A Day in the Life

Many of you have told me that my "day in the life" blog posts are your favorite. It has been nearly four years since I wrote a day in the life post, so I decided it was time to do a new one. What follows isn't a "bad day" or a "good day." On a bad day I would primarily be confined to bed. On a good day you would be surprised at how much I can do. But on an average day, this is what life is like right now. 

Life is about to change a lot in March when we welcome our new baby. I am hoping I can write another "day in the life" post sometime in the year after Stafford is here. Daily life will be quite different for me then!

A Day in the Life

Monday, December 11, 2017

6:30 am - Will is getting the children up and ready for school. I am very sleepy, but wide awake. I am also hungry, so I eat the fruit that is sitting next to my bed for breakfast.

7:00 - I am not able to fall back asleep, so I read for a while.

9:40 - I feel best when I can sleep until 10:00 or 11:00 in the morning, but today sleep isn’t coming. I decide to get up and get the coffee that is waiting for me in the bathroom. Will always puts the coffee pot and my coffee cup on the bathroom counter for me before he goes to work so that I don’t have to walk all the way out to the kitchen to get it.

I go back to bed with my coffee, put my laptop on the bed, and turn it on. I check email and catch up on blog reading. I take my morning medications and vitamins, eat the rest of my breakfast, and drink my coffee. Now that I am awake enough, I also have my morning devotion and Bible reading time.

10:30 - I'm too sleepy to do anything anymore. I put my head under the pillow and pray until I fall asleep.

11:30 - I begin to wake up after sleeping for almost an hour, but then I keep falling back asleep.

12:20 pm - I open the curtain and try to convince my body to wake up. Will is going to be home for lunch anytime now, and I have things I need to do this afternoon. I need my brain and body to wake up!

12:25 - Will comes home for his lunch break. We talk for a few minutes, and then he heads out to the kitchen to make lunch. When lunch is ready, he brings it into the bedroom where I am still resting. I eat while lying down in bed, and Will sits on the bed and joins me for lunch.

1:25 - Will goes back to work. I open up my laptop and work on finishing a guest post while trying to ignore the migraine aura in the center of my vision.

1:50 - I put aside the guest post for now. I want to wait another hour and then read it again to see if it needs any final edits. The migraine aura is fading, and I am getting a headache now. I decide to take some Tylenol (since it is all I'm allowed during pregnancy) and hope this will remain a mild migraine.

I only have an hour and a half before the kids get home from school. I need to get some paperwork done while the house is still quiet. I get up and get dressed for the day. I struggle to put my compression garments on. The compression helps to prevent my blood from pooling while sitting and standing. They are very helpful for me, but putting them on is exhausting! By the time I have tugged everything on, my heart is racing, and I am breathing hard.

I take some midodrine to keep my blood pressure up while I am out of bed. I put my laptop, planner, and water bottle on Cordell, and head out to the office. On the way to the office I put my breakfast dishes in the dishwasher. I turn on some music.

2:20 - I realize that I never took Tylenol, so I take it now. I make some black tea and open packages that were delivered. 

2:35 - Music is too much for me today, so I turn it off. I should have known not to turn on music while also dealing with a mild migraine. I settle in to my office recliner and desk.

I’m still struggling to finish my blog post, so instead I write an email to my editor to ask for an extension on my guest post deadline. (Later I receive a very kind reply, and my deadline is graciously extended.)

My body is so tired. I briefly wonder how all of this is going to work in 3 months with a baby. I decide I shouldn't worry about that, and I focus on today's tasks without borrowing trouble from tomorrow.

2:50 - I try on my new ACE knee brace. Pregnancy and Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome don't always mix well, so my joints have been looser and more painful than is normal for me. I pull the brace on my sore knee and lie back down in my recliner to rest until the kids come home.

3:25 - William and Adelaide come home from school. We talk and get some snacks. Then we get ready for friends to come over and visit.

3:40 - I look at my planner and realize that I didn't make the phone call I needed to make. I push it off until tomorrow. I have yet to cross anything off of my To Do list for the day, a fact I find a little discouraging.

3:45 - I look at Adelaide's take home folder, and I help her with some homework. The only homework she has today is reading, and I am thankful for that. My brain is not up for math today, even 2nd grade math.

3:55 - Friends come over. I lie down on the sofa and visit with my friend while our daughters go off to play.

5:00 - We say goodbye to our friends. Adelaide and I finish up the reading homework.

5:15 - Will comes home. We share a hug, and we talk about our days. I tell him that I didn’t accomplish anything on my To Do list today. He reminds me that I had a friend over to visit, and that is accomplishing something. I’m so thankful for his encouragement, kindness, and understanding.

I get some fruit for my breakfast tomorrow morning, and I put it by my bed. I help Adelaide set out clothes for school tomorrow. Then I shower and get ready for bed.

6:20 - I turn on my white noise machine to drown out the conversation and other noises in the house, and I lie down in bed. I call Will to let him know I am in bed and ready for supper.

6:30 - Will brings supper to me. I eat, take my supper vitamins and supplements, rest, and watch a television show.

6:40 - I pause the show to grab my crocheting bag. I have to get out of bed to reach it. As I stand I notice that my legs are especially weak and worn out, but I'm able to get my bag and get safely back into bed. I'm hoping for enough strength in my arms to do some work on a baby blanket for Stafford.

7:20 - I take a break from crochet and the tv show. I post a couple of pictures on Instagram. William comes in to tell me good night, and we talk.

7:35 - William leaves, and Adelaide comes in to talk for a bit.

7:40 - I go back to my show and crocheting.

7:50 - I pause my show again as Adelaide comes back in to say good night. Then I text a friend and Vox two other friends.

Will puts the children to bed. Then he does law school homework.

8:15 - I go to the kitchen for a few minutes to make some rooibus tea and get a snack. Hopefully this will keep me from waking up hungry at 6:30 tomorrow morning like I did today!

I text and Vox some more with friends. Technology is so helpful! I am grateful for a phone and the ability to keep in touch with friends from far away.

8:45 - I go back to crocheting and watching tv. I stop crocheting every few minutes to rest my arms.

10:00 - I check my email, read a couple of blog posts, do some Amazon shopping, and then shut down my laptop.

10:15 - Will is done with law school homework for tonight. We talk a little and get ready for bed. Will fills up my water bottles and gets an ice pack for my feet for the night.

10:50 - We pray together and say good night. Will can fall asleep right away, but it takes me a while. I take my night time medications and then scroll through Facebook and Instagram on my phone for a few minutes. I pull out the book Happiness by Randy Alcorn and read for a while.

12:00 am - Happiness is too interesting, and it is keeping me awake! I put it away and pull out an audio book instead. I soon fall asleep.