a day in the life

Now that I'm home more, I expected that I would be blogging more. But when you get right down to it, I'm a bit of a hostage on my own home, and I don't have a whole hell of a lot to write about, unless you want the minute-by-minute update of Jane's development. (Her eyes are open a lot more now. She's checking things out. She doesn't just open them to wake up and cry for food! Progress!) Here's a little peek into what my life is like, so far, on leave. Let's start at midnight, which is when I usually go to bed:

Midnight-2 a.m.: Sometime between here, there is the first of the nighttime feedings. It can last 20 minutes or an hour. I'm half-asleep for this, and watching some crap TV like "The Hills" or "America's Next Top Model" reruns. My brain can't handle any more than that, but it can't handle any less either, or I'd be completely asleep.

2 a.m. - 3:30 or 4 a.m.: Blessed sleep.

4 a.m. - 5:30 a.m.: Sometime between here, there is the second of the nighttime feedings. See above.

7 a.m.-8 a.m.: Wake up for the first of the daytime feedings. This can last quite a while, by the time I get her down for some more sleep (for her).

Somewhere between 9 a.m. - 11 a.m.: Here is when I will usually get a shower in. You have no idea how wonderous a shower is until the prospect of you having one is slim. It's the whole goal of my morning, and when it happens, it's divine. Then I "get ready" in about five seconds, hoping and praying she doesn't wake up. My current uniform is a ponytail, no makeup, shorts and a big t-shirt. HOT. I spend a lot more time making sure she looks cute, because, Lord knows, I don't. During this time I will also try to pick up the house, especially if we are expecting visitors that day, which we have almost every day since I've been home.

Somewhere between 11 a.m.-1 p.m.: More feeding. During the day, I try to keep the TV off. It's become very annoying to me - can you believe it?! - and I prefer the quiet than the loud blathering crap on daytime television. Usually I read (if I can balance the book right) while I'm feeding her during the day. Other times I just stare into space, because, if you can tell by the nighttime feeding schedule, I'm not getting a whole hell of a lot of sleep these days.

The rest of the afternoon is a crapshoot. Like, today, she's been sleeping since about 11:30 - two whole hours! - and I've done some laundry, read some book, played around online, and got the mail. Other days, she might be feeding for hours at a time (yikes!!) and I lose a large chunk of the afternoon to that.

Evening, from about 6 p.m. to midnight: This is Miss Jane's time to party. Either it's feeding time, looking around time, or napping time - but NEVER in her crib. She'll cry and cry if you put her down, so one of us has to hold her at all times. If I'm going to be cranky during the day, this is about the time I am, because the exhaustion creeps up on me and sometimes just plain knocks me out.

I, of course, wouldn't trade any of it for the world.

We don't get to go out amongst the people for a few more weeks. The doctor suggested we limit her exposure to large crowds, especially large crowds that include germy kids, until she is two months old. I don't really feel well enough to go for walks with her yet, so her outdoor exposure has been trips to the mailbox and to the back deck. So, pretty much, we are here, all day, unless we take a rare field trip to the pediatrician or, as we did the other day, the library (Greg stayed with her in the car while I went inside).

We are, as you can see, partying like it's 1999 over here.