Wednesday, October 19 2016, DITL

[spryng]

In which our heroine spends the day covered in baby and then doesn't even finish the DITL because her mind is like a sieve. Oh well. Here's a glimpse of life with a newborn. Warnings: Lots of baby, all with at least a diaper, promise no surprise boob shots, autumnal gazing.




It's 3am when I remember today is a DITL day.



I have the second night shift with Lady Jr, from midnight (ish) until 7am.



Baby and I spend a lot of time watching Netflix.



Breastfeeding is no joke. I'm hungry almost as often as baby is.



Lady Jr is finally in a deep enough sleep that I can put her down and she doesn't instantly wake up.



I try to sleep a little too, but it's soon food time again.



For me, too. This time something a little healthier than ice cream: oatmeal!



Pump a little after feeding. My goal is to have enough for an extra feed each day so I can sleep for longer.



Feed the cats I guess.



Time check.



Baby is too upset to eat, so I figure it's time to change a diaper. I am correct.



Baby is still upset after diaper change and food, so white noise to the rescue. I love this app. It's been a lifesaver.



Grumpy face, but she's out cold.



Mornin'.



Time to squeeze in some basic human grooming.



Like coffee. Not a time check - that clock is off by an hour at least.



Hot shower YES



What even is this cat.



A wild Lady appears! I stay up long enough to make sure she has coffee.



Then: SLEEP



I wake up to a hungry baby.



Time check.



Huff that baby.



Oh hey breakfast.



Diaper change!



While Dr Lady takes care of the diapering, I cut up gummies I made the day before and store them.



And a snack for me.



Sigh at the autumn happening outside.



Cats appreciate it too.



Baby sleeps, woo!



Hear weird phantom meowing and find this demon practicing her vocals. What.



Kona has laid claim to the glider. I've given up trying to move her for now.



Step outside to enjoy autumn from the front of the house. God, that sky.



Take advantage of the calm to write a little.



More feeding. That is one milk-drunk baby.



More diapering.



Update the feeding/pooping schedule.



Relocate baby to kitchen so we can get stuff done.



Open some salmon cans and save the liquid.



'Cause cats love that stuff.



Dr Lady works on finishing her coffee.



Lunch!



More baby cuddles.



Put on some Real Person Clothes.



Put Baby in car.



Time check.



Sky check.



Dr Lady gets the baby carrier ready.



Grocery shopping!



Groceries!



Home again. Time to do some dishes. Before.



Dr Lady mows the lawn.



Dishes, after.



Set up the crock pot.



Dr Lady soaks her toe. She got part of her toenail cut off because it was growing in and now she has to soak her foot for a week or so but she'll FINALLY be able to walk like a normal human being.



Have some food. Burger & kale & kombucha.



Set up a cozy space for photos and take fancy baby photos. And here is where I completely forget that I was doing DITL. I guess two photo projects at once were too much.






Dr Lady soothes Lady Jr between shots.


After this we take Lady Jr for a walk, eat some food, feed the baby a dozen times, change some more diapers, and then I go to bed at a respectable hour (see: 7 or 8pm). I remember at some point that I was doing DITL but eh.

Hopefully I won't forget in the middle of it next time. :)

Comments

[woobiewoobster.livejournal.com]

Such sweet baby pics! How I remember my house looking like a daycare of five after I had our son. ;). It all gets easier I promise. Enjoy!

[spryng.livejournal.com]

Hahah, I just realized in glancing through the photos that most of them have baby paraphenalia in there somewhere. We have cleaned up/organized a little since then so it's not as bad, but... yeah.
I'm just looking forward to when she'll sleep longer than 3 hours at night. That will be great.

[falena]

Aw, your daughter is adorable. Lovely pics! Caring for a newborn  (and breastfeeding) is exhausting, it sounds to me you're doing really well, though. I'm keeping my fingers crossed she'll start sleeping longer asap.

[spryng.livejournal.com]

I definitely underestimated how much time would be spent feeding/diapering/soothing. Once I get all that done, I'm lucky to have 30min to an hour before it's time to do it all again, so no one can blame me for just sitting there and staring at her, right? :)
Thank you!

[lantairvlea.livejournal.com]

That little one has a good amount of hair!

We did the feeding/pooping schedule for just the first week, I think? How long is your pediatrician recommending keeping track?

I hope she starts sleeping longer for you soon (tip: while I am all for letting babies sleep, if you want the long sleep to be at night interrupt any naps lasting more than 2.5 hours during the day, we learned this the hard way with #1 as he'd have one good four hour sleep in him and if it wasn't at night there was no chance for a repeat!). Our oldest was hard to put down, but slept quiet and sound once you managed to get him out of your arms, soon-to-be-middle child you could just about plop down and he'd stay asleep, but he was a NOISY sleeper and he still is apparently!

[spryng.livejournal.com]

Oh good - that's what I've been doing, even though it breaks my heart a little to wake her up when she's been deeply sleeping for a while. But we both need her to learn night/day asap for everybody's sanity, so I try not to let her go more than 3 hours between feeds.
She's somewhere inbetween easy and hard for sleep. There are parts of the day where she won't sleep anywhere but in someone's arms and then parts where she conks out and she'll actually stay asleep until you change her diaper. More of the former are happening during the day now, which bodes well.
As for the schedule - it's more so Lady and I know what's up. We trade off at night, so I can see in a glance what the baby's been up to, last fed, etc, and get an idea of what to expect. It's also good for the above because I quickly forget when she last ate, so having that handy makes it easier to remember to wake her during the day as needed.

[lantairvlea.livejournal.com]

We definitely didn't abide by the "feed them every two hours" night and day, because if they were going to sleep longer at night I let them!

My breasts were usually pretty good at letting me know when the babies were hungry. It's like having a spider-sense, but for hungry babies.