My kitchen back splash is going up as I type (to be grouted on Monday) and the end is in sight. I’m making chili tomorrow…and I’m going to wash dishes *IN* my kitchen. Of course I’m excited about the chili (even though I’m not feeling very optimistic about the Illini’s chances against Michigan…), but excited to wash dishes in my kitchen? That can only be possible in thanks to not being able to do so for the past 5 1/2 weeks!
Pictures of the kitchen are coming REALLY soon, I promise! It’s sooooooo close to being done!
The end is in sight for my maternity leave, as well – less than 2 weeks to go. I’m a ball of nerves about my return to work. It would help a lot if Piper would consistently take a bottle, but after 2 consecutive nights of success, she has refused the two nights since. Piiiiiiiiiiiiiiiper, baby! C’mon!
I know Piper’s daycare well, as it’s where Shea attends. We walk past the nursery every day when I drop off and pick-up Shea. I know the daycare providers in the infant room quite well…but it is still going to be a very emotional day. And not only that, but we’ve gotten into a little habit of sleeping in and following a very loose schedule. This morning, Shea was still in bed at 7:50am and normally, we’d be getting ready to walk out the door at that time. So unfortunately, as much as I’d like to be making up for lost sleep in the middle of the night at 7am, I need to be rousing Shea to get her back on an earlier schedule. Dang 
On the whole, however, we’ve found our new groove. It’s doable and it’s actually not a total zoo when 1. Mark gets home from work at a reasonable hour and 2. there’s 4 hands on deck for Shea’s bedtime. Unfortunately, Piper is never sleeping when we head upstairs with Shea around 7:30pm. It makes for a stressful bedtime routine if I’m the only one around. And believe it or not, I got REALLY brave and bathed with both girls last night. All 3 of us in the tub. It was total chaos and totally fun. I don’t think I ever took a bath with Shea or breastfed her in the bath, but mommies reading, I highly recommend it…especially if your newborn loves baths as much as my Piper. It was a memorable activity for sure.
I’ve remained incredibly busy during my maternity leave, and most of it has been productive Like her sister, Piper sleeps really well when we’re on-the-go so I just lug her car seat where ever we go, whether it be the gym, the grocery store, my local MOMS group, medical appointments…anywhere and everywhere! We’ve attended the hospital’s breastfeeding support group every week and I’ve made some new friends. P.S. Piper’s weight is up to 10 lbs 12 oz! And until this week, the weather has been warm and wonderful so there have been lots and lots of walks outside. I’ve been far more active on maternity leave than I am sitting at a desk all day! So of course I’m sad that 2 weeks from yesterday, my little one will be starting daycare and I’ll be heading back to work. It has gone SO fast.
Admittedly, I’ve tried to block out a lot of the stress surrounding work as I know I’m returning soon…and to a new position. That, and I knew work would always be waiting for me…and my precious moments with Piper would be over in a flash.
Big sister seems to be much more fond of Piper – no pinching or much jealousy these past few weeks. If the baby isn’t with me, Shea wants to know where she is, like in the mornings when I go to get her from her room. Piper continues to sleep well, and gets up once a night, usually around 3 or 4am. Sometimes her wake-ups are 20-30 minutes and sometimes they’re 1 1/2 hours. Generally speaking, she’s gotten better about nursing and falling back asleep in a shorter period of time. Her rise time, however, is all over the place and her bedtime continues to fall around 10pm. She gave us her first social smiles just over a week ago and she turned 6 weeks (!) yesterday. In the evenings she seems to be a bit less fussy and doesn’t nurse non-stop from 6pm onward now, but she still spends at least 50% of the evening hours nursing away.
So while we’ve found our groove with a maternity leave schedule, we’ll morph that into a work/daycare schedule very soon. Waaaaaah! Slow down, time…slow down.
That’s our update. Have a fabulous weekend!
Be well,
from Prevention RD http://preventionrd.com/2016/10/family-friday-vol-34-the-end-is-in-sight/
via Heart Based Marketing
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