Friday, May 16, 2014

Enjoy it while you can

When I talk about how much I sleep, it seems like everyone tells me to enjoy it while I can. Lately this "enjoy it while you can" advice has been applied to other things too, like reading, or eating uninterrupted, or going on a date. It's getting to the point where I feel like my life will end after I give birth. Can I go out to lunch? Can I go for a hike? Can I be counted on to perform simple tasks? No, nope, there is no way to have a newborn and do anything else. 

Intellectually, I know that new mothers don't magically disappear. I know because I have seen them post to Facebook and sometimes I see them walking around. There is some sort of life after birth, but from what I hear it doesn't include any sleeping, watching TV, reading, or cooking. My life will be at the mercy of a capricious baby, whose demands will compete with my own and I will be lucky to survive it. 

But at the same time I think that I will have some time to myself. If newborns really do sleep 18 hours every 24 hours, even if I "sleep" for 12 of those hours I still have 6 hours to do other things with (even a large amount of mess and laundry does not take 6 hours to take care of). Maybe I'll be too exhausted to do chores, but then I can at least watch TV, right? Anyway, I am enjoying my life while I can, and I hope I can enjoy it with my daughter in a few weeks too.