A Day in the Life: 3 months

I have been meaning to write my next "day in the life" installment, and seeing my cousin Leslie's latest blog post just inspired me to actually sit down and write it before we start their 4th month next week. Thanks to the boys' first round of shots and our newfound freedom to travel, their 3rd month of life has welcomed a bit more flexibility to their schedule...but for the sake of documentation I'll write about a "normal" day at home. The times are a loose estimate, depending on what time the boys wake up in the morning. Lately they've been sleeping a bit later (YAY!) which pushes our day back.

6:00-7:00 am: I wake up to pump while the babies start to stir in their cribs. The boys get "hot light" milk for their first feed of the day. (We have joked from the very beginning that my pumping is the equivalent of the "time to make the donuts" guy. I feel like I Always. Have. To. Pump. So when I leave a room to go pump, I often say that I'm going to make the donuts. And for whatever reason we started referring to the bottles of freshly expressed milk as "hot light" milk- I guess because it's still warm and fresh, just like when the Hot Light is on at Krispy Kreme.) I typically pump between 25-30 oz. of milk after going my longest stretch of not pumping overnight.
7:00 -8:00 am: wake the boys up, diaper changes, clothes change, first bottle of the day (5 1/2 oz for Cooper, 6 oz for Will and Griffin)
8:00-10:00 am: Will and I grab breakfast then do chores (dishes, laundry, check book balancing, etc...) while the boys doze in their cribs
10:00-12:00 pm: bring the boys out to the bonus room for tummy time/play time
12:00-1:00 pm: diaper changes, bottles (5 oz. for Cooper, 5 1/2 oz. for Will and Griffin)
1:00-3:00 pm: long afternoon nap for the boys in their cribs. I pump again (usually between 15-20 oz. for all my pumps for the rest of the day) while Will continues any chores that need to be done. Laundry and dishes are pretty much constantly needing to be done. When we have time we'll also try to clean up the house, do yard work, etc...This is also the time that Will and I attempt to get a nap in, if possible. It's amazing how quickly 3 hours pass before it's time to start the cycle over. Most days we don't have time to nap, but generally as soon as we lay down one or more of the boys will start squawking that they're ready to be awake and entertained.
3:00-4:00 pm: Back out to the bonus room for tummy time/play time
4:00-5:00 pm: diaper changes, bottles (5 oz. for Cooper, 5 1/2 oz. for Will and Griffin)
5:00-8:00 pm: Will takes them to the bonus room to hang out again while I pump. Once I'm done pumping, Will and I will take turns being with them while the other does chores, works on a dinner plan, etc...Admittedly we are still eating out for FAR too many meals. Dinner time is when we struggle the most. It's pretty easy to make a quick salad, sandwich, bowl of cereal, or frozen pizza for lunch while the boys are napping. And we usually can eat lunch in relative peace while they are in their cribs. But dinner time is a different story. While we have time to make something at home during this time, the boys are up and require at least one of us to be with them. We are also generally pretty beat at this point in the day, and the idea of cooking and cleaning up dinner dishes sounds far more complicated than running to Zaxby's. I imagine we would both be far thinner by now if we eliminated our fast food diet...but this is our reality these days.
8:00-9:00 pm: diaper changes, bottles (5 oz. for Cooper, 5 1/2 oz. for Will and Griffin)
9:00-10:30 pm: I have to pump again while Will hangs out with the boys in the bonus room. If it's bath night, we will work on baths for all three, then get them changed into PJs. We are still bathing them one at a time, so we work like a little assembly line. Will will undress each baby and hand him off to me. I'll get them bathed, dried, lotioned, diapered, and into sleepers. We will hopefully start doing bath time before their 8:00 pm feed.
10:30-11:30 pm: last bottle of the night (5 1/2 oz for Cooper, 6 oz for Will and Griffin) before bed time. We would like to get to a point where the 8:00 pm bottle is their last feed for the day, but for now we are keeping them out with us until their last feed of the night. We don't wait until midnight to feed them again because, frankly, we are dead tired and ready to get to bed. So we typically start getting them changed and ready for their last bottle around 10:30 pm. After this bottle they get put in their sleep swaddles in their cribs for what we hope is a long night's sleep. We have an old iphone that we use to play a lullaby Pandora station.
11:00 pm-12:00 am: I pump for the final time of the day, then do the last round of dishes before aiming to be in bed by midnight.
12:00 am-6:00 am: On a good night, everyone stays fast asleep for 6 glorious, uninterrupted hours. It's always a success when I'm woken up by my need to pump and not by a baby letting us know they're ready to start the day. On a more normal night, Cooper will start squawking between 4:00 and 6:00 which means one of us is up to give him a pacifier or make sure he's not laying in throw up. Will and Griffin, for the most part, will sleep very soundly for 7-8 hours straight.

