When you're a mom there are no days off anymore. I'll give you an example of how my current days "off" go when I'm home with my infant. I'm writing about March 12, 2017 because it's pretty recent and I can sort of remember what happened.
I woke up with the baby around 10 AM. He wakes up during the night but since I'm still co-sleeping with him most of the time I'm just shoving my boob in his face when he cries, he drinks a little and goes back to sleep. When I'm off work on days I can co-sleep in with him he usually doesn't really wake up until anywhere past 8 AM. If we weren't co-sleeping I'd probably be up at 5 or 6 (There's usually an occasional day off where I'm still up at 5 or 6 with him). I had plans to take Mav to visit my friend Janell. I texted her to tell her we were awake and we'd leave as soon as we were both dressed and had breakfast. You're probably thinking how long does it take two people to get dressed and have breakfast. When one person can barely do anything for themselves it ends up taking awhile.
I usually start the day off weighing myself. I have been seeing a nutritionist since November and she's great but I have to check in and weigh myself every morning. When I work that's fairly easy to accomplish because most of the time Maverick stays in bed long enough for me to weigh myself and get dressed at least. But when I wake up at the same time as the baby and Shawn is still asleep it's a challenge. I have to sit him on the floor with one or two of his toys and keep an eye on him while I strip down to weigh myself on the scale. He used to be able to sit in his bumbo chair but he's too big for it now and almost falls out of it. After I weigh myself I have to put my PJs back on as fast as I can. Mav can sit up but he is sometimes still not stable enough and can end up falling back so I have to be real careful and watch him like a hawk and weigh myself as fast as I can. So I weighed myself and put my PJs back on and grabbed Mav off the floor.
First order of the day was taking care of him. I got some water real quick, shoved something down my throat as a morning snack (because if I can't eat breakfast right away my nutritionist wants me to get a snack in at least) and took the baby upstairs to get him dressed and feed him breakfast. Getting him dressed is a huge chore now. He's very squirmy, he hates lying down and gets fussy when I'm trying to wrangle his diaper on. He also wants to nurse while he's on the changing table so that takes time. I don't even bother dressing him on the changing table anymore, I just grab his clothes and take him to my MIL's couch or my couch downstairs to put his clothes on. Once he was fed and dressed I had the challenge of feeding myself, making coffee for Shawn and myself, and getting dressed. Usually I have to hold him while I do this because I don't have a safe spot to put him down except for his crib and if Shawn's asleep he can't go in his crib because it will wake Shawn up. So while I'm holding him I have to contend with him trying to grab everything because he's at the grabby stage which isn't his fault it's just the stage of development he's in. I usually end up giving him random safe things he can play with so I can hold him and still eat breakfast.
Please don't get me wrong by reading my posts, I love my son dearly and care for him so much. I would never want him not in our lives and I'm grateful to have a baby. I'm just also pointing out the challenges of motherhood.
By the time we were ready to to go to Janell's house it was a little after 1 in the afternoon. Getting out the door felt like a work out after I grabbed the diaper bag, baby and my purse got the door locked, got us in the car and drove to Janell's.
Janell's house was fun. Her family got to see Maverick. We ordered Japanese take out like we normally do when I visit. Maverick got to play and I got to visit my friend. It's challenging to see everyone else eat comfortably though while eating is a struggle. When the take out came I had to keep my food ten feet away from me so Mav wouldn't grab it while leaning back so Maverick could explore Janell's door knob on the door that leads out to her family's garage. Eating out gets very challenging. He won't stay in the high chair long and often I end up feeding him first sometimes getting no chance to eat any appetizers unless someone offers something to me and I hardly ever get to eat my food when it comes out. In my husband's defense I am always telling him to eat first because I feel bad if he doesn't eat first.
At around 5:30 I left Janell's house praying Maverick wouldn't have a car seat meltdown on the way home. Car seat meltdowns are my worst fear of motherhood. I can't take them. I hate letting him C.I.O. and sometimes if he has a meltdown while I'm driving I have no choice. I call my mom in anxious nervousness while driving. She does her best to try to calm him over the phone and I am a panicky mess dreading every single red light until I arrive home and can grab him out of the car seat and snuggle him and take care of anything he needs taken care of. Luckily I made it home from Janell's with him and he had no meltdown just took a nap in the car.
I don't remember much of this day after I got home. Most likely it consisted of me having dinner last, giving the baby the bath and going to bed super late after I finally got him to sleep and gearing up to wake up at 5 AM for work the next day.
