I’ve never really done “day in the life” posts but I always found them really interesting from new moms when I was pregnant so I figured, why not go for it? I guess it’s not all that exciting but I also want to document this for my future eyes so here goes nothing. I’ll start from when I get up for the day, rather than at midnight.
I realize that nothing is remotely set in stone and this is just how things are going RIGHT NOW. I write this after being up almost all night with Jacob, who doesn’t really cry but just fidgets and makes crazy noises for hours on end, making Momma unable to sleep! Then, he proceeds to sleep all day as if it were night time 🙂
7:30am: Wake up when Jacob starts rustling around next to my bed in the Rock n’ Play
7:45am: Brush teeth, wash face, make coffee
8am: Turn on the news (I usually watch “Morning Joe”)
8:05am: Change first diaper of the day
8:10-8:30-ish: Breastfeed baby boy
8:30: Change Jacob into new outfit and let him rest after a big feeding
9-10am: Get online, check email, freelance work, blogging (I set him up next to me so I can see him 🙂 !)
10:15am: Eat breakfast (usually eggs, oatmeal, fruit, etc.)
10:30am: Hold Jacob and/ or do a few things like check laundry, dishes, etc.
11am: Breastfeeding & diaper change
12pm: Run an errand (I had to go to the DMV one day, car seat safety check another, doctor’s appointment another)
1pm: Eat lunch and/or have company like my sister or my mom
1:30 or 2pm: Diaper change & feeding
2:30pm: Pick up the house, check email, Jacob sleeps
3pm: Try to nap unsuccessfully, maybe read a book
4:15pm: Daddy is home from work! He reads to Jacob & hangs out, I think about dinner.
5pm: Breastfeeding
6pm: Start making or continue making dinner
6:3opm: Get online again, check social media, relax
7pm: Eat dinner, hang out with Jacob & Daddy
8pm: Breastfeeding & diaper change, maybe pump if necessary
8:30pm: Watch TV — Friday Night Lights is my current binge watch!
9:30pm: Go to bed & try to sleep
11pm: Get up to feed Jacob
12am: Hear Jacob rustling around, hold him until he settles down
1:30am: He’s up again, attempt to feed
3am: Jacob is wide awake — try to feed him again, hang out holding him until he settles down (usually takes like an hour)
4:15am: Finally able to try to fall asleep again until it’s time to get up for the day.
Usually, I’m able to get a solid 2+ hour stretch in after that 4:15am crash because that’s when Jacob will finally settle down. It’s also right when Rick gets up for work. I always feel so bad for waking him up with any noise because he has to go to work all day. I know it’s part of it but little sleep AND getting up at 4:30am for a full day of work is really hard. I guess we are still learning how to balance things.
So in total, I think I’m getting an average of like 3-4 hours of sleep per night. Mornings, with coffee, I feel perfectly fine. Toward late afternoon I start to feel totally depleted & zombie-ish. But I have a really hard time taking naps. I kind of hate naps for some reason.
The other thing is…being so tired, you worry about falling asleep while holding the baby or feeding him, but there IS some kind of mothers’ instinct that seems to take over & not allow you to get to that point. No matter how tired I’ve felt, I’ve never thought I was going to accidentally fall asleep. It still freaks me out that something like that could happen (and you’ve heard the horror stories), but I have to trust that I’ve got this and know that I would never let any harm come to my baby, especially at my own hand.
Breastfeeding is whole other story, which I will blog about tomorrow 🙂
So that’s a day in the life of a newborn mom at 2 weeks for anyone who is actually interested in that sort of thing. I’ll be curious how my days change as time goes on. The one thing I will say is no matter how much I’m up in the middle of the night, as soon as I see his little face, especially when his eyes are wide open & staring at me, I kind of melt inside and know that there’s no other person in the world I’d rather spend my 3ams with.
Thanks for sharing Ericka! So happy to see you being a mommy! 🙂
Can’t wait to see you in action Katie!
Sounds like you are both doing well and it seems that he is a calm and quiet infant. He is certainly not a chubby baby and he is adorable. Your day sounds like you bond with him well. You will enjoy looking back on your posts because those little, seemingly mundane, things are easily forgotten, yet they are endearing to the experience of this wonderful time. Can’t wait to meet him!
Thanks Julie! I owe you a phone call tomorrow!!
I am trying to remember nothing is set in stone…seems like from what I read nothing stays the same as it does at 2 weeks! I’m curious what is in store!