A Day in the Life with a Newborn Baby

It has been just over two weeks with baby Noa and I would love to say that we have adjusted well to newborn life, but then I’d be lying. Confession: I had completely forgotten this stage of the game … they were right when they say parents get amnesia. With that said, I thought it would be a good idea to write this post as I hold Noa in one arm, so that I never forget it again (and also as a solid reminder for those of you expecting mamas who have amnesia too).

Don’t get me wrong, maternity leave is amazing and I would much rather be here than at the office, but let me give you a little glimpse of what a typical day has looked like for me since Noa has been born. Side note, if another person messages me asking if I’m sleeping when she’s sleeping I might snap. Let’s get this straight – I am not sleeping when she sleeps.  Period.

6:45 a.m. Harper is already up and needs to get ready for school, but instead is insisting to play with her magna tiles. Daddy is sound asleep while I’m annoyingly trying to get him up to get his sh*t together for work. And then there’s Noa, who also wakes up crying for the boob. 

7:30 a.m. Everyone is up and breakfast is being made. Mine will be cold once I get to it since I’m still feeding Noa who has already had two dirty diapers. I try to hand off Noa to my husband for 5 minutes so I can sneak in a shower. Doesn’t happen. Dry shampoo it is. 

8:30 a.m. Daddy and Harper are out the door while I’m still in PJs (aka sweatpants and an Adidas tank) and Noa appears to want the boob again. So much for enjoying that hot coffee. Oh well. It can wait.

9:30 a.m. I’ve changed Noa another time, jotted down in my journal the times she has fed, how many dirty diapers and which breast she fed off last. You’d be surprised at how quickly you forget these things only an hour after the fact.

10:00 a.m. Noa falls asleep and I anxiously go to warm up my coffee. Then she hiccups, which are cute, but not so cute when they wake her up.  Oh and to my surprise, another dirty diaper. I change baby and it’s a mess because she decides to pee midway through the diaper swap … which also wets her sleeper and now has to be changed. She’s awake and wailing. I attempt to rock her back to sleep, but even after singing “You are my sunshine” a million times, still no success. So much for coffee.

11:00 a.m. Daddy messages from work asking how things are going and asks if I can go to the bank. The answer is no. I explain that I am still in sweats and Noa hasn’t napped … and that I haven’t had my coffee (or breakfast).  I send a pic of baby wide-eyed and ready for action.

12:00 p.m.  Baby Noa finally sleeps after I put her back on the boob a couple of times.

12:30 p.m. I have my cold coffee and breakfast and scroll through Instagram.

1:00 p.m. lost 30 minutes of my life looking at pretty pictures on the gram, but I’ve had my coffee and feel somewhat alive. Then Noa makes a whimper sound and cries out. OMG. Crap, I barely ate. Scarf down my cold oatmeal (gah!) and lightly tap Noa on her tush making that “shushing” sound to get her to settle. Phew, she is back asleep.

1:15 p.m. throw in a load of laundry. Never. Ending. Laundry.

1:30 p.m. And she’s up. Time to feed. Surprise, surprise another dirty diaper. Her digestive system is next level. I wish I could go that often. Coming soon to the blog I will have to share my postpartum digestion drama.

2:00 p.m. Flat lay time. Place Noa on the bed and take a few pics.

2:15 p.m. Tummy time. She’s miserable.

2:20 p.m. Read her “Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See”. She doesn’t appear interested and at this stage she is still only detecting light and motion, as well as large objects. She cries. I hold her and then try to swaddle her, but gosh I was never a pro at swaddling. Google “how to swaddle”. Success! She looks like a cute burrito. Take a few more pics. Kiss her a million times until she cries. Put her back on the boob.

2:30 p.m. Daddy messages asking again if I can go to the bank. The answer is still no. I also reply back asking if he will be home early. I could use a shower. His answer is no.

2:45 p.m. Harper is almost done school. Definitely am not making it for pick up. Call in a favour from a mommy friend to pick up Harper for a play date. Call the school to inform her teacher that Harper is going home with a classmate.

3:00 p.m. Noa falls asleep on my chest as I open up my computer to go through a million emails. Replying back with one hand takes skills by the way. Wow, I just realize I have a lot of emails and have probably over committed myself to projects. Yikes.

3:30 p.m. Alternate between Instagram on my iPhone and emails on my Macbook. Why is instagram so addictive? Noa is still sleeping. I should sleep while she sleeps like they say, but I don’t. More emails. Throw in another load of laundry (with one hand).

3:45 p.m. Try to put baby into bassinet. Fail. She cries. She needs to be changed. Again.

4:00 p.m. Text my best friend who has three kids asking if its normal that Noa has so many poopy diapers. She says yes, but I Google it anyways. Okay, so it’s normal.

4:30 p.m. I should eat lunch. Uber eats will take too long. Luckily, I have a stash of homemade protein energy balls in the fridge. Quickly eat two of them.

4:45 p.m. Dog needs to be walked, but since it’s almost 5 and Daddy will be home soon, the dog can wait. Holy crap, it’s almost 5? Where did the day go? I’m still so hungry. Apparently so is Noa. Put her on the boob. Did I mention I have a blocked milk duct? Painful.

5:00 p.m. Daddy messages that he’s leaving work. Yay! I reply asking him to grab sushi on the way home.

5:15 p.m. Noa is sound asleep … and in her bassinet. There is a God.

5:30 p.m. Daddy comes home asking, "Where is Harper and Noa?" I ask, “Where is the sushi?” I also forgot to tell him to pick up Harper from her play date on his way home. He looks at sleeping Noa and says, “Awww, she looks so sweet and peaceful”.

5:35 p.m. I eat sushi. I FINALLY shower and change out of sweatpants.

The story continues with nights being the hardest because let’s get real …. I’m not actually sleeping because every sound and whimper that the baby makes, I am up and by the bassinet to check if she’s okay. Plus, she's up every 1-2 hours anyway. No REM happening here. I know the days ahead will continue to blur into each other, but my God it is all so worth it to have this little human being in my arms! And as the saying goes, "No one said it would be easy. They just promised it would be worth it."