My first weeks alone with B I was definitely working for the weekend.

It is exhausting being home alone with a newborn.  And that whole “sleep when the baby sleeps” advice is just not realistic.  Generally, if B takes a nap in the early morning (say between 7:30 and 8:30), I can get in twenty minutes or so of my own sleep between pumping, feeding myself, finding a hair tie and putting on clean underwear.  Then B wakes up again for another meal and we start the process all over again.  Nurse, play, sleep.

And there are other things I’d rather be doing while he’s napping, like taking him and me for a walk outside or checking my email.

I’m definitely doing better now that we’re in week five.  I have figured out a bit of a rhythm with B during the weekdays (not a schedule, mind you, just a rhythm) but know there will be days when C comes home and the house is in chaos and we are too.  Today, for example, he came home and I was holding B in the rocking chair in the nursery.  B was on the verge of hysterics.  I was singing camp songs and what I remember of the Sesame Street theme song–B was not impressed.  The living room was littered with cardboard books and blankets.

Still, the weekends are the best.  When C is home I feel much more at ease.  If B is crying, I can hand him over (dad burps him best).  I can take a shower (take that, Janice!)  I can have C hand me my water while I nurse or he can make me a grilled cheese sandwich.

Together is definitely better for the three of us!