Survival

We've made it to the 2 week mark!  Or should I say, we've survived 2 weeks of the newborn stage!  So in that vein, I figured I'd give a breakdown of how we are making it through each day.  Exciting I know. :)  (Sadly, I get the feeling that any and all blog posts for the foreseeable future will be a bit rambling and unthemed given that I haven't sleep more than 3 consecutive hours since Jan 25th.  So really, the last two weeks have  been one really really long day.)  

I'm very lucky that sleep deprivation comes in such a cute package :)  Each morning I wake up around 6:15, get Jack out of bed and downstairs with minimal noise (Lucy usually sleeps from 5-7 so this helps), get his breakfast going and change him for school.  Then Lucy gets up and feeds while Andy takes the Jackman off to school.  I've realized that there are two things making my life SOOOO much easier during maternity leave.  The first is daycare.  I love love love Jackman but the act of taking care of Lucy the entire day while Jackman is running around the house is very daunting.  And I know so many women do this everyday but since we can't take Jack out of school for the next 8 weeks w/o paying for it, it just makes sense to let him go play with friends and blow off some steam.  It does break my heart a little to watch him walk out the door each day waving bye with his backpack on his back :(

  

After they leave, I make a mad dash upstairs with the Lucy Goose, lay her in her boppy or her Moses basket right outside the door, and grab a quick shower.  As long as she has her milk drunk going, she will sleep from shower to hair drying.  It's awesome.  I remember with Jack I was so terrified to take my eyes off of him that I wouldn't be able to get a shower until Andy got home.  With Lucy, I just do everything at warp speed.

Afterwards we go downstairs, do some chores, eat again, nap, and keep repeating this routine off and on all day.  She is still eating every 2 to 2.5 hours which is still bottle and breast.  I do have to wake her up to eat a lot BUT it's paying off considering she's gained 10 oz in one week!  I have attempted to run out for some errands this past week but it does not go very well considering Lucy, as with most newborns, hates the car seat and flips out when you put her in the car.  So even though I get a little cabin fever during the day, it is forcing me to get some work done...

Then we round out the day with a trip to Jack's daycare to go pick him up.  I love this part and hate this part.  The hate comes from the car ride which usually involves lots of screaming on Lucy's behalf.  The love comes from Jack being so excited to see us that he jabbers on the entire way home about his day :)  It's so fun watching the two of them in the rearview mirror.  What's also fun is how Jack laughs hysterically when Lucy cries.  He thinks she's "being silly" and gets a big kick out of it :)

   Then we come home, make Jack a snack, eat, and wait for Andy to come home.  This brings me to the 2nd thing that makes this period of maternity leave SOOO much more manageable.  And that is Andy.  Even though I'm home all day, i can't seem to get it together to make dinner yet.  He has made dinner every single night this past week.  He also makes bottles (we are still supplementing with formula for the time being) and does dishes and sometimes puts Jack to bed.  I'm spoiled I know.  But raising kids is a team effort and I definitely need to tag out every once in a while.  I'm hoping that the more my body recovers from the delivery the more useful I will be around the house.  But for now we are surviving, and thriving :)  And I'm hoping the more we get used to this "new normal" the better we will get at it.  And I'm hoping soon I will be able to tell day from night.  :)  

And for now we are enjoying the blissful moments of silence she gives us :)