A Day On Maternity Leave

Now that my maternity leave is coming to an end today, I am actually getting to share what a normal day has looked like for me and Brooke. I still can’t believe how fast the time has flown, it feels like yesterday we were bringing her home from the hospital, not 12 weeks ago! I will admit that everyday has been different since we brought her home, but a lot of things are the same. We have our own little routine that is flexible, but consistent in its own way.

6:00am Brooke starts to move around in her crib. I tend to lay in bed gathering up the energy to go get her from her room until 6:15 (by then she will start to cry a little). My favorite part is getting her out of her Ollie Swaddle. We bundle her up at night, because it helps her sleep so much longer (about 7-8 hours). When I un-velcro the blanket, Brooke stretches really big with her arms and it is just so cute.

6:15am Brooke eats, normally spits up all over me, herself and the sheets. Then, I wipe her face, change her diaper and swaddle her up to go back to sleep in her crib.

8:00am I normally wake up and go downstairs to get my cup of coffee, then head back upstairs and check my email in bed while watching tv. Sometimes I take a quick shower, other days I wait until the afternoon.

9:00am Brooke wakes up and is ready to eat again. She does her normal spit up routine, I change her diaper, and then I put her down on her piano gym to play while I fix my hair and makeup.

10:00am If Brooke is still awake, she does some tummy time. Some days she catches a quick morning nap early. I work on a blog post, pay bills and other random things.

11:00am Brooke is in fully “nap mode” by this time. She normally starts her morning nap in my lap and then I move her next to me on the couch. This happens because she tends to be a little fussy or gets bad gas and just wants me to hold her. I continue to work on blog stuff or do some online shopping once I put her next to me.

12:00pm Lunch time. I try to fix my lunch before Brooke wakes up around 12 – 12:30 wanting her lunch. As soon as we finish lunch, I do the normal change her diaper and then I put her in a cute outfit. Once she is camera ready (kidding – I really mean once she is spit up free), I put her in her carseat and we head to Kevin’s work to spend his lunch break with him.

1:00pm During Kevin’s lunch break, we either go walk around the mall or go to a few shops around his work. Sometimes we even just hang out together in the car and chat it up. I love getting to go see him during the day. We don’t do this everyday, but it is my favorite day.

2:00pm Brooke and I tend to be on our way back home or going to run other errands we may have. She is normally asleep the majority of the time we are gone, but don’t worry, she spits up in her carseat at least once before we arrive back home. Also, her headband ends up covering her eyes 1 out of 3 times we are in the car.

3:00pm Food time again! This girl just eats all the time. Lately, I have been giving her a bottle at this feeding to get her ready for daycare or “school” as I like to call it. After trying out a few different bottles, Brooke loves Avent ones. They are working really good right now, but I want to try comoto ones still too (although I don’t like that they don’t have the ounces marked on the bottle, so I don’t know if I will actually try them).

4:00pm After Brooke takes her bottle, I change her diaper and she normally plays for a little bit on her piano gym, does tummy time, and then sits in her 4Moms MamaRoo until she falls asleep around 4:30 – 5:00pm.

5:00pm She is still catching some zzzz’s. I work on blog stuff and watch tv because I know she will be waking up any minute.

6:00pm She tends to wake up around 5:30-6:00 to eat or if she wakes up a little sooner, I feed her then. This is where our schedule is flexible. She tends to eat every 3ish hours but if we are still running errands or she is sleeping really good, she goes longer. I rarely wake her up to eat. After this feeding, I give her a bath. She loves bath time. She will just lay there smiling, but as soon as I take her out of the tub she screams. Next, I put her in a new onesie or in her jammies. On average Brooke goes through two outfits a day because of spit up, sometimes 3.

7:00pm Dinner for the adults is underway, if not finished by 7. Occasionally Kevin will get home later than 7, so dinner will get pushed back. Brooke is normally sleeping or screaming while I make dinner. It is really a toss up. One day she will sit in her mamaroo, one day she will scream insisting I hold her and the next day she will be asleep. Most of the time, she chooses dinnertime as the perfect time for a cry fest, then falls asleep until her next feeding.

8:00-10:00pm Kevin and I enjoy time together. We catch up on our tv shows, watch a movie, play video games or just talk. Brooke tends to be sleeping during this time on the couch with us or in her mamaroo.

10:00 – 10:30pm Around this time, we make our way upstairs to get ready for bed. I feed Brooke for the last time of the night and change her diaper. Then, we wrap her tight in her Ollie Swaddle (because if not she will bust her arms out – Houdini child), turn her monitor on, and put her in her crib. We like to put her down awake and let her put herself to sleep. We give her goodnight kisses and get in our bed. However, sometimes, Kevin has to go back in and walk around with her a little bit to put her to sleep. He use to do this every night before we put her down, so sometimes she just needs her daddy time again before she goes to sleep.

On average, Brooke sleeps about 7-8 hours at night, eats 6-7 times a day, takes naps on her own schedule, gets a little fussy at some points during the day, and spits up a lot (& I mean a lot). I should mention she also occasionally likes to have a blowout on top of the surplus of spit up we clean up on the daily. Its a good thing she is so cute.

I know tomorrow will mark a change in our schedule and it will most likely take a few weeks for us to get in the swing of things. I am both sad and happy to be returning to work tomorrow, but more on that in tomorrow’s post. I had the best 12 weeks staying home with Brooke. Its so crazy how much I love that little girl, I am so thankful for her and the blessing she is in my life.

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