Anyway, as soon as the stick said "pregnant", my current foot loose and fancy free lifestyle came to a screeching halt. No more cocktails, late nights or crazy antics. Unless you count Maalox, insomnia and hormones....
I ,being a truly delusional pregnant woman thought that once I had the baby, life would get back to "normal". Bahahaha! I can laugh at this now because its been 14 months and I know that normal is whole different can of worms.
Late Nights-
Before Baby- Out and about until the bar/restaurant/club closed down and kicked you out. Maybe a late night diner experience and then maybe even a late late night at a friends house.
After Baby- You're baby won't go to sleep so you have been up all night in a rocking chair. Or you stay up past 10-10:30 watching True Blood and realize that early morning wake up is coming for you....
Date Night-
Before Baby- Long leisurely evening doing whatever the hell you and your significant other feel like. Usually this is dinner, drinks, in the city or maybe an overnight to AC or OC or where ever. You have no responsibilities, its the weekend and you clocked out at 5 on Friday.
After Baby- Date night revolves around bedtime, location and a babysitter. If you are lucky (like we are) your parents will come to your house for babysitting and that makes it easier. That way you don't have to pack up all the baby stuff, drive somewhere, unload it etc.
Once the babysitter has arrived, get in the car and get where ever as quickly as possible. Get there and promptly both parents make sure their cell phones are turned on and up and placed prominently on the table "just in case". Enjoy dinner and maybe even get a drink....if you have an easy going babysitter. But then get home at a decent hour, relieve said babysitter and go to bed because morning comes quick. I distinctly remember that my 5 year anniversary dinner was at 4:30 so that we could get home before the 8 o'clock bedtime/feeding/disaster...
Sleeping In
Before Baby- I was a sleeping in master. If I was ever in a pageant, sleeping in would be my talent. I was able to block out all noise, light, alarm clocks etc and sleep in until the late hours of the morning on the weekends and right through classes back at SSU. As long as I got where I needed to be or needed to get done, done....sleeping in was a given and all other things worked around it. It was glorious. I now look back on my sleeping in pre-baby lovingly as a special time in my life.
After Baby- hahahaha! sleeping in....what the hell is that?
I get truly excited any day of the week when I wake up after 7 am. I am not in the habit of setting an alarm because I am a stay at home mom and also because I have a built in 32 inch tall 23 lb alarm in the other room who promptly begins waking up around 6:30 everyday.
Now I do have a very considerate husband who lets me sleep in on the weekends. Sounds great....except it does not mean the same thing. Sleeping in now means 8:30am, maybe. It also includes the door being shut, the bathroom fan running and a baby who is not crying or running around shrieking just because. If any of those things are not properly executed, there is no extra sleep.
Naps
Before Baby- Stayed out late last night? Don't have much going on today? Why not take a nap? On the couch or in bed. Doesn't matter. No alarm clocks necessary. Just sleep till you want to. Wake up, feel relaxed.
After Baby- "Naps" are something that only truly happen for babies. Yes they say "nap when your baby naps". Great concept except that is the only time you can get anything done. Like bathe or eat or clean. Yes you can occasionally catch a nap during the day but its more like the continuation of the sleep that you got in 2 hour spurts the night before. Eventually the nap schedule gets more defined and you can nap but by then you're getting a decent amount of sleep and you use this time to execute household chores that are impossible with a mobile 1 year old around. Like vacuuming or unloading the dishwasher. Or you pound coffee to keep up with the whirlwind disaster that is a 1 year old.
All in all, EVERYTHING changes when you have a baby. Normal becomes getting up early, functioning with less sleep, running around trying to keep up with whatever new stage develops overnight and then doing it again the next day. Its exhausting and ever changing and so much cooler than you ever thought possible.
Now I do have a very considerate husband who lets me sleep in on the weekends. Sounds great....except it does not mean the same thing. Sleeping in now means 8:30am, maybe. It also includes the door being shut, the bathroom fan running and a baby who is not crying or running around shrieking just because. If any of those things are not properly executed, there is no extra sleep.
Naps
Before Baby- Stayed out late last night? Don't have much going on today? Why not take a nap? On the couch or in bed. Doesn't matter. No alarm clocks necessary. Just sleep till you want to. Wake up, feel relaxed.
After Baby- "Naps" are something that only truly happen for babies. Yes they say "nap when your baby naps". Great concept except that is the only time you can get anything done. Like bathe or eat or clean. Yes you can occasionally catch a nap during the day but its more like the continuation of the sleep that you got in 2 hour spurts the night before. Eventually the nap schedule gets more defined and you can nap but by then you're getting a decent amount of sleep and you use this time to execute household chores that are impossible with a mobile 1 year old around. Like vacuuming or unloading the dishwasher. Or you pound coffee to keep up with the whirlwind disaster that is a 1 year old.
All in all, EVERYTHING changes when you have a baby. Normal becomes getting up early, functioning with less sleep, running around trying to keep up with whatever new stage develops overnight and then doing it again the next day. Its exhausting and ever changing and so much cooler than you ever thought possible.
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