Day Care - Day 1

Well, we made it.  I returned to work and EH spent his first full day at day care.  We both survived and although I think I'll always be just a little bit sad about leaving him, I'm not as nervous as I was about it before.

Drop off was uneventful.  I was hoping he'd fall asleep in the car ride on the way there, but he didn't.  He was probably so confused as to why mommy woke him up so early and then shoved him in the car.

He was the third baby there, and the other two babies were still asleep in their car seats.  The room was eerily quiet, considering that every other time I had been there there were kids playing and yelling and crying. 

I put him in a swing, one of the ones that goes side to side, and he seems to enjoy that.  (Of course the swing we bought him doesn't do that.  Oh well.)  I got him settled, we made eye contact and told him that I loved him.  Then I said goodbye and left.  I didn't cry, although I had a lump in my throat that I couldn't swallow and a sick feeling in my stomach.  But when I got to work and one of my co-workers gave me a hug and asked me how things went this morning I broke down and the tears flowed.  Oh well, it was bound to happen.

I called the day care around 2 p.m. to check on him and they said that he was doing great.  I'm not sure whether or not they would really tell me if he was crying all day or not, so I'll just have to believe that he was great. 

DH picked him up around 4:15.  EH was just finishing a bottle.  He picked up his daily report card and packed up the baby.  According to the card, EH took 4 naps during the day, one for an hour and a half and the rest for about 45 minutes.  Not nearly as much napping as he was getting when he was at home with me, but way more than I expected him to get this first day, so I'm happy with that.  It seems like they're putting him down for naps right after bottles, which is the opposite of the feed/wake/sleep schedule that we were trying to get him on here, but honestly if that gets him to take naps then I'm not going to complain.  A well rested happy baby is way more important than a baby on a strict schedule. 

When DH got home he took EH for a walk, and EH took another short nap during that time.  It was nice because when I got home, they were sitting at the top of the stairs waiting for me, and EH was awake and smiling.  It made me smile.  I got home earlier than I normally will - around 5:25 - and so I got to spend some nice time with him and cooked dinner while he was still awake.  Of course, by 6:10 p.m. he was fussing and ready for his nighttime bottle, so I fed him and he was in bed by 6:45, but at least I got to spend a little quality time with him.  

After he was in bed DH did dishes and I made bottles, got our lunches ready for tomorrow, and made sure that my clothes and EH's clothes were ready to go.  And now all of a sudden the night is already over.  I feel like I had almost no time at home this evening (and I even got home early!) and I suppose this is how it's always going to go from now on.  Some nights if I get stuck in traffic I may not even get to see him at all, especially if he's ready for bed by 6:10 again. 

But I just have to remember that he's still going to love me even if he doesn't seem me for one night.  We'll still get our snuggle time in the morning and in the middle of the night.  And it will just mean that I'll have to make the most of our time together on the weekends.  Being a working mom isn't going to be easy, but now at least I'm pretty sure we can get through it.