Little things

The basics are pretty important right now. Sleep. Shower. Get dressed. Eat. Feed children. Dress children. Change diapers. Help with potty training. Brush teeth. Commute. Work. Pump. Eat. Work. Pump. Work. Commute. Feed children. Play with children. Put children to bed. Brush teeth. Sleep. And somewhere in there, wash dishes, clean bottles and pump parts, do laundry, pack lunch, pay bills, put on and remove makeup, brush hair, converse with the Mister, email friends and family, and generally keep all boats floating.

*****

I finally gave up and started co-sleeping with the Girl. Two nights so far and, wonders of wonders, the child sleeps! I remember waking up a couple times in the middle of the night to nurse her, but we were both basically still sleeping. It's not perfect -- I'm so focused subconsciously on not crushing her or knocking her out of bed that I wake up with a big crick in my neck from holding my body just so all night long -- but it's infinitely better than trying to convince her to sleep in her bassinet (which she's basically outgrown already), and her crib seems so big and lonely ... But did I mention she sleeps?! None of this up-for-2-hours-for-no-reason stuff. If she's got a warm body to cuddle against and a nearby food supply, she'll let me stay in bed all night long, and wow oh wow does that make mama happy.

*****

The one thing that's really not happening yet is exercise. After giving birth, I immediately lost a ton of weight and was within 5 pounds of my pre-baby weight. I know, disgusting, right? But it was actually a problem, because I wasn't carrying enough weight to keep up with breastfeeding. I ate a TON in the first few months, just to keep a minimal level of milk flowing. Six meals a day and ice cream every night, yay! And I'm still only 6 or 7 pounds above my pre-baby weight. I'm backing off on the ice cream now, because I can tell my body's metabolism is slowing down (drat), but now I'm dealing with the general floppiness of skin and belly and behind and, oh, pretty much everywhere that comes with giving birth when one is 46 and not an Olympic athlete.

During my leave I was at least able to get out the door for 45 minutes or so every day for a walk, but now I'm not even getting that. I basically sit on my a** all day, and it shows. I didn't expect to be Miss America right after giving birth, but I also didn't expect to be gaining weight after the initial loss of baby weight. I'm up several pants sizes from my heaviest weight pre-baby, and it mostly seems to be that my hips have gotten bigger, in addition to my floppy belly/behind issues. Is that possible? Will they shrink down again, I wonder? I wish we had space in our house for a treadmill, but we don't. Not that I have time to use it ...

Even today, the one day a week when I'm home all day with the baby, I haven't been able to get outside the house yet. I was about to head out a few minutes ago, but it started raining, and our stroller doesn't have a rain hood and ... sigh. I may end up going to the mall for an hour, just to walk. During the week, there is literally no time to exercise. None. How do other working/nursing moms do it? Or do you just not do it until something else in life eases up?

*****

In happier news, the baby coos now. And smiles big grins. And the Boy spontaneously tells us he loves us (while continuing to fight bedtime as if it's his worst enemy).

Comments

[Almamay]

I did the co-sleeping thing with Boo and your description of sleeping "just so" brought back memories. We had a cot that hooked up to our bed with one side missing so it looked like an extension of our bed/his cot. It was perfect for BF at night. I would start him off in his cot and then when he needed a feed pulled him over. If I was very uncomfortable sleeping "just so" I would carefully put him back in his part of the cot and didn't need to get out of bed to do that. It worked for us despite people warning us that co-sleeping was a "rod for your back". Boo is asleep right now and except for a few hicups here and there has sleep through the night since he was 7 months old. Enjoy your co-sleeping. Oh, and I haven't done any organised exercise for many years. Running after Boo is enough.

[luna]

yeah, co-sleeping pretty much rocks when you're in that situation. transitioning away may be difficult later. but for now, sleep is so precious for everyone.

and what is this exercise thing you speak of? I have a hard time doing free-range activities with both of them. unless you have someone to watch squeaker (or did you rename him?), it's hard enough with naps and everything else. if she sleeps in a stroller, or if you have a good carrier and she'll sleep in there, maybe a walk is possible? good luck with that.

[Rachel]

Yay for co-sleeping. As for exercises, I distinctly remember my last real workout. 7 flights of stairs and stretching. And that was early Dec. '08 (in fact the night before the fusspot was born). Walk as much as possible, and don't stress the weight. The sad truth is that for most people the last 5 lbs don't disappear until you wean because your body is desperately trying to hold on to them. The good news is that they often just disappear after you do wean (according to friends, I haven't yet got there).