i have been meaning to write about the delivery, which is already halfway done and saved as draft for more than a month now. fact is, it's not that i don't have the time to update but the net has been wonky for the past few weeks and now that Fadz has rectify it, i'm busy downloading tv series and when Ayden's asleep, i rather be watching them or catch up on my sleep. face it, sleep and tv is more important and i can blog in the office when i'm not busy so i may look like i am actually doing something. perks of being a writer at work. people don't question when you're busy typing and looking dead focused.
anyway, before my routine changes, i decided to diary it up. honestly, i can't remember what my early days with Arwen was like so it helps to have this documented for i might use it against the kids when they grow up.
wait, i don't even know where to start. i mean at what time does my day actually start? after a long sleep? because i no longer have long sleeps. the most sleep i have so far is 3 hours and they're not easy to come by. Ayden's on a growth spurt right now and he's cluster feeding. it could be every 2-3 hours, sometimes it's every hour or so. sometimes, an hour of much needed sleep feels like i've slept for 7 hours.
6.00 AM
Arwen will be up. because her Oma is up for Subuh prayers and since she now sleeps with her Oma, she's aware that she's alone and that bothers her so she will wake up and come into our room for her milk and some cartoon network. sometimes, she'll wake up as early as 5.30 am. yup, she's much like her dad, an early riser. even during weekends and public holidays when they are supposed to be an OH GOD PLEASE LET ME SLEEP IN days. usually, on weekdays, Ayis will be up too, getting ready for work. and usually, he'll make Arwen her milk and wash and sterilize the bottles used the hours before. ayden, on the other hand, may or may not still be sleeping around this time, and that goes the same, in my case.
7.30 AM
my mom will get Arwen ready for school. if i'm still sleeping, her noise and ruckus will stir my sleep but i will not wake up until ayden's awake. if ayden's awake, i'd either be feeding him, or changing him, or cuddling him to sleep.
8.30 AM
My mom will send Arwen to school via the school bus. i know, school's almost ending and Arwen still wants my mom to follow her on the school bus. after that, my mom will walk back home. on her way back, she'll stop by the sidewalk gerai-gerai to get us breakfast, and maybe lunch. if not, she'll come home to make and bring me some toasts, hot chocolate, yogurt and fruits. sebab masa pantang kan, tak boleh main turun naik tangga so my mom will bring me the food into my room. bangun-bangun je ada food on the table. manja gila, ek? dah habis pantang baru I turun bawah and make myself some coffee or cereal. tapi kadang, my mom will still bring up breakfast for me. dah tua-tua ni kena dimanjakan mak best kan? thank you for taking care of me, mama.
9.00-11.00 AM
Ayden will be awake and i'll get up to feed or change him. sometimes i have to fully change him into another set of clothes coz he'll leak. and when i change him, it means that the socks will have to match whatever onesie he's wearing, even if we only staying at home and nobody cares. 'change' would entitle the whole attire from top to toe. i'm OCD that way. but Ayden hates to be changed and he'll make it known. LOUDLY. it doesn't even matter if it's at 3 AM or 3 PM. he'll scream. i don't blame the little guy, really. we gave him a name that means "little fire" and that's exactly what we got. i'll be fully awake around this time. like, actually up and about. like brushing my teeth and washing my face and making the bed and cleaning the room and washing bottles and such. if Ayden's up, my mom will bathe him and while she feeds him, i'll take my shower. if my mom's busy, i'll take him out of the room and bring him downstairs for some change of scenery. if not, i'll watch some TV while i wait for him to wake up.
ayden bathes only once a day. for some reasons, my mom says that boys can't be sejuk-sejuk too much so once a day is enough. if he's not fully awake, like more than half an hour, he'll bathe in the morning. if not it'll be in the evening. he hates to be naked anyway, so it works.
12.30-2.00 PM
Arwen arrives home from school and after a quick shower, we'll have lunch. and then she'll watch more cartoon network while i or mom attend to Ayden's fussy needs. he wants to stay up but he doesnt know what else to do so he'll cry and we'll feed him and he'll cry some more and we'll burp him and he'll puke and that's how the story goes. he doesn't really have a set routine so we have to play it by ear (or smell). if he sleeps, we do our own thing. sometimes i'll take this time to pay a little bit more to my now attention-deprived daughter and draw or write or spell or do maths or read with her. if not, she'll watch some TV, play with my phone or iPad, draw and colour stuff or get her toys and play by herself.
