Hey everyone! Whew. I hope everyone’s doing well. I’m finally getting a free moment to sit down and write a little in Jack’s Baby Journal. What a whirlwind few weeks we’ve had. I’m just so blown away that my little buddy is already 3 and a half weeks old. It feels so new, yet at the same time, I feel like I’ve known him for my whole life, and I can’t imagine a time where he wasn’t here. It’s a bizarre feeling, that’s for sure.
I remember leaving the hospital with my husband and our new baby thinking, Can you believe this? They’re just letting us leave with this tiny human? Am I even ready for this? Can we stay for just maybe one more day? Please? Pretty, pretty please?
As it happens, we were ready, and we set out from the hospital back to our home. We arrived home at the same time Major was getting home from school, and we spent a couple hours as our sweet family of four before the cute little sleeping boy started squirming, whining and then full-blown crying. Uh oh! What does this mean??? WHY IS HE CRYING?!? LET’S GO BACK TO THE HOSPITAL!!! THEY’LL KNOW WHAT TO DO!!!
But somehow, I knew what to do. Somehow, SOMEHOW I knew he had a nasty diaper, and needed something to eat. Let’s be honest though… There are only SO many things that babies that are only a mere few days old need, so it wasn’t like I was doing any sort of rocket science or anything to discover his needs.
But once he had a clean diaper and some milk in his belly, the cries subsided, even just for a little bit, I felt a quiet success as I looked down on his sweet little sleeping face. He’s simply beautiful. Even when he screams. And fusses. And pouts. And poops. And farts. He’s just beautiful.
So in the first few days home, my little angel and I had a really hard time figuring out the whole nursing, sleeping, diaper changing thing with regards to time of day, and honestly, I wasn’t exactly calling him my little angel at 1 then, 2 then 4 in the morning. No sir. No ma’am. I think that first week, I only got about 8 total hours of sleep.
That may or may not be an exaggeration. I’m not even sure, since the whole week is a bit fuzzy. Sleep deprivation will do that to you. But finally, what seemed like Jack’s 2-week mark on the dot, he and I fell into a pretty regular pattern of sleep, feeding and changing. Yep. Every two hours. So it was pretty much as though every time I put him back in his bed, and then got myself back in bed, then drifted off, it was time to get back up mere seconds later. Ugh!
Now, at 3 weeks, we’re on a 3 to 3.5 hour sleep, feeding and changing pattern, which feels so much saner somehow. Praise God.
So what does a typical day look like in the life of Katie & Jack?
A day in the life of having a newborn baby:
- Wake up at… JK JK JK, Jack and I are already awake. What time, you ask? Don’t worry about that. We’re already up. I promise you.
- Nurse Baby Jack and then pump and store milk for supplemental bottles to use as needed.
- Eat breakfast at around 10 a.m. or so. Yes. It’s late. Especially since I’ve been up forever. But I promise, there’s been some snacking along the way. A bite of something here, a Quaker Chewy Bar there, a slug of water here, a can of soda there… But yeah, usually a time where I can sit down and eat a meal happens a bit later rather than earlier. I mean, when you have a baby who is constantly either needing a diaper change, a gulp of milk, a cuddle, a pacifier, a hug, a pacifier, more milk, a pacifier, another diaper change, a cry just to cry… you get the gist. Oh, and don’t forget to pump!
- Silence.
- Ahh… Finally! Should I nap? I should nap.
- No. Nope. No nap… Instead, I’ll do dishes, sweep the floor, scoop the cat poop, wait… Was that a cry? Or just a sleep noise? A grunt? No, that was just a sleep noise… OK cool. I can probably start some laundry… No that was definitely a cry. It was a cry. Hungry? More milk? How? Really? HOW?! YOU JUST ATE LITTLE BABY!!!
- Oh good… Look at that, Baby Jack. You spat up. A lot. At least I didn’t start that laundry yet.
- Start laundry.
- Pump.
- Go sit down, and stare at baby. Oh my gosh, he’s so cute. I can’t even stand how cute he is. He’s… he’s seriously my world, my light, my most amazing doing… I have become completely enthralled with his beauty, and praise God for the amazing gift he gave me and Michael, and our family in Baby Jack. OMG! HIS THOSE LITTLE FACES HE MAKESSSSSSSS!!!! Wait… No… no, no. Don’t cry. Please don’t cry… OK whew. I think he was just pooping.
- Wait… How is it already 2 p.m.?! Whew, I’m starving. Wow. I guess it’s lunchtime! I better scarf it down quickly before the baby wakes up and needs to eat. Again. And needs to be changed. Again.
- Did I even start the laundry? I can’t remember… Oh yeah. I did. Time to move it to the dryer. Start dryer.
- Unload the dishes, and reload with the 84483983 pumping accessories that have somehow accumulated in the past 2 hours.
- Tend to crying baby.
- I should fold the laundry… Nope. HA. Start dryer again.
- Welcome Major and Michael home. Do homework with Major, grab him a snack, and get him set up with a game or the TV. Don’t judge.
- Feed Jack. Pump.
- Get Major’s baseball stuff together, say goodbye to him and Michael as they head out to practice or a game. Baby’s asleep. Stare at baby. Now I cry. He’s too cute. I can’t believe he’s here. Cry some more.
- Wait, he’s sleeping… I can take a bath!!!!! I LOVE BATHS. Start water, add bubble bar or bath bomb. Wait… was that a cry? Or a sleep noise??? PLEASE GOD PLEASE BE A SLEEP NOISE… It was a sleep noise…
- Get in bath. Enjoy bath. Read in my current Jack Reacher novel and/or watch YouTube videos. Get too hot in bath. How’d it get so hot?! Get out, check on baby, wait for water to cool down, get back in. I’m bored… More YouTube!
- Drain tub, dry off, get dressed, feed baby, pump.
- At this point, the boys come home from either a baseball lesson, practice or game, and I either cook dinner, or eat some for myself if they ate out after their outing.
- Yawn. A lot.
- Put Major to bed with prayers and hugs and kisses. Oh how I wish it were me in that bed, getting my back scratched, praying and going to sleep. Soon enough…
- Relax with hubby on couch or in bed, watch one of our shows (The Following, Blacklist, Hell’s Kitchen, Big Bang, etc.), snuggle for a bit and then… Yeah, that was a cry.
- 10 p.m. – Change & feed baby.
- Lay down. Facebook. Sleep.
- 12:30 a.m. – Change & feed baby.
- Lay down. Instagram. Sleep.
- 3 a.m. – Change & feed baby.
- Lay down. Kindle. Sleep.
- 5:30 a.m. – Change & feed baby.
- Lay down. Facebook. Sleep.
- 7 a.m. – Change & feed baby.
And just like that, another day has passed, and another is here… Does this sound familiar to any of you moms out there?
OH my gosh. Motherhood is tiring, scary, confusing, daunting, and insane, you guys. But it’s absolutely beautiful. Having this baby has been my greatest fear and my greatest joy all wrapped up in one stunning 6 pound 10 ounce baby boy.
It’s the second greatest gift, next to the love of my life, my husband, and I have to say, growing our family to a family of 4 has been the happiest thing that’s ever happened. I can’t wait to see how Jack changes in the coming weeks, and share all of the excitement with you guys!
Until next time, don’t forget to slow down and savor every moment of your life!
