 hour.
700: we get him up again, put on his jammies, feed him one last time, and let him watch a 27 minute baby einstein video as wind-down time.
745: put his heart monitor on, read him a book, swaddle, hugs
800: isaac is in bed.
815: hang out with chad, catch up, watch an hour of tv, go through the mail, check email again.
900: pump.
1000: TRY to be in bed myself. (not in bed, literally...but folding/putting away my stuff. reading a book/magazine. surfing the web on my laptop in bed. washing face/brushing teeth....bed 'prep' i should say...)
1130: LIGHTS OUT! (if i'm still awake at that point...)

and none of this includes the bible study i try to get to each week, or doctors appts, oral surgeries i keep having, grocery shopping, ANY ERRANDS at all. i mean, i'll normally try to run errands during his afternoon naptime bc he'll sleep in the car....but still. still. i feel like a crazy person half the time. what am i doing wrong? if you throw a holiday season, or a wedding weekend into the mix...i may as well watch my brain melt away.

and then i shoot weddings on the weekends.
and i also didnt' include in the daily lineup, that i have to edit images in the evenings.
and design proofbooks.
and burn CDs, and make slideshows.

how do you moms DO IT????

HELP! ;)

*****************

off to have a fun day at the pediatrician's office!
VACCINE DAY! :(

5 comments:

heather said...

Yeah - last night seems like an improvement! I think it must be contagious cause my little angel sleeper would NOT cooperate last night - probably because I was feeling good about my situation after reading your post... booh.

That's pretty much what my day looks like, too. Though, I will say that I don't do any "mad dashing" during nap time. I get done what I can and leave the rest. I have started cleaning while Z is awake. I'll move her into my room to put away laundry and make the bed; I'll put her in the bjorn to vacuum. It's helpful.

I just think that's kind of what the first year with a new baby is like - they sleep a lot and just need to be home and need lots of attention when they're awake...And, you're going above and beyond the call of duty by giving him so much face time to play with you - that's really priceless and beautiful.

K - it's nap time now and I need to GET OFF BLOGS!!

heather said...

p.s. I should add that I don't pump (Z won't take a bottle...when do you give him these bottles??), which seems to take up a lot of your time... So I do have that extra time built into my day...

Allison said...

well, isaac only took a bottle the first month of his life = NICU and all. expressed milk. so he's used to both at this point. i'm just not a public nurser. i personally wish i could feel comfortable nursing in public, but i've come to terms with the fact that i don't. SO...i keep breastmilk in the fridge and when we're out...he gets a bottle of it, if it's mealtime! birthday parties, church, on-the-go excursions...milk in the bottle is just easier for me! though, i HATE pumping. with a fiery passion!!! i'll be SO GLAD when i can regain that hour and a half i lose each day, sitting at a pump!!

(i've even TRIED to give isaac formula -- he snubs his nose at it. he feels it's an acquired taste and really wants none of it. he told me so.)

:)

Anonymous said...

Ducky isn't much of a "schedule" baby or a napper, BUT my saving grace is that he WILL sleep in the stroller or in the car seat if I'm walking or the car is moving.

I've been frustrated about not getting anything done in the apartment (he wakes up as SOON as the stroller stops), not realizing that I get a LOT done when I walk the baby into town.

Anonymous said...

hehe. Take all this times two for me! :) I know your pain.
Katie