2.00-6.00 PM
i have no idea what goes on around this time. once every two days i'll do a bit of Ayden's laundry. yeah, he's small but he goes through a lot more towels and onesies than his sis. i do Arwen's laundry every 2 weeks because she has a lot of clothes. if i do it once a week, i'll have no place in her cupboards to put her clothes away. so my logic is, half in the cupboards, half in the laundry basket, at all times. well, except for her school uniforms that i hand wash every weekend. other than laundry, i'll either attempt to entertain the baby, who now prefers to stay up for 2-3 hours. he'll 'watch' some cartoons with his sister, or watch me watch him, or he'll cry inconsolably until he's too tired to go on and get some sleep. i sometimes, if i'm too tired, will sleep with him. ever since i've been at home, Arwen no longer takes her afternoon nap so we'll watch some cartoons together.
6.00 PM-9.00 PM
the husband gets home from work, bringing home some dinner for the family. Ayden's usually sleeping around this time so i'll either be doing some cleaning up like washing more bottles or eat dinner while the baby's still asleep. or i'll watch some TV. i mean after half day of cartoons, i need to watch some actual TV. if there's nothing to watch on Astro, i'll catch up on the stuff i've downloaded. Ayis would rather watch his fishes so for now, he's not really bothered with the TV unless Chelsea has a game on. oh yeah, Ayis has a new hobby now, salt water aquarium. it's annoying when he pays more attention to the tank than to his one crying and the other whining kid but i honestly, i rather have him do this than his previous past time when we just had Arwen dulu. it's like he takes up a new thing every time i give birth. during Arwen's time, he was into paintball which is more annoying than anything else he's taken up since i've known him. i dont really mind the hot toys collection which are now collecting dusts. those are all ok compared to paintball which had him away for an entire day and when he came back, he'll be too tired to help me out with the baby. that phase, almost made me meroyan. sometimes, after dinner, i'll watch my TV series, take a short nap to anticipate his scheduled 11PM fuss.
Arwen will already be sleeping around 8 PM and she'll stay asleep until 6 AM so i get a little relieve from one noise and just attend to the baby. all is good.
10.00 PM - 1.30 AM
for someone who doesnt follow a routine, Ayden gets up within this time to fuss and fume and fret like nobody's business. every single night, like clockwork. he'll feed and leak and cry and i'll pass him around between mom and me. ayis will already pass out by 9-ish and he doesnt get up even with the incessant wailing. but if i'm at the brink of temporary insanity, i'll wake him up to help put Ayden to sleep. usually he'll rock him to sleep better than the exhausted mom and grandma. in the mean time, i'll prepare his stuff such as diapers, change of clothes, towels, diaper cream and minyak yuyi, wet tissue and water with cotton balls next to the bed so i don't have to get out of bed and get those stuff. i'd also prepare his bottles with water and replace each one into to bottle warmer after each feeding and fill his milk dispenser to minimize and strategize my time to avoid unnecessary wailing.
1.30 AM - 6.00 AM
even if he finally sleeps, i can't because i have to let him sleep on me for at least an hour before i put him on his mat, turn him over on his tummy. he sleeps next to me in bed for the time being because he'll be awake every 2-3 hours. well, now it's 3-4 hours. so it's easier for us to be in bed together so i don't really have to get up and get stuff to change him in case he's wet or dirty. the husband sacrifices his back to sleep on the floor for the time being until Ayden sleeps the entire night. he'll usually wake up at least once within this time for a feed. and he'll go back to sleep right after or mid-feed. since i'm already doing formula feeding with him, it only takes half and hour or so. when i was breastfeeding, i'll burp him and put him back on his tummy. initially i had to wake up every hour coz he was leaking and soaked his clothes right down to his sleeping mat. but i learnt to 'park' his thingy downwards and hence, less leaks and less time and stress of changing him.
so there. that's my routine like for the past 50 days. it's been quite manageable with Ayden, maybe because i already know what to expect and i know how to handle a new baby (sorta) now. maybe i have much more help with my mom, ayis and my brother and even Arwen has shown how helpful and dependable she can be in helping around with the baby. i mean, if Ayden's need changing, she'll ask if he's pooped or peed and she'll help take whatever's needed to change her baby brother, without being asked to. she'll even help wipe Ayden's puke or drool and watch adik if i need to go to the toilet or get a drink or something.
i'll update on Ayden's delivery story once i get back to work. maybe i'll throw in a new newsletter while i'm at it. who knows. till then ...
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