A Day in the Life – Maternity Leave Edition

After I decided to write a post like this (since I love reading them!) it took me a while to find a “typical” day, and even then, I couldn’t really say it was typical. While each day holds a general pattern and each week we have a routine, each day is different. I enjoy it that way – a mix of routine and  unpredictability. Now that Siena is 4 months old, our days are definitely more predictable and I’m able to anticipate her mood, hunger and naps a lot better which makes planning activities and outings a lot easier. I struggled with the first month and wondered how I’d ever get out of the house (especially alone) but now I’ve gotten used to our “new normal” and I must say, I really enjoy it.

This day actually turned out to be a pretty uneventful day but it’s a good reflection of our habits! I don’t usually have a lot of plans on Mondays. Tuesdays I run with Allison, Wednesdays we go to the lactation support group and the Dailey Baby workout class (and lately we’ve been meeting up with the girls from my Bradley Method birth class on Wednesday afternoons too) and Fridays we go to the infant development class and for a run on the 101 afterward. Other days we meet up with friends for lunch or a walk or coffee. I try to get out of the house and/or meet up with a friend every day and am lucky that I have had a few friends also on maternity leave at the same time as me.

Here’s a look at last Monday, February 1. Siena was just 2 days shy of 4 months old.

4 AM: I hear Siena giving out some little cries from her nursery, which is just down the hall from our bedroom. I knew she’d be up on the earlier side tonight because she missed a feeding yesterday (she slept through it). I get up and bring her into bed with us to feed her. After 18 minutes of eating, she pulls off. I carry her into her room, put her back in her Magical Merlin suit, turn the white noise back on, and she falls back asleep in her crib.

5:30 AM: My alarm goes off. Time for P90X. I slept really poorly thanks to a crazy and loud wind and hail storm that came through San Diego during the night so I’m not feeling this workout. Monday is usually a rest day but Mike is going to Dallas for two days for work this week so we had to move the workouts up a day. I do P90X on weekdays in the early morning so that Mike and I can do it together.

5:45 AM: Mike and I are dressed and starting the warm-up, listening to Tony Horton’s voice as we start the P90X Chest, Shoulders and Triceps workout. I must admit, this is the worst I’ve felt during a P90X workout and I’m dogging it! I went to a very hard yoga class the previous afternoon and my shoulders and abs are already sore.

7 AM: Finish P90X and take a quick shower. As I’m drying off I hear Siena stirring. I go into her room and she’s smiling at me. I sing her a song as I change her diaper and take her downstairs.

7:15 AM: I nurse Siena using the My BrestFriend pillow while sitting at the dining room table, reading the Skimm. Mike comes down and makes breakfast (3 eggs and leftover squash from dinner). I eat breakfast while feeding Siena (multitasking is essential people!). After 23 minutes (I still time my nursing sessions using the MammaBaby app), she’s finished and we put her in her Rock n’ Play while we drink coffee and chat and play with her. Eventually she’s sick of being in there and I put her on my lap and we talk and play with her.

8 AM: Mike leaves for work. I put Siena on a blanket in the living room and play with her for a few minutes, including tummy time.

8:15 AM: I move Siena to her Sit Me Up chair with some toys in the dining room and pump for 15 minutes, while I work on Hootsuite to set up a client’s social media (I am working for my sister in law doing social media for her clients while on leave for extra money).

8:30 AM: Siena is now fussing her in chair and rubbing her eyes so I know it’s nap time. I bring her upstairs, change her diaper and we read “The Pout Pout Fish” book. By the end of the book, she’s squirming in my arms. I put her in the crib, turn on the white noise, and sing “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” (this is about as far as my lullaby skills extend). She smiles at me until she realizes I’m going to leave then fusses a bit. I bring the monitor downstairs and work on the computer while she falls asleep.

8:45 AM: Since I slept so poorly, I decide to try to take a nap.

9:45 AM: Siena is awake. I slept probably 30 minutes total but its better than nothing. Her first nap is usually the shortest. She typically goes 3 or so hours between feedings so I put her on the blanket in the living room for some tummy time but she seems fussy so I feed her.

9:50 AM: I start writing this post and chat on Gchat while feeding her, using the BrestFriend pillow and sitting at my workstation at the table. I let her stay for as long as she wants, which ends up being a whopping 45 minutes! I also do more social media work while she eats so I don’t mind at all.