So these are my new days off as a mom, I won't have days to relax until maverick and kid number 2 (if we have kid number 2) are at least both over 10.
I woke up with the baby around 10 AM. He wakes up during the night but since I'm still co-sleeping with him most of the time I'm just shoving my boob in his face when he cries, he drinks a little and goes back to sleep. When I'm off work on days I can co-sleep in with him he usually doesn't really wake up until anywhere past 8 AM. If we weren't co-sleeping I'd probably be up at 5 or 6 (There's usually an occasional day off where I'm still up at 5 or 6 with him). I had plans to take Mav to visit my friend Janell. I texted her to tell her we were awake and we'd leave as soon as we were both dressed and had breakfast. You're probably thinking how long does it take two people to get dressed and have breakfast. When one person can barely do anything for themselves it ends up taking awhile.
I usually start the day off weighing myself. I have been seeing a nutritionist since November and she's great but I have to check in and weigh myself every morning. When I work that's fairly easy to accomplish because most of the time Maverick stays in bed long enough for me to weigh myself and get dressed at least. But when I wake up at the same time as the baby and Shawn is still asleep it's a challenge. I have to sit him on the floor with one or two of his toys and keep an eye on him while I strip down to weigh myself on the scale. He used to be able to sit in his bumbo chair but he's too big for it now and almost falls out of it. After I weigh myself I have to put my PJs back on as fast as I can. Mav can sit up but he is sometimes still not stable enough and can end up falling back so I have to be real careful and watch him like a hawk and weigh myself as fast as I can. So I weighed myself and put my PJs back on and grabbed Mav off the floor.
First order of the day was taking care of him. I got some water real quick, shoved something down my throat as a morning snack (because if I can't eat breakfast right away my nutritionist wants me to get a snack in at least) and took the baby upstairs to get him dressed and feed him breakfast. Getting him dressed is a huge chore now. He's very squirmy, he hates lying down and gets fussy when I'm trying to wrangle his diaper on. He also wants to nurse while he's on the changing table so that takes time. I don't even bother dressing him on the changing table anymore, I just grab his clothes and take him to my MIL's couch or my couch downstairs to put his clothes on. Once he was fed and dressed I had the challenge of feeding myself, making coffee for Shawn and myself, and getting dressed. Usually I have to hold him while I do this because I don't have a safe spot to put him down except for his crib and if Shawn's asleep he can't go in his crib because it will wake Shawn up. So while I'm holding him I have to contend with him trying to grab everything because he's at the grabby stage which isn't his fault it's just the stage of development he's in. I usually end up giving him random safe things he can play with so I can hold him and still eat breakfast.
Please don't get me wrong by reading my posts, I love my son dearly and care for him so much. I would never want him not in our lives and I'm grateful to have a baby. I'm just also pointing out the challenges of motherhood.
By the time we were ready to to go to Janell's house it was a little after 1 in the afternoon. Getting out the door felt like a work out after I grabbed the diaper bag, baby and my purse got the door locked, got us in the car and drove to Janell's.
Janell's house was fun. Her family got to see Maverick. We ordered Japanese take out like we normally do when I visit. Maverick got to play and I got to visit my friend. It's challenging to see everyone else eat comfortably though while eating is a struggle. When the take out came I had to keep my food ten feet away from me so Mav wouldn't grab it while leaning back so Maverick could explore Janell's door knob on the door that leads out to her family's garage. Eating out gets very challenging. He won't stay in the high chair long and often I end up feeding him first sometimes getting no chance to eat any appetizers unless someone offers something to me and I hardly ever get to eat my food when it comes out. In my husband's defense I am always telling him to eat first because I feel bad if he doesn't eat first.
At around 5:30 I left Janell's house praying Maverick wouldn't have a car seat meltdown on the way home. Car seat meltdowns are my worst fear of motherhood. I can't take them. I hate letting him C.I.O. and sometimes if he has a meltdown while I'm driving I have no choice. I call my mom in anxious nervousness while driving. She does her best to try to calm him over the phone and I am a panicky mess dreading every single red light until I arrive home and can grab him out of the car seat and snuggle him and take care of anything he needs taken care of. Luckily I made it home from Janell's with him and he had no meltdown just took a nap in the car.
I don't remember much of this day after I got home. Most likely it consisted of me having dinner last, giving the baby the bath and going to bed super late after I finally got him to sleep and gearing up to wake up at 5 AM for work the next day.
So these are my new days off as a mom, I won't have days to relax until maverick and kid number 2 (if we have kid number 2) are at least both over 10.
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