This was my first full week back at work. Since I’ve returned, every week has included some holiday time, which has been a really nice way to adjust. However, this was a full week, which was honestly exhausting. We all survived, and I got in my workouts, but it was definitely a challenge. When Lila was about 2 months old, I shared what a typical “day in our life” looked like. Now that I’ve gone back to work, I want to share what a day in a the life with a 3 month old and working mom looks like for us. It definitely varies day to day, but this is a fairly usual timeline from our Friday this week.
Day In the Life With a 3 Month Old
- 5am – Alarm goes off. Yes, it is painful.
- 5 – 6am – I brush my teeth, get dressed, and come downstairs to start the coffee. It takes me about an hour to drink my coffee, pump, do a little bit of Bible study, and then get dressed for my run. It doesn’t seem like it should take an hour to do these things, but somehow it does.
- 6 – 7am – I run on the treadmill for an hour and catch up on whatever Netflix show I’m watching. This week it was mostly Fearless.
- 7am – I wake up Lila. She’s all smiles.
- 7 – 8:15am – We do our morning routine. I change her diaper, get her dressed, nurse her for about 20 minutes, and then I hold her upright and play with some toys for about 20 minutes. Around 7:45, I log in to work and she hangs out on her playmat while I clear through some emails. Right at about 8am, she starts to show me that she’s ready for a nap. We go through our little nap routine (change diaper, read a book, sleep sack, white noise, and a couple minutes of bouncing in the nursery), and she’s in her crib by 8:15.
- 8:15 – 10:15am – Lila naps and I work. I pump one more time after I put her down while I’m working on a project summary. During a work call, I go downstairs and make a quick breakfast (oatmeal).
- 10:15 – 11:00 – I wake up Lila at 10:15 because we cap her naps at two hours at this point. We get a fresh diaper, nurse for about 20 minutes, and then I hold her up and clear through a few more emails.
- 11:00 – 11:30 – I kind of go back and forth between work emails and IM’s and moving Lila around. She plays on her playmat for about 15 minutes, and then I prop her up in her BabyBjorn chair and she plays with a musical toy my mom sent her for Christmas. I get a snack at some point. After about 20 minutes, she starts acting ready for her second nap. We go through her nap routine, and she’s in the crib by 11:35, but she doesn’t fall asleep until about 11:50.
- 11:30 – 11:50am – Lila’s nanny arrives, and we briefly chat about her morning and a couple of things she can help with during Lila’s nap (she folds a load of Lila’s laundry and gets some of my pumping gear washed, which is a HUGE help for me). At about 11:50, I head out for CrossFit.
- 12 – 1pm – I go to CrossFit and Lila wakes up at right as we’re finishing up.
- 1:15 – 2:20pm – I get back home, log in to work, wash my hands, and hop on a call while Lila’s nanny changes her diaper and gets her ready to nurse. I nurse her for about 20 minutes during the call, and then hand her back to the nanny who holds her up for and plays with her for another 20 minutes while I work and eat my lunch. Lila’s nanny takes her our for a quick walk while I’m working, and then comes in to let me give her a smooch before Lila goes down for her third nap at about 2:15.
- 2:15 – 3:30pm – Lila takes her second nap, I keep working, and our nanny picks up Enrique from school, drops him off, and heads out for the day. Lila is waking up right when Enrique gets home at 3:30.
- 3:30 – 4:00pm – I take a break from work to nurse Lila and snuggle a little bit.
- 4:00 – 5:00pm – Lila has some tummy time with big brother while I work (we’re all in my room), plays and babbles while I’m in a meeting, and then starts acting tired at about 3:30. I step away from my laptop for about 10 minutes to go through our nap routine, and then lay her down at 4:40. I finish up my day at work at 5 while Lila naps.
- 5: 00 – 5:30pm – I know Lila is probably going to nap until around 5:30 (and I’m right), so I come downstairs to get a snack, unload the dishwasher, and put some laundry away. Lila wakes up right at 5:30 on the dot.
- 5:30 – 6pm – I change a diaper and play with Lila for about 20 minutes until it’s time for our bedtime routine. Henry gets home a few minutes before we get started. We had placed a Shipt order for dinner groceries, but the shopper is running late, and Henry and I decide that it’s going to be too difficult to get dinner cooked after the groceries are expected to get to the house, so he leaves to pick up Whataburger for dinner. Not the healthiest option, but we all gotta eat.
- 6 – 7pm – We do Lila’s bedtime routine. I give her a bath while Henry gets back and eats dinner with Enrique. Once bath time is over, I put a diaper on her, rub her down with a little lotion, and then nurse her one more time. Henry comes upstairs to chat with Lila for a few minutes before she gets a bedtime book, and then she gets into her sleep sack, I turn on the white noise, bounce her a few minutes, and then she’s in bed for the night.