We're lucky that we've been successful at eliminating the overnight feed, and that they are, for the most part, sleeping through the night well. There are many more diaper changes and cat naps in their rock and plays peppered into the day. And we try to get out of the house when we can to run errands, go on walks, drive around, etc...but there are definitely more days when we decide it's easier to just stay at home than to pack up everything we need to leave the house with three infants in tow. And on days when we do travel, we try hard to keep this feeding every 4 hours schedule, but in reality the boys often go 5-6 hours between feeds instead.

I do worry at times that we aren't spending enough time "playing" with them and giving each baby their fair share of 1x1 time. We try to spend time with each baby playing and interacting with them, we read books when we can, and we try hard to get tummy time in for all three of them. But some days the reality is that they spend more time in their cribs and rock and plays than I'd like, and this makes me worry that they're sleeping too much out of boredom. But then again, I also have to often remind myself that they may be approaching 17 weeks old (tomorrow!) but that their adjusted age is 6 weeks younger, so maybe sleeping too much isn't a bad thing. I feel bad when they are awake in their cribs, but it's hard to keep an eye on all of them while also keeping the house in working order and some days we have to put them in a safe place while we take care of business. I do hope that the extra time in their cribs isn't detrimental to their development.

In some ways our days have gotten easier as the boys can go longer between bottles without freaking out. Like I said, this schedule is loosely based on when they wake up, and whether or not we're out and about. But in other ways our days are getting more difficult, for reasons mentioned above. As they grow and are spending more hours of the day awake, they aren't as content to be stuck in their cribs all the time. I foresee the next few months becoming much more fun and challenging as they learn to sit up, crawl, and continue to develop their personalities. Add to that the biggest change of all (for all five of us)- my maternity leave is almost over!

I return to work next week. It is incredibly hard for me as I don't at all feel ready to leave my babies. I'm not looking forward to schlepping my pumping supplies back and forth to the office, and I worry about Will getting burnt out taking care of all three babies day in and day out with no help (at least, not at this point in time). It will be a big adjustment for all of us to have me out of the house for 12 hours a day. I am so glad that Will can stay home with them, though. Adding in a first day at day care to the mix and I might have a nervous breakdown!

I thank my lucky stars and am extremely grateful to have an understanding and supportive boss who has approved a temporary alternate work schedule for me while I transition into a full time working mom. For the next 3 months I will work in the office Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays and then have one work from home day on Thursdays. And I will be taking Fridays off for the next 6 months. To say that this adjusted schedule is a blessing is an understatement. It makes me feel 1000% better about returning to the office knowing that I will still be able to spend quality time with the boys during these coming days and months when they change so quickly. And it will help alleviate some of the stress on Will that I am so concerned about. It is hard taking care of these boys with both of us here, day in and day out. Multiple days in a row of being the solo provider will surely be tough for Will. I have done more solo days than Will so far as he tries to get out and golf every so often to preserve his sanity, and I try to soak up every minute with them that I can before I have to leave them for extended periods of time. And as much as I love our little nuggets, they can be a bit much when you're on your own. You literally get NO time to yourself when you're the sole provider. Fridays can be Will's day to have some time to himself and unwind while I get my 1x time with them. And it will still allow us to have family time on the weekends where we can all be together. It's the perfect transition for me, and because of it, I'm able to look forward to heading back to the office. I truly lucked out when I joined my work team 5 years ago, and I continue to be grateful for that! I'm sure I will be a basket case next Friday when reality sets in and I have to leave for the day (I am working on Friday next week) but I truly am looking forward to getting back to the office, to my fantastic team, and truthfully- getting this next "hurdle" over and done with. There's so much apprehension on my part about going back to work. I'm ready to start so that we can adjust as quickly as possible to our new "normal".