Tuesday, April 21, 2009

An average day in the life of a pregnant mommy

6:30am - start the day with the rising of the sun.  Literally.  Robbie would have slept longer but I forgot to close the blinds all the way.  Lay in bed for a while with him, looking over our pillows out the window at the cars, birds, trees, rain... anything that will entertain him while I try to get myself moving.  Rehearse 'if you're happy and you know it' and 'the itsy bitsy spider' together and marvel at his new ability to follow along with the hand motions... even trying to 'sing' along with me at the same time!

7am - decide that it's a donut day for mommy.  Heat up a bottle of whole milk for Robbie to drink in the car, bundle up and head to Dunkin Donuts drive-thru for a decaf and a french crueler.  

8:30am - put my early bird to bed for a nap.  Check baby Stellan's blog, knowing it is surgery day, and pray.  Lay down for brief nap myself.

10:15am - retrieve a very happy little boy from his crib, and get creative with how I keep him entertained as I take a shower (don't ask).  Also, trim bits of hair that were missed during last night's baby-in-the-bathroom-sink, at-home haircut.  Remind self that there is a reason people pay those kids' salons money to perform this task.  It is WORTH IT.

11:30am - feed Robbie 'brunch' since he slept through breakfast... eats an entire orange, handful of multigrain cheerios and 1/2 an english muffin.  Make myself a little brunch treat as well (*see recipe below) and wash down with lemonade - donuts are not filling.  Attempt to run long-overdue errands before the afternoon nap hour strikes.  

*Swiss Bread
6 tbsp shredded swiss cheese
4 tbsp mayonnaise
1 small scoop of minced garlic, from jar
juice from 1/2 lemon
Mix above ingredients together, smear on english muffin, and broil until cheese is bubbly.  Makes enough spread to cover 6 english muffin halves.

Early afternoon - craving roast beef; stop at Arby's in a moment of weakness.  Regret the decision for the rest of the day, especially upon reviewing list of consumed foods thus far.  Apparently, have entered into the stage of pregnancy where my stomach feels like it is up in my throat and fills rather quickly.  Vow to make better choices... tomorrow.

3:30pm - nap the little bugger again, after filling his belly with his favorite beverage (milk).  This time, seize the opportunity to be productive.  Run a load of laundry.  Install Quicken and set up our budget.  Prep the incredible pile of mail that has been building for my dear husband who will 'do something' with every piece of it this weekend.  Shred and recycle a lot of junk.  Organize new desktop mail caddy for said weekend activity.  Experience moment of thankfulness that the division of responsibility in our household has not found me managing our bill payment.  I am better at preparing raw chicken and growing/raising babies.  And other things, but you get the point.

4:30pm - start dinner.  Decide on stir fry.  Wash and chop all ingredients, realize I am missing onion.  Curse the idea of trying to make a 'quick trip' to Jewel during rush hour in the rain for one measly onion.  Get Robbie's dinner ready for when he wakes up.

5:15pm - the prince awakens.  He feasts on turkey, cheese, peas and cornbread.  I don't think he had a whole grain all day (unless you count the Cheerios during 'brunch').  Pangs of guilt.  Hose down child and high chair and dash out the door in attempt to retrieve necessary onion.

6:30pm - eat dinner on the couch with Rob.  Try to eat fast, knowing that it's only a matter of time until Robbie tires of playing in his pack and play 3 feet from us and starts gagging himself for attention and retrieval.  Make it 1/2 way through my plate of food before gagging starts (his, not mine).  Warm a bottle of milk, wind down child before bed.  (aka: wrestle on the couch with mom and dad.)  Try to teach him not to bite in his excitement, which results in him biting us even more.

7:30pm - put baby to bed for the night; mix up brownie batter, bake in oven, and lick bowl clean.  Set kitchen timer to remind self of brownies.

8pm - realize upon checking brownies that I never changed the dial on oven from 'broil' setting used earlier in the day to 'bake' for the brownies.  Broiled entire pan of brownies.  Eat a rice krispie treat instead.  Very large piece.  Think to myself the entire time, 'you're going to regret this.'

9pm - catch up on last dvr'd episode of The Hills.  Vow to never watch that crap again.  Consider setting the recording now for next week's episode in case I forget over the weekend.  Wonder what is wrong with me.

9:30pm - check in on Stellan again; chat with my brother online who is in an airplane that is testing in-flight wi-fi on Southwest.  Watch belly go crazy as our baby girl enjoys some awake time.  Wonder what she looks like, how big she would be if I were holding her right now, how many things I feel like I have yet to do in order to be ready before she gets here.  Take deep breath and remind myself that none of the things on my to do list are really that important (she will have food, a bed, things to transport her, and clothes for the first few months - the rest is incidental).  Spend time instead praying through the blogs I have listed on the left that represent sick babies and struggling families.  

11pm - begin updating my blog.  Consider digging out the Tums before going to sleep.  Make mental list of things to pack tomorrow in preparation for trip to Angola on Thursday to help open up the lake house with my family.  Find thoughts drifting towards my favorite donut that can only be found in rural Indiana at Tom's Donuts, Pizza King, and other lovely edibles Angola has to offer.   Remind self to pack Tums.  Marvel at the way pregnancy seems to sap me of all intellect and will power.  

4 comments:

Becki said...

What a cute post, Ash! You had a busy day...I was tired from just reading about it. Thanks for sending me that coupon too...I don't know where you find the time to be so thoughtful. Give Robbie a big kiss from me!!

Jennifer said...

Oh, Ashley, you are TOO cute and TOTALLY hilarious!!! Thank you SO much for this post. It is all too familiar -- I am right there with you! I love you, dear friend! :)

ZFam said...

i love it! love your honesty about it all! what a great post!

Jennifer said...

Hey, don't forget about Bob Evans! And then, maybe afterwards you can pick up something cute to wear at Maurices!