Yesterday Eliza was wearing one of my favorite outfits of Amelia's. They fill it out quite differently, LOL
Passed out!
Tuesday was the big day, Eliza’s first day of daycare. Christian dropped the big girls off at the usual time, while I took my time a little bit getting up, getting Eliza up and out the door. I didn’t want to be SUPER late, since I’m trying to get a feel for what a real day will be like for her, but I didn’t want to be in a huge rush either (maybe delaying the inevitable a little bit). We decided to do a trial day since 1) we’re paying for the day anyway, and 2) we thought it would be good to have her first day be when I’m still close by….avoid any breakdowns at work, and I’d be close by if she really lost it, didn’t have enough bottles, etc. Drop off went well. I got her checked in, got her bottles out and ready for labeling. We decided it would be best to let them take her out of her car seat, rather than be do it and have to hand her off, so I gave her my hugs and kisses and took off before the tears could start flowing. I held it together OK, and did pretty well throughout the day, but I did get pretty emotional a few times. It was very strange being in the house without the baby after the last few months. I kept thinking “oh, Eliza is going to be hungry soon”, “I can’t believe Eliza is still sleeping”…I’d take a pan out of the cupboard as quietly as possible. It was just kind of surreal. I spent the day relaxing (as much as I could), checking on the gardens, watching some TV…just gearing up for my first day of work. Much to the shock of daycare (and myself, frankly), I made it just about the whole day before picking her up. She got a great report…she sucked down her bottles, she took a great nap, she didn’t have any breakdowns. She had a great day, and she loved watching all of the other kids. Looks like she likes it…hopefully that continues. But, I couldn’t wait to get her home and cuddle the night away, that’s for sure. I guess one good thing about actually being back at work will be the distraction! Man did I miss that little girl!
Ready for her first day!
Man did I miss her!
Wednesday was it, the last big day of the week…back to work day. Kicking off our new routine, and seeing how everything goes. Luckily Eliza slept well…she went down around 9:30, and was up around 4:00 to eat. That sounds miserable, but it’s actually perfect. I pull her into bed and nurse her, while I doze off a little bit, and she falls back asleep. My alarm goes off at 5:00…I moved it across the room so I actually have to get up to turn it off (finally) after years of being obsessed with the snooze button. I pumped (which went well, I got a whole bottle from the pump, which is the goal and what I used to get with Amelia), started getting my pump packed up for work, and jumped in the shower. While I got half-dressed and did my make-up, the girls’ alarm went off at 5:45 (also new, so they can start getting up on their own and get dressed) and Christian hopped in the shower. The girls watched a video and finished getting dressed, while I got Eliza up, dressed and fed her one last time. Christian finished getting ready, let the dog out, did the big girls’ hair/brushed their teeth, while I finished getting dressed, packed up my work food and finished packing my pump. I loaded up my purse, my pump, my food, the diaper bag and 3 kids into the van, and we were all off by 6:30, again, the goal. The big girls’ drop off is easy right now…we just walk in the door and they go play in the school-age room…in the winter that will get harder when we have to put away all of their winter gear. I brought Eliza in the baby room, checked her in, got her bottles out and said my good-byes. Finally, off to work. I arrived on time, which was pretty impressive. Everybody seemed pretty happy to see me and excited to have me back. I caught up with my work friends and started getting up to speed on what work I had waiting for me (I had some new projects, some projects I was inheriting upon my return, and some projects I was getting back from before I left – which is not a good sign). I checked in with HR to get back on payroll, and I got my access to the lactation room. I sent in some paperwork I’ve been holding until my return…my hospital bill payment, my insurance payment, some thank you cards, etc. One other nice thing about being at work, getting time to do little things like that between tasks. Between that, pumping a few times and the welcome back party they threw for me, I can’t say I got a ton of work done today, but the day went fast, so that’s good. Pumping was successful…I got three bottles plus a little extra, which I’m happy with. She will still need a formula bottle most days, but I’m OK with that. All I know is that I flew home as fast as I could to pick the girls up, I could not WAIT to get some baby snuggles in. I picked up the baby and her bag, picked up the big girls and their daily papers, loaded up the van and we made our way home. I was exhausted, and it was a long day, so we had a pretty quiet night at home. “Ready” to do it all over again tomorrow!
Ready to head out on the first day
Somebody was tired!
Pumpkins or Watermelon, the debate begins
Tonight's harvest. The gardens are doing MUCH better than last years non-existent gardens!
