March in Review

March 1 AJ woke up at 6:00 for once. We nursed. I did a quick lower body lifting workout. It was a work from home day. I took AJ to the KidsCare in the afternoon because he keeps rubbing his ears and occasionally fussing. They didn’t find anything wrong. It was a normal evening routine with a 7:00 bedtime. 

March 2 AJ woke up at 5:10 and fussed until I came and got him at 5:45. This kid. I nursed him and walked on the treadmill. Just a normal workday and normal evening at home. But Matthew had a really good day at work, and he got me theater popcorn! 

March 3 AJ once again woke up at 5:09. He has a new kind of scream to make you think he’s dying. We nursed and played on the bed before a quick treadmill walk. I had breakfast at Gourmandise with some Precision Nutrition coaches. I returned the massive Medela pump to my IBCLC Lois. I also listed our leftover baby formulas for free. 

March 4 I took the baby on a walk. All three of us went to a Thai restaurant for dinner. I have a hankering for mango sticky rice, but the server me it’s not good right now--bummer. I did laundry and cleaning. 

March 5 I kept really busy. I made banana oat muffins for me and AJ. I made a sausage egg casserole for me and Matthew for the week. I made teriyaki chicken for my lunches. Obviously I pumped and watched the baby. 

March 6 AJ slept till 6! We nursed. I had a very brief lifting session. Work was pretty busy. Normal evening routine. 

March 7 up at 5:30. Nursed, walked, worked. Normal evening routine. 

March 8 up at 6:00. Nursed. Walked. Worked at home. Decided that I needed to get out of the house. So I went to Tous les Jours, Sprouts, and Waffle Love. I did all the normal evening and nighttime stuff including the dream feed since Matthew had fallen asleep. 

March 9 nursed. Walked. Busy workday. Normal evening including dream feed because Matthew unexpectedly had to work. 

March 10 I woke up to the baby’s cute cooing sounds—my favorite. AJ began a bit of a nursing strike, refusing the left side. I made some snacks for the baby and worked on Doula requirements. I started the weekend cleaning and got rid of a couple of things in our local buy nothing group  

March 11 the nursing strike continued as he would not nurse at all. I finished the cleaning, did laundry, lifted weights, went on a walk, did a client check in, and read my book for Doula class. 

March 12 was a busy day. I did a lot of meal prep and took the baby grocery shopping. My mom brought us dinner. I caught the last little bit of the Oscars as well.

March 13 I had to wake AJ at 6:30. He didn’t nurse for long. Wondering if our nursing journey is ending. Work was pretty busy. Came home and ate and pumped. Cleaned up AJ’s dinner. Went and picked up free purées from the buy nothing group, and got Culver’s for Matthew and me afterward. Came home and reinstalled the car seat base in my car. Did all the normal stuff: cleanup, put dishes away, wiped down counters and stove, made bottles, washed pump parts, etc. 

March 14 AJ did not really nurse in the morning which made me sad. I ran a few personal errands off the clock, getting blood taken and going to Bank of America. I almost got T-boned by a lady who ran a red light. It upset me most of the day. I picked up Little Caesar after work for pi day. 

March 15 AJ continued his nursing strike. The cat clawed the baby’s face which was terribly traumatic, but as you can see in the photo it did basically nothing to him. I also got worked up because a "mom" who had come to pick up formula from me for free turned around in the same group and tried to sell it. I was fuming. After an emotional couple of days, Matthew sent me to get dinner by myself. I also started to watch Ted Lasso which always helps. 

March 16 AJ only nursed for four minutes. It was just a normal day at work and a normal evening at home. 

March 17 I lifted weights and took the baby on a walk. I did laundry. We went as a family to Chili’s. I made brownies. 

March 18 thankfully the baby decided to nurse a little bit longer. I lifted weights, cleaned, did laundry, and got groceries. Matthew made dinner. We watched Mandalorian. I took photos and posted for AJ’s 11 month birthday. 

