Even though it has only been six weeks since our little man's birth day it has become increasingly difficult to remember my life before Camden....weird.
We have a "routine" but nothing is set in stone and today may differ to tomorrow. He sleeps longer some days and others we struggle to get him to sleep, some days he acts like a starved animal and others we struggle to get him to eat. Some days we venture out and run errands and others we stay indoors, especially when it rains! Bring on summer!
I thought I would let you in on our "sort of routine" and what better day to do that than his 6 week birthday and after my meeting with my boss this coming Monday I might be returning to work half day from home ( he has admitted he needs me back) as of next week so who knows when I will find time to blog and this so called routine we have may fly straight out of the window when I try find my feet juggling a 6 week old baby, gym and working from home half day.
Here is a look at our day with 6 week old Camden:
3:00am - I hear Camden stirring in his bassinet next to my side of the bed. I leave him as he usually goes back to sleep. Not this morning, he was not having it and he starts to cry. I put his dummy in his mouth and pat his back but still nothing. I pick him up and put him on my chest for a little bit as his feed time is around 4:30/5am and that is when Wayne takes over from me and I don't like to wake Wayne until then.
4:36am - Like clockwork Camden starts moaning for his bottle. I wake Wayne up to go warm his bottle and then Wayne comes to fetch him from me and goes to feed him inside so I can get a few hours sleep before he brings Camden back to me around 7/7:30am so he can get ready for gym or work.
Some mornings I am lucky and Camden will sleep with me in the bed for a few more minutes...or not, this morning I was lucky for half an hour of cuddles and then I had to get up because he was no longer having it.
8:00am I get up make myself some coffee, sterilise his already washed bottles and prepare his bottles for the day with him on my hip. Multi-tasking is my new talent, I do everything with one hand...SKILL! I then go wash him and change him and get him dressed for the day (we have his six week injections today at 12)
8:45am He is yawning and fussing and I manage to get him to sleep after about a few minute battle. I put him in his pram (I put him in his pram so that I can wheel him to different parts of the house where ever I need to be and he is sleeping)
Camden is so unpredictable when it comes to sleeping and with the kind of start we had to this day, I don't predict he will sleep for long periods today...I predict cat naps all day long. I rush around trying to get as much done as possible before he wakes up.
9:00am I tidy his room after our washing and dressing session. I put a load of washing on, prepare my breakfast, wash the dishes and go make our bed. I pack his nappy bag and put it at the front door along with his car seat all ready to go. I check my work e-mails, even though I am on leave I still check my work e-mails every day in case there is something urgent that needs to be handled in my absence.
9:50am Camden wakes up for his feed. I warm the bottles and Wayne arrives home from doing his store visit for work and his gym session. I feed Camden his gripe water and then Wayne takes over to feed him his bottle while I make Wayne coffee and get my clothes ready to go and shower.
10:10am Camden is done drinking his bottle and Wayne hands him back to me so he can go and shower quickly as he doesn't take as long as me to get ready. I sit making faces at Camden and talk to him in baby language, he is being impossible today, he is so tired and I put him down and he goes to sleep.
10:30am Wayne is out of the shower and dressed. By this time we are now running late as I still need to get myself ready. Wayne was under the impression our appointment was for 12 and had no sense of urgency. I quickly jump in the shower, get dressed, do my hair and make-up, eat my breakfast and then we ready to go. Wayne had packed the bags in the car and got the car seat ready while I was getting dressed.
10:55am We are in the car and off we go to go to our 11:15am appointment at the Medical centre opposite Tygervalley.