- 7 – 9pm – I finally take a shower (been in my clothes since CrossFit, yes it’s gross), eat dinner, and help Henry clean up the kitchen. Henry gets Enrique in bed at about 8pm.
- 9 – 10:30pm – I pump for about 40 minutes at night. Henry uses what I pump the next day for Lila’s dream feed. Henry warms up a bottle and feeds Lila at about 9:30 while I’m pumping. He comes downstairs while I’m finishing up, and setting up my stuff for tomorrow morning. I always get my bottles and pump ready at night so I can pump before Lila gets up. We’re both in bed by about 10:30.
A few things that are notable about our “schedule.” Lila is the process of dropping a nap, so her nap schedule has been variable. Her first nap of the day is always solid, and we usually have to wake her up at the two hour mark. The second and third naps are not as set. Some days, she takes two 90 minute naps in the afternoon, and stays awake about 90 minutes in between them. To get her to bedtime, she might take a 10 minute nap on one of us, or in the swing. Other days, her afternoon naps are only an hour long and she needs a longer nap in the early evening. Those days, she’ll take about a 45-60 minute nap around 4:30.
I’m really thankful that our nanny has worked out so well so far. She’s been able to help me keep my pump parts and bottles washed, and helps out with Lila’s laundry during naps. This is only about 10% of the overall household work, but having help with those things really helps us stay on top of everything else. It’s also allowed me to catch our noon CrossFit classes even when Henry’s working, and when he’s not, he gets to workout with me. She’s able to play more actively with Lila while I’m working than what I would be able to. And on days that Henry can’t pick up Enrique, she takes care of that while Lila is napping. She’s only with us for 4 hours 4 times a week, but those 16 hours are the ONLY way that all of the things work.
I’m also super thankful that for the most part, I’ve been able to keep nursing Lila during the day. I always pump in the morning before I run, and at night for her last bottle, but outside of that it’s fairly unusual for the nanny or Henry to have to give her a bottle and for me to need to pump. It’s not the worst thing in the world when I do need to pump, but it’s more bottles and time than nursing, so being able to nurse during the day has been really nice for me.
The rest of the week wasn’t particularly exciting. Sunday, we spent most of the day cleaning. It’s so hard keeping up with just the kitchen and laundry that doing other things like vacuuming, cleaning the bathrooms, and dusting don’t happen until the weekend. It’s not how I enjoy spending my rest day, but it’s the only way it gets done with two working parents, two kids, and all the things! Monday through Friday, I got my runs in on the treadmill before Lila woke up and my CrossFit workouts during my lunch break while Lila is with the nanny.
Saturday, we had a cold front blow in, with wind that was about 30 miles per hour. Once I’m stronger and more confident in my running, I’ll get back to running in whatever weather conditions are happening. But for now, I decided that I’d rather take a rest day Saturday, and move my long run to Sunday. I spent most of the day Saturday cleaning and catching up on laundry while Lila napped. Not the most exciting weekend I’ve ever had, but it was fairly productive.
This Weeks Workouts
Total Miles: 13.45 Miles
Total Workouts: 4
How the Run Felt
All of my runs this week were on the treadmill because of the lack of daylight hours. I have to say that my first run of the week felt so good, and I was surprised since I haven’t done very many non-interval runs on the treadmill or during my weekday runs. It’s been really nice to see that I’m covering more mileage in the one I have before Lila wakes up, and as much as I miss running outside more consistently, I’m super thankful I’ve found a way to make our schedule work for all of us.
How the WODs Felt
Just like I’m starting to see my endurance return in my running, I’m definitely seeing it in my CrossFit workouts too. And this week I noticed that at times I was actually able to kick myself into a more intense gear than what I’ve been able to in the past. Especially with Thursdays workout, because every round had more reps than the previous. It feels amazing to really push again. I feel like my deadlift form just sucks right now, because I spent so many months having to do a really wide sumo stance to accommodate my belly, and my body is still figuring out how to pull from the floor again.
What I’ve Been Listening To
I did not listen to a single podcast this week because all of my runs were on the treadmill and I just can’t bring myself to listen to something without having a screen to look at during treadmill runs. I did binge watch all of the second season of Cheer on the treadmill, which I’m a little embarrassed to admit, haha.
What Went Well
Surviving my first full week back at work.
What Went Shitty
Moving my long run to Sunday because of wind kinda made me feel like a wimp.
Plans to Improve Next Week
Work on continuing to push myself harder during workouts.