So. Incredibly. Exhausted....

First day back at work.

...that's how I've felt this week. Going back to work was surprisingly less stressful, emotionally anyway, than I predicted. I'm attributing this to the fact that Lucy is taken care of Monday-Wednesday by an awesome nanny and Thursday-Friday by daddy. On my first day back, I returned home to find my nanny laying on the couch with Lucy on her chest. And Lucy was sound asleep. And looked comfy. And I felt so much better about the situation. Of course, returning home for lunch every day helps, too. I get to relax, nurse Lucy, and reconnect with her for awhile. It also means that she gets, at most, two bottles a day. Most days it's more like one. I'm still pumping twice a day at work, though, to help maintain my supply. What to do with all the extra? I'm donating to a breast milk bank in N.C. But more on that later- I'll dedicate a whole post to this topic.

So why am I so exhausted? Let's see. Most days I get up around 5:30 am. It's worth getting up a little earlier than I technically have to to get to lay in bed with Lucy for a while, snuggle with her, and nurse her before I get up. Usually she falls right back asleep after I nurse her, and that means I can take my time getting a shower, my coffee, etc. The nanny gets here around 7 and I head to work. I work all morning, stopping once to pump, then drive home at lunch. It's about a half-hour drive each way. After lunch, I return to work, pump once in the afternoon, and go work out. I have been trying to get back into my normal running routine, but have been having some major knee issues. Again, another post for another day.

I get home around 4:30-5, and if it's Monday-Wednesday, I have Lucy to myself for the rest of the night. Add in taking care of her, looking after the dogs, keeping the house looking presentable, feeding myself, and getting everything ready for the next day (washing diapers, freezing milk, getting bottles ready, making wipe solution, etc.) and I am getting tired just writing about it. Also, Lucy is nursing at least once, normally twice each night, so I'm still not getting that much sleep, although co-sleeping is definitely a huge help. Finally, I was supposed to have finished my Master's class two weeks ago, but I lost my research paper in the Great Hard-drive Crash of 2009, so I had to ask for an extension on that, and I'm STILL not finished. Bah.

I'm going to take Jenny's advice and map out some upcoming blog posts to keep myself on track:

1. Lucy update

2. Donating my breast milk

3. Running post-baby

PS- I'm super-behind on writing thank-you notes, but that's a project I've been working on this weekend. So if I haven't gotten back to you, I apologize. I am normally a stellar note-writer, but I've been pretty sucky about it lately.