March 19 the baby nursed better on this day. I did some meal prep, and tried to make scones for the first time. I got Dutch Bros and went to world market. I finished Wakanda forever. We watched Doctor Who. I took a bath as well. 

March 20 the baby nursed like normal, thankfully. We started the first day of dropping a bottle a week before he turns one. My workday was insanely busy. I went for a quick walk after putting AJ to bed. I made bottles and did the normal evening stuff. 

March 21 I lifted weights and nursed briefly. Work was busy, and I had an interview that went really well. I met with a couple of Relief Society ladies at the church and came home and did all my normal evening stuff. 

March 22 was a hard day. I worked from home and both of AJ’s naps were under 50 minutes. He was extra needy and whiny. Work day ended stressfully, and my milk supply was really low. I’m grateful for an empathetic husband who picked up pizza for me. I made brownies for work and watched Ted Lasso. 

March 23 my allergies started to turn into a little bit of a cough. I had over a week of feeling subpar at this point. This was a good day because I led some discussions for our leadership university cohort. It was a normal evening except that Matthew was working so I did a lot of things on my own. I also got a really awesome job offer! (From my interview on 3/21). 

March 24 I nursed, lifted weights, did AJ’s breakfast and pumped. I started the cleaning. I went to Petco (where I got a betta fish), Smith’s, and Dutch Bros. Matthew dropped the cat off at the vet because his weight has been awful. I finished an audiobook. Matthew ended up working later than expected, so I loaded up the baby to go pick up the cat from the vet. I did all of the normal evening stuff solo again.

March 25 nursed, walked, pumped and did breakfast. I did several loads of laundry. I took AJ with me grocery shopping. I listened to the Evidence Based Birth® podcast for Doula homework today I did client check ins. Matthew worked all day. 

March 26 AJ woke up at 5:30. I slept terribly, not even really because of him. Nursed, walked, did breakfast and pumped. I met Kirsten at the bean yard and left there with tons of snow on the ground. I did some meal prep for the week: egg casserole, teriyaki chicken, steamed apple, and boiled eggs. I also took apart a rotisserie chicken for the week. Matthew ended up having to go back to work again, so I did dinner, clean up, pumping, and bedtime. I watched the fifth element that night. 

The toe point

Family time in bed

March 27 was a hard day. AJ didn’t sleep well, so I got weird small chunks of sleep. Plus my period wrecked me. I was nauseated, emotional, tired, and felt I would pass out in the morning. So I took a few hours of PTO and tried to go back to bed. Work was busy but fine. Normal evening except Matthew did a ton of kitchen clean up before heading to dinner with his brothers. I listened to my audiobook and waited to pump. 

March 28 AJ was up at 4:40 AM. Work was busy. Normal evening at home other than one of Matthew’s tallow jars exploded and cut his hand and made a huge mess. He was super unhappy about it.  

March 29 was a hard night with a 2 AM wake up. I worked at home, which was hard because AJ was not feeling well: red itchy eyes, sneezing, mild cough, runny nose, generally fussy. Matthew made us burgers and fries for dinner, and we watched Doctor Who. It was nice to spend a little time together. 

March 30 the baby had another wakeful night, but went back to sleep on his own. He still felt yucky. We nursed, did a short walk, and it was a busy day at work for me. I gave AJ a bath and put him to bed while Matthew worked. Normal busy evening routine. 

March 31 was a good day. The baby woke up before 6am and took three naps since his first one was not good. His mood was much better. He took a couple of steps on his own which was exciting. After his first nap we went to Dutch Bros and the vet to pick up new food for Max. After his second nap we went to Tous les Jours. Matthew did bedtime so I could take a nap which I did from 6:30 to 8:30.  It was so nice. 

The annual orchid bloom

Books I read in March:

Self-Compassion by Kristin Neff (audiobook)
17 Essential Qualities of a Team Player by John C Maxwell (audiobook)
Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun by Elle Cosimano (audiobook)
Untamed by Glennon Doyle (audiobook) - finished the last 30 min of this on 4/1, counting it for March