11 AM: I cut up a pear and refill my water and hook myself back up to the pump (read this blog post for why I pump so much). I sing songs to Siena and watch her play in her Sit Me Up.

11:15 AM: We head upstairs and I change Siena’s diaper and change her into daytime clothes. I put her down on the playmat that I keep in my bathroom while I do my makeup and change into my clothes (which are workout clothes because I have plans to walk with my neighbor later in the afternoon, and let’s be honest, workout clothes are way more comfortable). I also spend some time cleaning up.

11:45 AM: We’re out the door and headed to Trader Joe’s. I carry Siena in the Ergo, facing outward, and she enjoys taking in the sights at the store.

12:25 PM: We’re back home and I can tell Siena is ready for her mid-day nap. I change her diaper and put her on her tummy for a few minutes. I read her another book and then put her in her Magical Merlin suit, but I know pretty quickly that I waited too long for her to go down. She immediately starts crying. I sing to her for a while and then leave the room, and wait for her to settle down. Luckily she does, after some crying and falls asleep (I know from experience that this is the only way to get her down at this point, unless I want to try to swing her in the car seat, but I refuse to do that anymore!). While she’s settling, I put away the groceries.

12:45 PM: I pull out my tuna, spinach and avocado salad that I made the previous night (for both Mike and I) and an orange and eat while blogging, Gchatting, reading blogs and browsing my personal social media accounts.

1:30 PM: I’m still hungry so I make a Vega protein shake. I do some cleaning, responding to emails and blog reading. I work on social media for Handwrittn, Mike’s new company which is a subscription service for beautiful cards (sign up now to get in on our March shipment – new designs every month!).

3:15 PM: Siena is STILL sleeping. I decide to wake her up because she hasn’t eaten in over 4 hours and we have plans to head to a friends house (my neighbor ended up having to reschedule our walk). I feed her and we’re out the door.

3:45 PM: Arrive at Vicky’s house. Her daughter Emi is now 6 weeks old. I hang out and chat with Vicky and play with Siena at the same time, giving her more tummy time.

5 PM: Leave Vicky’s house and head home. As soon as I get home I heat up a bottle for Siena with 2 oz of my pumped milk and 2 oz of a frozen bag of breastmilk from the freezer.  I try to give her one full bottle a day to ensure she will take a bottle once she goes to daycare. She eats all 4 oz. I eat a piece of cheese and then I put her in her Sit Me Up chair while I pump. I sing “Wheels on the Bus” and “Old McDonald Had a Farm” to her while she sits.

5:45 PM: Mike comes home! Siena starts to fuss in her chair so he picks her up and plays with her for a few minutes before putting her down for her third nap (this is late for her last nap but she took that massive mid-day nap, so it is what it is). He plays the ukulele to her to help her fall asleep.

5:50 PM: I finish pumping and start making dinner, a cauliflower curry. I wash bottles and my pump parts while prepping the food.

6:00 PM: Siena clearly doesn’t want to sleep. Mike gets her up and plays with her. Once the curry is simmering I hang out with them in the living room. We try to get her to go down again and it is unsuccessful. Ugh, the baby wins tonight. By 7:15, we decide to just to feed her again and put her down for the night. I nurse her (while watching Scandal!) and also give her a bottle with the milk I pumped after the last feeding to top her off since my supply is lowest at night.

7:40 PM: Siena is fed and ready for bed (her bed time is now usually around 8 but when this was written, we usually put her to bed closer to 9).  Mike puts her in bed and she immediately falls asleep – he doesn’t even have to play the ukulele.  We finally eat the curry and talk about our days.

8:15 PM: Mike does the dishes and I turn on Scandal again (I’m catching up and still on season 3) and hook myself up to the pump. After Siena goes to bed, I always pump two times with about a 15 minute break between so that I can get more milk to use for the next day’s supplementing. Mike joins me and surfs the web while I watch.

9:00 PM: Mike and I get in bed. We’re tired from waking up so early for P90X and we like to go to bed early so we can get as much sleep as possible!

So there it is – a day in the life of my maternity leave. I tried to choose a day that would be more of a relaxed day (sometimes we’re running around so much that she sleeps in the car seat for half her naps) to allow you to see Siena’s normal nap schedule but Siena’s sleep schedule ended up not being typical. But I guess that’s life isn’t it!? And motherhood. No day is ever the same!

Do you enjoy routine or do you prefer to have more flexibility in your schedule? 

PS How do you like my new site design?! Mike designed it!