Ready for the fourth momoir in our Very Rookie Summer series?
Deb and baby Leah at the bowling alley last month
Our pal Deb shares a blow-by-blow(-out) account of her day with baby Leah. We appreciate the geeky attention to detail as well has her sense of humor in this mega-did-do-list.
A Day in the Life of a Almost 3-Month Old in San Francisco
7:30am: Leah wakes up after sleeping for 9 hours – a new record! She usually sleeps from 10/11pm until about 6/7am or from 10/11pm until 4/5am and then again until 7/8am. Yes, I know that we’re very, very lucky. Leah still sleeps in our room in a pack and play. Today I unswaddle her before going to the bathroom, giving her bum a few more minutes to wake up before changing her diaper–it sometimes comes to life a few minutes after the rest of her. My husband Elliott hasn’t left for work yet and is on the couch watching the World Cup, so he gets up to change her diaper.
7:45am: Breastfeed Leah on the couch while watching the game, although I would usually feed her in bed in the morning. She eats on and off for about half an hour and spits up a bit on her shirt (which is typical). While feeding, I remember a dream from last night: I went back to work for a visit and got pulled into a meeting that made me 2 hours late for Leah’s feeding. It was my first work anxiety dream since she was born. Let’s hope this doesn’t become a pattern!
8:30am: Change Leah into dry clothes and change diaper again. Pump out the rest of the breast milk to freeze for when I go back to work. I have about 30 bags in the freezer to date. The US team scores its game-winning goal and I get to see it live. I love maternity leave.
9:00am: Leah starts to get her crank on, so I put her down in her crib without a pacifier to take her first morning nap. As a general rule, we try to make sure that she isn’t up for more than two hours at a time.
9:01am: Leah cries so I give her the pacifier. She is asleep 30 seconds later.
9:02am: Make a cup of Ritual Roasters 1/2 caffeinated & 1/2 decaffeinated coffee. The half caffeine is for me, the decaf for Leah.
9:30am: After talking to Rookie Mom Whitney for a few minutes about the guest blogger assignment, hop in the shower while Leah sleeps in her crib in the other room. I keep the monitor in the bathroom so I can hear her if she cries. Leah is usually in her bouncer in the bathroom while I shower to steam out her boogery nose, but I didn’t want to wake her from her nap. Daily showering is a top priority for me and helps me feel like “normal” person. I am proud to report that I have taken a shower every day since she was born.
9:45am: Leah wakes up just as I am about to sit down at the computer to start today’s log. How does she always know when I’m about to try to get something done? I plop her in her bouncer and she plays with the attached wooden toy for a few minutes. She gets fussy a few minutes later, but the return of the pacifier soothes her instantly. I can’t help wondering whether I use the pacifier too often, but I don’t see the harm in anything that makes both of us happy. It’s not like she’s 12 years old sucking on a pacifier — she’s only 12 weeks! No offense to those of you whose parenting strategy involves giving pacifiers to your 12-year-olds.
10:20am: Clean out Leah’s stuffed up nose with the Nosefrida, this crazy contraption that helps me extract boogers from her nose more quickly and effectively than a bulb syringe. She screams her head off, but I promise her that I only suck the boogers out because I love her. Continue expression of love by changing diaper.
10:30am: Breastfeed Leah to stay on three-hour eating schedule. She remains relatively still and I manage to read a few pages of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.
11:05am: Doorbell rings and I am hoping that it’s FedEx making its 3rd attempt to deliver a mystery package for Leah because I really don’t want to have to go and pick it up. I gently pull her off of me while hollering “I’ll be right there” in the general direction of the front door. I manage to make it before the guy leaves. The package is an adorable 18M outfit from Elliott’s cousins in L.A. I begin to think about what she’ll be like when she’s big enough to fit into these new clothes.
11:20am: Shovel down breakfast and dry my hair.
