Daycare & Work, week 4 of the juggle

Lena has been in daycare for 4 whole weeks and I've been back at work full-time. She seems to be doing ok so far. She was more accepting of bottles as the first week went on, so hopefully she is getting over that hurdle quickly. The caregivers do a list of activities with the babies every day including tummy time, music, sensory activities, motor skills, etc. I almost have to chuckle at her report they send home every day. In addition to the "input/output" tally of bottles and diaper changes it also includes naptimes, outdoor time (going for walks in the big buggy strollers), and all of the sensory/motor activities they do, such as reaching for a toy or listening to bells or singing about snow. The one advantage of starting in daycare so young is that she doesn't have separation anxiety yet. Eli is really excited to have his sister downstairs at his daycare, although he doesn't actually get to see her during the day unless he can catch a glimpse on his way to the playground, so he tries to blow her a kiss.

The first weeks at work have been thoroughly exhausting. I'm getting 3 or 4 hours of real sleep now most nights (often interrupted by Eli waking up to go to the bathroom or sometimes wetting the bed), and staying awake at work and trying to form coherent thoughts is a challenge. I had a high-profile assignment due when I first came back which I somehow managed to finish in my sleep-deprived stupor. Getting out of the house in the morning is still a major ordeal. Justin is faster at it mostly because he is physically better able to just grab both kids and haul them and the stuff out the door in one swoop, but he only takes them two mornings a week. I try to pre-stage as much as possible the night before (which I can't start until Lena falls asleep between 10-11), but it still turns into trying to stage the invasion of Normandy every morning with the amount of logistical planning, gear, and choreography involved. Much to the chagrin of my spouse the militant mass-transit advocate, I am now driving to work for sanity- and time-saving reasons (and regaining at least an hour of my life each day). The evenings are even more of a challenge now, getting Eli fed/bathed/in bed while holding/feeding Lena, plus trying to cook and eat dinner, wash bottles and pump parts, pack lunch, pick out work clothes and kids' clothes, take a shower and get myself ready for bed. My mom tries to come over to help out a few nights a week, but with Justin's meeting schedule I'm usually on my own until 10 or 11.

The pumping thing is going ok so far; four weeks down, 36 to go (yes, planning to keep it up until she is a year old as I did with Eli). Washing all the bottles and parts at night is yet one more addition to my evening prep routine, and it's a bit of a challenge to fit in my 3 pump breaks at work (especially when I'm stuck at all-day conferences outside of my building), but Eli proved it is worth it in the end. Unfortunately I didn't stock the freezer like I had planned to while I was home on leave. Logistically it was too hard to put Lena down long enough to wash and set up all the pump parts, and she was never on a predictable feeding schedule for me to know when I could pump without stealing her next snack. Fortunately I've been pumping a surplus so far at work, so I'm trying to bank as much in the freezer as I can. Lena seems to be getting chubbier every day, so she's definitely not going hungry.