Day in the Life with C: 4 Months Old

Yesterday was a very odd day. First, I got some very disturbing news about an old friend of mine, and that was succeeded by news of the school shooting in Texas. I’m feeling very grossed out by both, and I have a mind that fixates on things like this, even before becoming a mom. So, I’m feeling sick. And I’m feeling very grateful for my family. And that’s really all I have to say about that for now.

I took notes for this post on Monday, and it’s fairly representative of how our days go right now. We get out of the house more on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, but Mondays and Fridays tend to be days we stick around the house for a larger part of the day. This is what 4 months looks like!

1:05am – I fall asleep. I slept for a little bit from 10:30-11:30, but then Jack asked me to feed C and I couldn’t go back to sleep.

3:30am – C’s up, so I go in and feed her.

3:47am – Put her down asleep, go back to our room, and see she’s thrashing around on the monitor. I mentally prepare to go soothe her, but she puts herself to sleep in less than a minute.

6:02am – Wake up and check the monitor. C is still. I get up and brush my teeth, put my contacts in, and take the dogs downstairs. I make coffee and drink some milk.

6:25am – C has been stirring since the boys and I got downstairs, so I go up and feed her back to sleep before I pump. I take the Haakaa to catch some letdown, which I don’t usually do, but I know I’ll pump less than usual since she’s feeding so late.

6:42am – Come downstairs and Jack asks if I fed the boys. Nope. So, he feeds them and I start pumping my less-prolific side while drinking my water and coffee and playing Wordle.

7:12am – I’m done pumping. I got about 3 ounces, including the Haakaa’d milk from feeding C. Usually it’s closer to 4 or 5, but this is about what I expected.

7:25am – I run upstairs and put on workout clothes. Do an E&E lower body workout while listening to EconTalk.

8:05am– I’m done working out and C is stirring, so I run up and get her. Her diaper leaked pee, which is annoying but not surprising as of late, so I take off her clothes, change her diaper, and bring her downstairs to Jack. And then I run back upstairs to strip C’s bed and gather any other laundry I can wash with her sheets, sleep sack, and pajamas.

I am becoming increasingly sure that the solution to diaper leakages is changing her in the middle of the night, not switching diapers because I finally found diapers that I think fit her really well. She has very rarely needed changed throughout the night since being born, but she pees so much overnight now that she’s feeding a little more often during the night, that I think I need to start doing that when she’s up. (Note: the day after this, I changed her at 4:30am and she had a big wet spot on the back of her sleep sack, but neither her sheets nor her sleeper were wet. I am so confused.) I go throw laundry in and switch over last night’s laundry to the dryer.

8:35am – Jack goes up to shower, and I put C in the play gym while I throw together cottage cheese, a banana, and peanut butter toast for myself. I also unload and reload the dishwasher and tidy up the kitchen a little. I hate waking up to a messy kitchen, but sometimes it seems like the best option when the alternative is cleaning up after C is in bed. Sound in the kitchen transfers to her room a little more than we’d like.

8:45am – Sit down on the couch to eat and read a little while C plays.

9:00am – Nurse C.

9:10am – I change C’s diaper and put clothes on, and then put her back in the play gym on her belly. She plays with crinkly ribbons and rolls onto her back a few times. When she gets frustrated, I help her roll back. She can roll from her back to belly but does it very rarely right now. Her shoulder often gets stuck under her and she doesn’t love working past that.

9:32am – Type up notes for this post.

9:57am – Go upstairs to put sheets on C’s crib mattress and prep for a nap. Read Oh Say Can You Say?, which I pretty much have memorized from 15 years ago when I read it to my cousin. Let C get all her wiggles and giggles out pre-nap.

10:02am – Turn off the lights and try for a nap. C nurses and I think she’s going to fall asleep, but she doesn’t. So, I pace a little, but she’s still squirmy and awake.

10:12am – I set her in her crib and turn on the lights so she can play (and maybe fall asleep), and go take a shower.

10:20am – I get out of the shower and Jack is in our room with C. He had a break in work, so he came to play with her. I finish getting ready.

10:41am – Time for a second try at that nap. C cries a little in my arms before settling, nursing, and passing out.

10:53am – I set her down, hold her arms gently at her sides to make sure they don’t startle her awake, and then leave the room.

10:57am – I putter around, tidying up in the kitchen, refilling my water, taking some things up to our room, and making the bed.

11:10am – I type up more notes for this, and then online shop. I consider chores, but I can do chores more easily when C is awake than justify being on the computer looking for clothes.

