Bring on the Night

I wanted to write this for a while, but didn’t prioritize it. The following may explain why.

My daily routine after Mark’s birth:

• 6.00am and sometimes even earlier: Mark wakes up and starts yakking/whimpering because he’s done sleeping.
• 6.30am: After 30 minutes of torture semi-sleep I give up and crawl out of bed.
• 7.15am: I shower, eat, and head for work.
• 8.00am to 3.30pm: Work
• 3.30pm – 4.30pm Drive home, buy groceries and similar.
• 4.00 – 4.30pm: Arrive home.
• 4.30pm: Discuss the day with C, while saying hello to Mark.
• 4.30pm – 5.00pm: start cooking.
• 6.00pm: Feed Mark and eat our dinner (in strict order controlled by Mark’s crying level).
• 7.00pm: I start cleaning the kitchen and dinner table.
• 7.30pm: I get a chance to sit down and sort the dailies in needed (bills, letters, overdue phone calls and similar).
• 7.30- 8.00pm: My time begin. This is when I watch telly, write on the blog, read news on the net or play computer games. If C has time we sometimes watch a movie or whatever we want.
• 11.00pm: If I haven’t automatically passed out in the chair by now (may happen once a week), I’ll start considering going to bed.
• 11.30pm: After getting ready for bed, I crawl under the sheets.
• 11.30am – 6.00am I “sleep” being woken up at least once every 2 hour by Mark either being hungry or wanting his lost pacifier. C takes care of this, but I still wake up most of the times.

Lather, rinse, repeat.

All times are of course as sketchy as a woman’s temper the weather depending on Mark, work, school and similar.

So where am I going with this whiney drivel you ask?

I’m really not trying to write a whiney post (even though I’m known for outclassing everyone in this field). And in all fairness I know plenty of people have way tighter schedules due to having a baby, so an attempt to catch sympathy is futile. I’m just writing my personal experience and what to expect if you’re considering getting a kid. I knew from the start that having a baby is hard work, so there’s really nothing unexpected in how that turned out. The only difference is how loosing sleep feels in theory and in reality. I’m tired all day and it has been that way for months. No wonder we don’t overrun our friends lately.

Besides this busy schedule I have parents who need a lot of attention these days. This includes at least one visit a week, and several phone calls to sort stuff for them. That’s a whole other story and too personal to share at the moment.

And – oh yes – I’m aware that I drew the sweet end of the deal in the end as I can’t breastfeed (and no – I wont try). C is way deeper in the mud and “on” 24/7. So I can’t complain at all.

And to those who were desperately skimming the post for this sentence: “but it’s all worth it”, there you go. But I’ll let you in on a secret: It’s just not always the way you feel at 6.00am after 5-6 hours of heavily interrupted sleep.

Keep tuned for next entry describing C’s day.

Tags: life, Mark