Thursday, day two, and it went well. We had another great night of sleep, which helps immensely. The morning routine went pretty much the same, and I again arrived to work on time. The work day was a little more typical today…quieter, and I started getting back into the swing of things. Today was Eliza’s last day at daycare for the week. Overall, the week went well for her, so I really can’t complain. My energy level is still pretty low, but hopefully I adjust soon.
Quite the love/hate relationship with the pump. It's such an annoying, tedious task..but, it forces me to take my breaks, gives me time to catch up on some gossip magazines, and makes me feel close to my lovebug even when we're far apart (and, of course, nourish her)
My Throwback Thursday photo this week, one of my all time photos of the girls. Talk about perfect timing!
Friday, was not quite as great. Eliza seems to have developed a little cold, or maybe just a random stuffy nose, that kept her up much of the night. Of course, keeping me up much of the night. I woke up feeling like I never really got any good, deep sleep, and it made it VERY hard to get up and going in the morning. I did eventually succumb to the getting-out-of-bed requirement, and got ready for the day, but I was definitely struggling. This Friday is my mom’s Friday off, so she was on Eliza watching duty. She decided it would be easiest to watch her at our house, for now anyway, so I was saved a little chaos not having to get her up, ready and dropped off. Eliza was still sleeping when my mom arrived, so I gave her the run down, and the big girls and I were off. I dropped them off and struggled through the day at work. Quitting time could NOT come soon enough, that’s for sure. But, I will say, my return went pretty smoothly. Other than being tired, we had our little routine down pretty well, and everybody is surviving. Pumping went well, which is a huge relief. I picked the girls up after work and we relieved my mom for the day. I think Eliza was a little fussy – obviously less to entertain her at home vs. at daycare, but it sounds like they had a pretty good day. Christian picked up some food to grill on his way home…I was craving a celebratory brat! Once the girls were in bed, he was off for a couple drinks with a friend, I got Eliza to bed and I settled in to watch a few episodes of “The Killing”. My friend at work turned me on to this show a while back, and I watched two seasons on Netflix, eventually a third once it ended on TV. The show was then canceled, with a pretty unfinished ending, so it was a big disappointment. Netflix ended up picking it up for a final season, to wrap things up, and it was released today. It’s only 6 episodes, which sucks, but I’m so excited! I only made it through 1½ episodes before passing out tonight though. Shocker.
It's official, we both survived our first week!
Saturday was a pretty good day. Eliza slept in a bit (after a much better night of sleep), so Christian stayed home with her while I was off to swim class with the big girls. Olivia has been doing better and better, just really has to work on keeping her face in the water. Amelia is still a pretty hot mess…she is just so off in lala land all of the time. I feel so bad for her poor instructors all the time, trying to rein her in. Ugh, Amelia! We spent the rest of the day/night hanging out around the house. We had some lunch, the girls took naps, we watched a movie, did a little swimming. I spent most of the day doing some laundry and catching up on some chores (definitely one of the worst things about not being home [outside of being away from baby of course], not being able to do chores during the week). We wanted to stay up and watch a movie or two after the kids went to bed, but that was NOT happening. One day…one day.
She's still not a huge fan of the pacifier, but she'll chew on her burp cloths, blankets and clothes like a champ!
Sunday was a great end to the week. We spent the morning having breakfast, putting away the last of the laundry, packing up, getting ready, and we hit the road on a mini road trip. Today we were off to Zimmerman (which is about 75 minutes from our house) for a birthday party. My nieces, daughter’s 4th birthday…we’ve never been able to make it because her birthday is so close to Amelia’s, and their parties have ended up on the same day, so we were excited to make it this year. AND, my stepsisters were finally able to meet Eliza, which was great! Eliza has always been a little standoffish…gets pretty fussy when other people hold her, a little separation anxiety. She hasn’t been the happiest baby…making it a little hard to hang out with people. I don’t know if it’s being in daycare, or just coincidence, but she had an AWESOME day today. She handled the drives well, she let everybody hold her and cuddle her, she had smiles galore for everybody. It was like a whole new baby. It’s the BEST! Because the drive was sufficiently long, the girls got to watch the DVD player there and back…“Rio 2” on the way there, “Smurfs 2” on the way home. Boy were they excited. We loaded up on snacks on the way there, like our own little drive-in theater. Pretty exciting! We got home around 6:30, and settled in for the night. The girls were exhausted, and I was dreading my first real Monday in months. MONDAY, ick! We watched a little TV, and one by one hit the hay. I will say though, this week will be my Friday off, so I’m glad I have yet to face a FULL week.
Ready for our road trip!
Brought out the baby chair!
Until Next Week XOXO
No comments:
Post a Comment