11:25am – C’s up. I go up and nurse her to sleep, and I read The Violets of March while she naps on me.

Yes, she sometimes sleeps with her eyes slightly open.

12:01pm – Jack texts me and offers to heat up lunch. I take him up on it but say I’m not sure when I’ll be downstairs.

12:30pm – C’s up for real. She wakes up a little mad, but I think it’s mostly because she was stretching in her sleep and hit her head on the arm of the glider. She’s happy again as soon as I flip the lights on.

12:40pm – I put her in the play gym and eat my lukewarm lunch – leftover homemade healthier hamburger helper, cottage cheese, and strawberries. I am still starving after, but maybe I just want something sweet. I have a square of dark chocolate and go play with C. Nope, still hungry. I have a ball of cookie dough I froze before she was born.

When I come back, C is on her tummy and playing happily. She must have rolled over. We play and babble and giggle at each other till she’s tired again, which doesn’t take too long. I debate trying a crib nap, but also want to get Ben out for a walk since it’s nice out. So, I get C and Ben ready to go and then drink some milk and eat a graham cracker spread with peanut butter. I am always hungry, and I am so bored with food.

It’s a very warm 60ish degrees, unlike yesterday. I am overdressed. Oops.

2:05pm – We start the walk. I finish listening to EconTalk and start The Fifth Column. C fights the nap for the first 21 minutes of the walk, which is a record. The walk is only about 36 minutes long. We drive to Walgreens to pick up a prescription for Ben, and by the time we’re back at the house, it’s probably been about a 30-minute nap.

3:25pm – I feed C, and then put her in the play gym and start prepping dinner.

4:00pm – She spits up a weird amount, and I change her into a sleeper.

4:20pm – C is melllllting down and we need another nap. Dinner is basically ready, which I feel pretty good about. I turn the stove to warm and head upstairs with her. We read Oh My Oh My Oh Dinosaurs and then I turn off the light and nurse her. She takes a little bit to relax and give into sleep. I initially thought I’d let her sleep on me, but she seems to be out, so I try to put her down. It’s a mistake. I pick her back up and nurse her back to sleep, and continue reading.

5:30pm – C is up, so we go downstairs. Jack is in a late-for-him meeting. I make lemon pound cake and try to entertain her

6:10pm – I put the pound cake in the oven, and then clean up the kitchen, feed the dogs, and plate dinner (Asian sloppy joes with broccoli slaw) while Jack entertains C.

6:32pm – Tent the cake with foil in the oven and then Jack and I eat.

7:00pm – I put away our dishes and get the cake out of the oven. Run to the basement to switch over laundry and get distracted organizing some of C’s newborn & 3-month clothes. Jack gets C ready for bed.

7:17pm – I take C upstairs for bed. We read My Little Cuddlebug, The ABCs of Love, and Time for Bed – our standard pre-bed reading selection – super fast because C is somehow not having it

7:25pm – I turn off the lights and nurse C, and I think this is going to go smoothly… and then she stops nursing and starts crying. She is angry. I pace around the room, with her and let her look at the animal prints on her wall in the dark. She’s still not having it, so I turn the light on and let her look at the prints in the light. She chills out, and then starts crying shortly after I turn off the light. I put her upright in my arms and she burps a couple times, and then she nurses to sleep while I read. I set her down. She wakes up immediately. I nurse her back to sleep… and the same thing happens. I am getting tired and thirsty, so I tell her I’m going to get a drink and either Jack or I will be up to keep loving on her soon.

8:05pm – Come downstairs and ask to trade with Jack. I drink a lot of water and type up notes for this post. I will not be posting it tomorrow because the notes are rough and I’m tired.

8:21pm – Jack comes downstairs after getting C to sleep.

8:45pm – I cut into the pound cake. C wakes up and Jack goes to resettle her. I’m surprised when he’s back downstairs by the time I’ve plated the cake. We eat and chat. It is really nice to have some time back in the evening to relax together. For about a month, one of us was almost constantly upstairs trying to help C fall asleep in the evenings.

9:15pm – I say I’m going up to bed.

9:25pm – I actually go upstairs, and wash my face and read the rest of the chapter I was working on before I fall asleep.

10:15pm – Apparently, C woke up. I was already asleep. I leave the monitor with Jack between when I go to bed and when he does most nights of the week so I can try to get some uninterrupted sleep. He resettled her in about 5 minutes.

Aaand she stayed asleep till 1 or so, then till 4:30 or so.