Jan. 18, 2011: 6 weeks old and a routine?!?

Rina!

Today, you are 6 weeks old! How time flies! It seems like yesterday, we were coming home from the hospital. I am a bit scared of writing the following for fear of jinxing myself, but I think I’m slowly (very slowly) getting the hang of things. I’m still struggling to make food and get more than one thing done everyday, but I get things done every week! We might even have somewhat of a routine established!

 

On your last feed of the night (or your early feed of the day), you don’t settle back asleep unless we bring you back into our bed. Everyone can lash out at us for taking you to bed with us, I don’t care, I need those extra hours of sleep in order to face the very long day ahead of me. Once we are awake, I usually shower before your dad leaves for work and then have breakfast. Actually, it is more like a brunch as it usually nears 11am by that time. On the days that it is needed, I would then get started on laundry or a tiny bit of tidying around the house. Then, if we don’t have any plans to meet with anyone or a doctor’s appointment, I either put you in your stroller if we need to run errands or strap you to your carrier if we’re going for a walk. Upon our return home, you’re usually asleep and I grab this opportunity to make some important phone calls (because you’re not howling in the background 🙂 ), fold laundry &/or grab a quick bite to eat. If you’re still asleep by the time I’m done, I usually nap on the couch, if not, I play with you until it’s time to feed you again.

 

Like clockwork, you wake up screaming at 4pm. I can literally tell time because you become a bit fussier for about 1-2hrs. I feed you sometime in that window and try to calm you down/put you back to sleep. Once you wake up again, I bathe you (every other night) and feed you and then try to put you down. This process usually takes 1h – 1h30 as we play “plug the soother back into the baby”. Once I’m certain you’re asleep, I eat dinner and then hop into the tub for a quick relaxing bath. I have to say that for the past 3 evenings, I’ve managed to catch up on movies, my blog and TV shows I’ve missed over the past few weeks. I don’t know how long it’ll last, but I’ll take it! You usually wake up at around 10-11pm right when your dad returns home from work and he’s usually very eager to give you your bottle as he hasn’t seen you all day. He also gives you the next feed after that while I am crashed into bed! And that brings us to another day where we try and repeat pretty much the same pattern! Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a routine stuck in cement and last night, you didn’t sleep well at all (we had to go soothe you pretty much every 30mins for the entire night!), but it’s all part of the game and there will be days (or nights) when the routine will be completely out the window and I can accept that. I’m just appreciating being able to feel like a person again and have some “me time” in the evenings instead of feeling like a run-down mom running around like a chicken with my head cut off1

 

We had a really nice visit with a friend of mine (we also work together) who gave birth to a gorgeous boy 2hrs after you came into this world. I won’t put their names on here as I haven’t cleared it with my mommy-friend, but she said something really sweet that stuck with me. As you and her son were asleep and we were chatting, we noticed you both share some similar physical features (you and her son) and the mommy-friend said: “Of course you’re gonna look somewhat alike, you were made in heaven at the same time!” Sweet isn’t it?!?

 

Good night sweet girl,

Love,

Mom & Dad Xxo