I don’t think I have enough going on in my life.

This week?

We had a 2nd follow-up appointment for Joe’s circumcision, a visit from the midwife, I’ve got a schedule to put together, we’re having a “casual” cocktail hour for 15 of my husband’s colleagues and some of their wives who are here for an international conference that Chris is organizing{what the heck was I thinking when I said yes to that?!}, and my mother-in-law is arriving for a 2 week visit.

I need a drink.  Except I can’t, because Joe never goes long enough between eating for the alcohol to be re-absorbed out of my breast milk.

For the last week, Joe has been nursing pretty much non-stop from 5pm – 9/10pm.  I do nothing but transfer him from one side to the other with burpings and nappy changes in between.  He’s also eating every 1 – 1 1/2 hours during the day.  I don’t know how I’m staying hydrated, because all he does is eat.  He rarely takes a daytime nap that’s longer than 30 minutes, so that whole “sleep when the baby sleeps” thing?  Yeah – that’s ridiculous.  He sleeps for ~ 5 – 6 hours during the night, but I’m usually so keyed up and over-stimulated that it takes me an hour to an hour and a half to fall asleep once I put him down.  He typically fusses at least once between when I fall asleep and when he’s really awake and ready to eat.  When he fusses, I’m almost instantly awake, turning on his sleep sheep {to make white noise} and placing my hand on his tummy {the pressure is soothing and lets him know that we’re there}.  Then, I’m up for about 20 minutes after that just to make sure that he’s really settled back down and not going to cry.

In other words, even though he’s down for 5 – 6 hours, I’m not.

Once he does wake up, he’s up for 2 hours, during which he nurses non-stop with burping and nappy changes in between, and then he sleeps for another 1 1/2 hours, maybe 2 hours if I’m lucky.  At that point, he’s bright-eyed, bushy-tailed, and about to gum through his blanket because he’s so ready to nurse.

I’ve got vacuuming to do, bathrooms to clean, laundry to finish, surfaces to dust, floors to mop, and a party to prepare for.  I have paperwork that needs to be filed, I need to get his passport photos taken, and I need to sign him up with a GP before he reaches 6 weeks.

But the good news?  Joe is happy and content.  He knows that when he needs me, I’m there.  It might mean that I don’t leave the apartment for 3 days in a row.  It might mean that I don’t take a shower or put on any make-up.  It might mean that the floor has crumblies on it and that Chris has to do more housework than he’s ever done in his entire life.  But I’ll take a satisfied baby over a clean house any day of the week.

I just hope that I can straighten up a teensy bit before all of those guests get here…