Here's what last Friday, a typical day on maternity leave, looked like:
3:13 AM - I hear the baby crying on the monitor; he's hungry. I can practically set my watch by his middle-of-the-night feeding - it's always within a few minutes of 3:00 AM, regardless of what time he goes to bed at night. We get up and I nurse Carter.
Blair brings me a giant cup of ice water (I'm always super thirsty during the middle-of-the-night feeding) and then lays down on the floor in the nursery to snooze while I feed the baby.
Blair changes his diaper, I swaddle him, and put him back in his crib.
3:43 AM - back in my own bed and asleep.
8:08 AM - Carter's awake. I look at the clock and can't believe it's after 8:00 AM (he usually wakes up around 7:00 AM, and I stopped setting an alarm in the mornings). So, the rest of the day is about an hour behind our normal schedule...oops.
I get up and nurse Carter and change him.
8:47 AM - I throw on some workout clothes and buckle Carter into the stroller; it's 69 degrees outside and we head out for a walk.
We go on a 3-5 mile walk around the neighborhood every morning. Today I decide to take the 5-mile route, which conveniently involves a stop by Starbucks (which happens about once a week) :) Carter likes to look around during the first part of the walk but normally falls asleep in the stroller a couple of miles in.
9:53 AM - Carter and I are sitting on the patio at Starbucks and I'm enjoying a decaf non-fat Caramel Macchiato while Carter snoozes. I check my email on my phone. Eventually he wakes up and I take him out of his stroller so he can sit in my lap and look around - he likes to watch the cars, people, and dogs that are always coming and going from Starbucks.
10:44 AM - We leave Starbucks and start the 1-mile walk home so I can get home in time for Carter's next feeding.
10:59 AM - We're home; I get Carter out of his stroller and put him on his playmat for tummy time.
I start a load of laundry. I do 1 or 2 loads of laundry every. single. day. because Carter spits up so much - we go through a lot of clothes and burp cloths!
11:19 AM - I make myself a quick breakfast to eat while I nurse Carter - a couple of whole wheat banana chocolate chip muffins that I'd made previously and frozen, along with some grapes. I normally eat plain nonfat Greek yogurt with homemade granola and berries for breakfast, but I'm out of berries and I'm trying to clear room in the freezer so I have more room to store frozen breastmilk. I've gotten good at eating my daytime meals one-handed while feeding Carter.
11:43 AM - Carter's done eating; I change his diaper and get him dressed for the day. I play with him on his playmat for a little while, then sit on the floor next to him to pump while he plays with his toys.
I try to pump once after a morning feeding and once in lieu of an evening feeding everyday, which allows me to freeze 8-10 ounces a day and also feed Carter 1 bottle a day (to ensure he'll take a bottle when he goes to daycare). I transfer the pumped milk to freezer bags, label, and wash the pump parts and bottles.
12:04 PM - I move the laundry to the dryer and start another load of laundry.
12:20 PM - Carter yawns a few times while playing, so I take him to his crib. I swaddle him and put him down for a nap while he's drowsy but still awake.
12:25 PM - I squeeze in a quick core workout; I'm still not back to my pre-pregnancy workouts (kickboxing) until I strengthen my core muscles better - I don't want to injure myself by doing high-impact workouts before my core is healed.
12:40 PM - I finally get a chance to shower and get dressed for the day. Unless we have plans to go somewhere, I basically wear the same thing everyday - an Old Navy v-neck vintage tee, shorts, and either sandals or Toms. I'm up and down on the ground so much with Carter that something comfortable is key!
1:26 PM - I set the table for dinner tonight; our friends from church, the Smiths, are coming over tonight to bring dinner and stay and eat with us.
1:30 PM - I fold the first load of laundry, move the second load to the dryer, and re-stock the diaper bag with burp cloths, a blanket, and a nursing cover (Carter had spit up on all these things the day before).
1:45 PM - I vacuum the living areas of the house (kitchen, living room, dining room). We're on the floor in these rooms so much, so it bothers me when the floors are dirty! Since we go on a walk everyday, we manage to track in a lot more dirt than we used to.
1:53 PM - Fedex delivers a package - it's a baby gift for Carter. There's no card inside, so I'll have to follow up later to figure out who it's from.
2:00 PM - I hear Carter stirring in his crib.
I go get him up and make myself a quick lunch to eat while I nurse him - a toasted cinnamon-raisin English muffin with natural crunchy peanut butter and grapes. I eat this same exact lunch everday. I eat my lunch one-handed while nursing Carter.
2:31 PM - Carter's done eating. my mom calls; I talk to her while I change his diaper and then put him on his play mat to play with his toys some more.
3:11 PM - Carter starts to yawn, so I put him in his crib to take a nap. I get the few "fall" decorations we own out of the garage and put them up around the house.
3:23 PM - I fold the second load of laundry and put all of the laundry away. I've started using 3 laundry baskets for my, Blair's, and Carter's laundry to make this easier.
4:10 PM - Carter wakes up from his nap. We need to run some errands, so I put him in his carseat and into the car.
4:25 PM - We stop by Kohl's. I don't normally shop at Kohl's, but we've started getting a $10 off coupon in the mail almost weekly this summer, so I'll stop in and pick up an outfit for Carter for super cheap. They sell Carter's brand clothes (my favorite) there, and they're always on sale for about $12, so I can usually get him a new outfit for $2 or so. Today I find 2 Carter's outfits for next summer (one in 12-month and one in 18-month sizes) on clearance, so I manage to get both for $0.22. Score!
4:39 PM - We walk next door to Bath and Body Works to pick up a couple of fall-scented candles.
4:51 PM - Back in the car, we head to Kroger to pick up a few groceries. I only need a few things so I can just put Carter's carseat straight in the cart instead of carrying him in the Ergobaby carrier.
5:18 PM - We arrive home; Blair's home from work and brought me a Diet Coke from McDonald's on his way - God bless this man!
He plays with Carter while I unload the groceries and put them away.
5:40 PM - Blair feeds Carter a bottle of pumped milk and changes his diaper while I pump, transfer the milk to bags, label and freeze it.
6:00 PM - The Smiths arrive with their daughter Cadence. They brought a delicious dinner of homemade lasagna, salad, rolls, and wine (!) and stay to eat with us. Carter plays on his playmat next to us while we eat. We have been so blessed to have meals provided by friends several times a week since Carter was born! I can't believe I didn't get any pictures with the Smiths!
7:48 PM - The Smiths head home to put Cadence to bed. We clean up the kitchen and put the leftovers away.
8:12 PM - I nurse Carter, change his diaper, and put him in his PJs. We swaddle him and put Carter to bed for the night.
8:37 PM - I wash pump parts and bottles.
9:20 PM - Finally, time to relax! Blair and I watch a couple of TV shows from the DVR and have a microwaved smore (which sounds awful but we are addicted to them!)
11:40 PM - In bed! Carter should be asleep until somewhere between 3:30 and 5:30 AM, so we have a solid stretch of sleep ahead of us!
