Flying Solo

(karen)
I have officially survived my first week of solo, SAHM maternity leave. Being at home with the munchkin is more challenging than I had anticipated. I'm sure I'm like a lot of first time moms who think that they are going to get all kinds of things done while they are at home all day. I have a to-do list a mile long and I'd be lucky if I've started maybe two things so far. Every day (well...except for today of course) Holly seems to be more alert and have longer stretches of awake-time. Last Thursday she was up from 9:00am to 5:30pm with only a 2 hour nap during the day. I love my little girl best when she's got those beautiful eyes wide open but at the same time it makes it nearly impossible to do anything. She loves to be held constantly and will cry when I put her down even for a few minutes, like when I'm trying to pour myself a bowl of cereal or start a load of laundry. It's not even enough to be in my arms, she wants to be in my arms with me walking and bouncing her around the house, room to room, to get different views. Oh my gawd my upper back and shoulder muscles are starting to seize and burn. My posture is just shot to hell these days.


There are still a few simple tasks I want to accomplish everyday, however, and as corny as it sounds I have a checklist to make sure I at least stay on top of some basics. For example:
1) Take prenatal vitamin
2) Get the mail
3) Read to Holly
4) 5 min of tummy time
5) Check my e-mail
6) Go on a walk
....etc.

It sounds dumb but it's been working so far. Plus it gives me that incomparable feeling of accomplishment by putting a big X in the box.


New to the baby-taking-care-of repertoire was testing out the "Working Muthah" breast pump (it goes to eleven!). It was pretty intimidating at first but I think I've got a hang of all the nozzles and bottles and hoses and whatnot. We just introduced the bottle for the first time today and our little milk monster had no problems figuring out what to do. We're going to try to make it part of our routine to make sure Daddy gets to give a daily feeding.


It's been ferociously hot for the past 10 days or so, and our bedroom turns into a right furnace in the mid-afternoon. Even with a fan running it got up to 91-deg, way too hot for our monkey to nap. I had a clever idea to make a portable bassinet so I could bring Holly downstairs where it was cooler (technically, 84-deg is cooler). Voila!


Maternity leave has been more challenging than the initial honeymoon phase when Holly slept all the time and never fussed, but we're getting to know each other better and I love the little person she is. I love that she gets hiccups every time I change her diaper. I love the huge variety of faces she gives me, everything from squinky pirate eye to wry smiles to classic stink-eye. I love that she sneezes when the light changes. Yep, just a big bundle of snugglable cuteness.

Of course, the best part is when daddy gets home and we're a whole family again.


And now, your moment of zen.