12:00pm: Change diaper again and drive to meet work friends for lunch in Potrero Hill. Planned on leaving at 11:45am to allow time to get gas but don’t make it out the door in time. Oh well. Good thing we have a hybrid that gets great gas mileage.
Portable baby in Potrero Hill
12:15pm: Arrive at restaurant for lunch. Leah wakes up briefly for my friends to meet her and then proceeds to sleep through the rest of the meal on a chair in her car seat. Discuss work/life balance with friends who happen to be mothers of a one-year old and a 9-month old.
1:30pm: Get home just in time for her next feeding. Double check diaper before feeding her. Catch up on email and Facebook on my iPhone while feeding.
2:15pm: Play with Leah while she wiggles on the couch. Try tummy time with and without a pillow. She doesn’t really care for either but found the pillow the lesser of the two evils. Change diaper.
Leah gets her core work out
2:45pm: Plop her on a blanket near the computer so I can work on a contract for a nanny.
3:00pm: Mail arrives and includes my first State of California PFL check (Paid Family Leave). Cha-ching!
3:10pm: Leah starts to get her fuss on, so I put her in a sleep sack and down for a nap in her crib. She wakes up 5 minutes later so I put her pacifier back in and put a sweater over both her bare arms and the rest of the sack. It looks ridiculous but her arms and hands felt cold and it was easier to put the sweater on over the sack than to take everything off. Convenience prevails over fashion.
3:45pm: Leah wakes up from her nap so I bring her into the bedroom where I am going through my dresser. I am out of all of my maternity clothes and am ready to store them down in the garage. I’m not sure whether I am taller or my pants are lower, but all of a sudden several of my older shirts seem a lot shorter than I remember. I set a few favorites aside before putting them in the out pile. (Tonight, hubby will opine that my lactating boobs are the reason my shirts are too short. I set them aside in the maybe pile rather than the out pile in case he is right.)
4:30pm: Just as I start feeding Leah, a friend calls from San Diego. Leah eats a bit but would rather play. She also farts quite a bit but has not pooped for 24 hours. I begin to fear the inevitable poo-splosion.
5:45pm: After a bit more playing, Leah gets a diaper change and goes down for a nap.
6pm: Elliott gets home from work. We wanted to go on a walk but don’t want to wake the baby. Leah, if you’re reading this please wake up.
6:15pm: Decide that Leah is not going to wake up so I go to the gym while Elliott stays home to babysit.
6:20pm: Leah wakes up 5 minutes after I leave. Of course.
7:15pm: I get home from the gym and pump while Elliott gives Leah her nightly bottle. We introduced a bottle of breast milk at week 3 and she has had at least one bottle every day since. We try to make sure her second-to-last feeding of the day is a bottle so we know that she is eating enough. My theory is that if she eats enough close to bed time she’ll sleep longer at night. Not sure if it’s actually true but if I believe it and she sleeps well, that’s good enough for me.
8:00pm: The much-anticipated poo-splosion arrives. Fortunately, nobody is injured!
8:10pm: Skype with Leah’s aunt in LA.
8:30pm: Leah snoozes on and off while we watch The Bachelorette on DVR. Yes, it’s garbage TV but we’re brain dead by the end of the day. Leah used to be very wakeful between 7 and 10pm but recently started taking naps in the early evening. I imagine at some point this will merge with her night sleep. I hope we don’t have to do formal sleep training, but we’ll see how it goes.
10:00pm: Elliott changes diaper for bedtime and I feed Leah for the last time in our bed. After she is done, I swaddle her and put the little wiggle worm down for a (finger’s crossed!) good night’s sleep so we can do it all over again tomorrow!
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Related Rookie Moms Tips & Activities:
Activity #24: Encourage daddy time and relax already
Activity #243: Pump it up (support for working the breast pump)
Activity #212: Interrupt someone’s work day
Activity #46: Take a shower (you can do it every day!)
Activity #135: Host a webcast