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| Woken up from his cat-nap as you can see here in his car seat. |
11:20am We are in the consulting room with Sister Darol Wilmot at the All About Babies consulting rooms. Darol weighs and measures Camden while I quickly slip out to go and complete a facial affect recognition test (Camden and I are taking part in a Mother-Infant-Bonding study for the Stellenbosch University and at his 6 month check up he sits and completes a facial affect recognition test as well). I return and Wayne leaves the room so Darol can administer Camden's 6 week injections. Wayne doesn't want to be a part of that and be witness to his son getting hurt. Darol gives Camden some immunisation drops in his mouth. He is fast asleep but this wakes him up a little. She then gives him an injection in each leg. He got more of a fright than anything as he was sleeping when he felt the first needle jab and then the second. He cries a little and then he is quiet again..all done and it isn't that bad for him or for me! Wayne and I get our vaccinations too and then we were off.
12:30pm We get in the car and head home. Camden absolutely hates being in his car seat and screams blue murder until we put the music louder and then he settles but today that isn't even helping, I think he is feeling a bit miserable from the injections,who knows, not like he can tell me. I have a 60ml bottle in his nappy bag so I give that to him as a comfort feed and he quietens down.
12:50pm We arrive home. Wayne goes back to work and I play with Camden a bit, we read his sensory book, watch a sensory video on youtube, we make funny faces at each other and when her talks I talk back. I put him in his swing and sit on the floor next to him and rattle his toys to get his attention, all of ten minutes in the swing and he is rubbing his eyes and his nose ( these are signals that he is tired). I put Camden to sleep, I pack his car seat and nappy bag away, hang up the load of washing, pay some accounts, check FB and blog a little.
14:00pm I then make myself some lunch and coffee while he sleeps. I am expecting him to wake up for his feed around 14:00pm but I guess from the 60ml comfort feed in the car and the stressful morning he has had he is still sleeping much longer than I had anticipated and I manage to get a few more chores done around the house.
15:30pm Wayne arrives home and goes for a nap. Camden starts to stir and I feed him. He is very fussy and he isn't drinking like he normally does. One minute he is crying and then the next minute he wants his bottle. I just think he is being difficult because of the day he has had. I manage to get him to finish his bottle and then I go change him. I change his outfit because he has wet himself and then he projectile vomits all over me and his new outfit. So another change of clothing for him and a top change for me! He is being very niggly still and I can't understand why, could he be tired still? I put him back down to sleep and within a minute he is out cold again.
16:30pm I make myself another cup of coffee and start to prep and cook food for dinner.
17:30pm Wayne and Camden are both still sleeping. I decide to eat as I never know when I may get a chance to eat uninterrupted.
18:15pm Wayne wakes up and Camden starts to stir around the same time. (This time of the evening Wayne takes over from me and does the feed and bath time with Camden and then puts him to sleep.) I can't resist going in the room to take some pictures of my boys.
19:30pm Wayne hands Camden to me so he can eat.We read Camden his bed time bible story (they say to try find a bedtime routine that he can get used to and associate with bedtime) and Wayne gets into bed and cuddles Camden on his chest until he falls asleep and then we move him to his bassinet.
20:00pm I shower and get myself ready for "bed". Prepare Camden's 30ml gripe water bottle that I must give him before his next feed.
21:00pm Instead of getting into bed I sit up researching on the internet, writing this blog and replying to some work e-mails. I struggle to sleep and when I am over tired it is even worse for me to relax and fall asleep, hence I am still awake at this hour when I should be trying to get some rest.
23:40pm Camden starts to stir. I pat him and he goes back to sleep. I fetch his bottle out of the fridge and warm it up as he feeds around 00:00am.
00:00am Like clockwork Camden is awake for his feed. I feed him, change him and get him back to sleep.
00:40am I climb into bed and try get some shut eye
03:00am Camden starts to stir again but I pat him and he goes back to sleep.
04:20am Camden is awake for his next feed. We are trying to get him to sleep through with some sort of routine so I feed him 60ml to take him through to 6am at least before his next feed starts.
05:55am Camden wakes up for his morning feed. I wake Wayne up as this is when Wayne takes over. Wayne does the 4/5am morning feed and 6pm evening feed and lets me sleep in.
...and so the new day begins again.
There you have it, a day in the life of 6 week old Camden and a rather tired mommy
