Today was my good friend A's 30th birthday. Her husband, J, put together an amazing day of surprises for her and he asked me to watch baby H while he pampered his wife. They are both wonderful friends and I love H, so of course I said yes. I was really happy to help and then J told me that he needed me to arrive at their apartment at 9:30am. Ayiyi. Even not pregnant, me arriving anywhere by 9:30am is tough... I've worked for myself for a few years and before then I always had bosses who were super flexible, so I've never been a morning person.
But for A, J and H, I'm gonna make it happen. I made sure to shower at night and set my clothes out... I had one of those anxiety-ridden nights of sleep where I was terrified I wasn't going to wake up in time! I woke up at 7am and decided it was time to start prepping for the day... I took my kytril and started my cheerio munch. I lied in the bed for about an hour / hour and a half and then got up to get dressed and prep my snacks (banana, PBJ, red cheese wheel and choc chip banana bread). A bowl of cereal later and I was feeling ok... Took the subway downtown and arrived in time to get a full baby briefing before A and J took off. Phew! I did it. I did not ruin my friend's birthday!
A and J leave and baby H is sleeping soundly in his room... I think to myself... this isn't so bad... I'll just do some work. I start to hear some murmurs... He doesn't sound like he's crying so perhaps he's just doing the baby coo thing... I let it go on for a few minutes and then decide I want to go see what's going on. H is lying there and as soon as he sees me he smiles. It's so cute! I can do this... he's so sweet!! I pick him up and I change his diaper... My first ever!! It wasn't so bad... He didn't fuss or cry and it didn't even smell that bad... I wrapped one of his swaddle blankets around my face in case it was stinky and my nausea got the better of me, but it was really tolerable (I'd always heard that but didn't believe it). I cleaned up his junk, got him strapped into a new diaper and we were ready to start our day together. I walked around holding him for a while and then put him on the play mat for tummy time. It's crazy... this kid is a little over two months and he can already lift his head and look around... Great head control! He lies there for a while and he's happy, sucking on his pacifier... then he starts to fuss a bit and I realize it's probably time for him to eat. I go into the freezer and get one of the pre-labeled breast milk pouches, defrost it in the hot water and pour it in a bottle. H made the most ridiculous faces while drinking this bottle. He was euphoric... From his facial expressions you would have thought he was smoking a joint, not taking a bottle... His eyes were all googly and he was blissed out! He also fell asleep at various points in the feeding... The coolest thing he did, though, was wrap his hand around the bottle like he was trying to hold it. I'm thinking... he's too young to hold a bottle... but I decided to let go and see what happened... I was wrong... This little munchkin was holding his own bottle at 9 weeks. I realized that I was pretty hungry while he was eating, so I mastered the art of feeding the baby with one hand while feeding myself a yogurt with the other... I assumed that at one point the baby would end up with a glob of yogurt on his face, but I was able to keep it clean. YAY!
Once the bottle was finished I walked the baby around trying to get him to burp and then I put him back on his belly for more tummy time. This kid loves to lie on his belly. He promptly passed out and I decided I could get to work. I'm on the phone with my colleague S when I hear the buzzer... I tell her to hold while I run to check the intercom. Well, I probably shouldn't have run because my socks are no match for the slippery floor. My legs and feet fly up in the air, cartoon style. I go to grab a nearby table to brace my fall but instead I fall directly on my tailbone and take two glass candlesticks with me... Smash - glass everywhere... I'm lying on the floor. I get up and get the intercom and let the UPS guy in, totally amazed that this all just happened. There's glass all over the floor... I realize S is still on the line and just heard all of this... I run to the phone and tell her I have to call her back. She's mildly freaked out. The baby slept through this whole thing... I'm amazed. I call my husband to tell him what happened, cry for about 2 minutes, call S back to tell her I'm alive and move back to the couch to lick my wounds.
I get some work done and then the baby wakes up. I decide it's time to go for a walk. I grab the diaper bag, put a hat on H, stuff him in his Uppa Baby stroller and take off. We walk all over Tribeca... It's a gorgeous day! I can see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island... very cool. H falls asleep in the carriage and we go to Whole Foods to get the babysitter some lunch. He starts to fuss as soon as I get in line to pay for my food... It's kind of embarrassing because people start looking at you. I'm trying everything... This baby loves motion so I start to move the carriage back and forth and he settles. I take my lunch, walk towards battery park where I settle on a park bench and begin to munch.
After a little more walking I'm tired and decide it's time to go home and LITERALLY the second I pull up to the apartment building he starts to fuss... How does he know that the walk is over??? It's crazy!! We squish into the elevator and H starts to really get agitated... I try walking him around, bouncing him, changing him, playing music and nothing works... I realize it's been about 3.5 hours since our last feeding so he's probably hungry again. I decide to just put him down because he's not going to stop crying until he eats and I can prep another bottle much faster if he isn't slowing me down... He screams the entire time I'm prepping the bottle but I know there is nothing more I can do... I pick him up and he sucks the entire bottle down. I burp him and then he goes back on the belly for tummy time where he just passes out. It's amazing. So easy!! A few minutes later A and J arrive home from their day of fun and I'm a bit relieved. I had no idea how tiring it would be to take care of a baby all day. And he was really good! There was just always something to do! Eat, play, change diaper, etc... and again...
Today was good practice! I have a new found respect for mom's... They do all of that and on no sleep! I'm kind of excited that I still have 4.5 more months to sleep in preparation... that's a silver lining! And on that note, good night!
