A Day in our Life

A lot of people have been asking me lately how all of this is working out for David and I. You know, with having a newborn, both being in school full time and me teaching. So, I thought that I would outline for you a normal day in our life.

Mondays and Wednesdays: We get up around 6:30 so that we can each get ready, get Lydia fed and head out the door at 8:30. I go to class at 9 while David hangs out in the lobby of the law building with Lydia. She usually sleeps the whole time and he can get some reading finished. My class ends at 9:50 and I walk quickly across campus to meet David at the law building so that he can hand off our little girl and make it to his class that starts at 10.

I lug the infant car seat across campus (in the cold!) to the car and Lydia and I come home to enjoy the afternoon together. I feed and change her, and usually she takes a nap in the front-carrier sling while I do dishes and laundry. I also have to find a time to pump which can be very difficult when baby girl doesn't want to be put down and if it is a good day I get to have a nice lunch at home and possibly take care of emails and phone calls.

At 2:30 a babysitter comes to the house (hopefully most of the time it will be my sister, but if she is too busy with homework we have other wonderful friends who help us out!). I head back to campus for my 3:00 class. David and I both finish class at 4 and then we meet up and head home together.. except on Wednesdays, when my independent study goes until 5:15. We come home, I feed Lydia while David gets dinner together and usually we all three eat together (I have become very good at eating with one hand while Lydia lays on the Boppy pillow and nurses). The evenings are usually rough in general for a newborn so we trade off holding Lydia as she fusses a bit, and then usually she will fall asleep for the night.

Mondays and Wednesdays are definitely the hardest.

Tuesdays and Thursdays: On these days David goes in pretty early and I spend the morning with Lydia. At 10:30 a babysitter is here (Tuesdays it is a friend, and on Thursdays it is my mom who drives down for the day!). I leave to go teach and hold my office hours and I am home by 1:45 at the latest. I grab lunch and try to pump, and then if my mom is here we go for a walk outside or she hangs out for a while holding Lydia so that I can get chores done. Thursdays are one of the best days because my mom is here and she is such a HUGE help! She also brings dinner down... so wonderful. Tuesdays are a little rough because David has a night class so he isn't home until 6:30 or 7.

Fridays: Thankfully on Fridays David can spend more time at home. He only has one class and it is at a different time than my 9:00 and 3:00 classes, so I go in to class while he stays here, I come home while he goes to his 11:00 class, and then he comes home for me to head out by 2:30. It is nice to have him around on this day because having a newborn all by yourself all day everyday is definitely overwhelming. I don't know how single moms do it. On Fridays we are both home by 4 and so we can spend time together as a family before Lydia enters her fussy time.

Saturdays and Sundays: I LOVE THE WEEKENDS! We work as a team to do homework and housework but it is great for all of us to hang out at home together. David and I have always had a bad habit of making too many plans for the weekend; with friends, family and with one another. Even though in a lot of ways this was a good thing it always left us with little to no down time. Things are definitely different now. For obvious reasons we can't pack our day full of plans and even though we are definitely working hard on Saturdays and Sundays to try to stay on top of everything, we get to do it together at home and there is something really relaxing about that.

I hope that this post gave you a better idea about how we are balancing all of this! Starting school has definitely been a hard transition, but it wasn't as horrible as I thought that it would be. I am thankful everyday that we only have to endure 4 months of this crazy lifestyle, but I am also thankful everyday that we have so many wonderful people in our lives who are willing to help and support us. I feel so blessed each day, and when I come home to a smiling, cooing (or crying, and spitting up) little baby girl it makes all the hard work worth it!