In preparation for my return to work this Thursday, today was Laurel’s first day of daycare. I dropped her off, came back home and the tears began.
I have been mentally preparing for this day for a few weeks and I was fine while getting her ready and even dropping her off. However, I returned home before heading off to an appointment and that’s when it hit me that something was missing. It’s been almost a year (if you count the pregnancy), that I have been home by myself. I went to Laurel’s room to tidy things up and there was no precious baby sleeping in the crib. I have not been away from her longer than a couple hours since her birth, so to be away from her for the 7 hours she was at daycare was very strange. I didn’t really know what to do. On one hand, I enjoyed not having to multitask while holding a baby, or reach back in the backseat to calm her down while driving, but I couldn’t help but be consumed with thoughts on how she was doing… what was her mood? What was she doing? How was she eating and sleeping? I called mid-day to check in on her and they assured me she was fine.
When William and I picked her up at 4pm, she seemed content. When the teacher handed her to William, she immediately began to fall asleep in his arms, as so to say…”I had an exhausting day.” It was actually pretty cute. She was sleep before we even left the daycare. After reading her daily activity sheet, I saw why. She did not get much sleep… at all. She probably slept a combined hour the entire time she was there compared to the 5 or so hours she would have slept here at home. My sister assured me that my nephew did the same thing on his first day away from home and reminded me that they are overwhelmed by the new environment and all the new sights, smells, noises, etc. That makes complete sense, so I now realize it will take her a while to adjust to her new environment.
She is making up for the sleep now. When we arrived home, she awoke briefly to “talk ” to daddy about her day (she actually had quite a bit to say 🙂 She was cooing and making noises at him for several minutes, but fortunately seemed to be in a good mood. After a quick nursing session, she was out like a light and has been sleeping ever since. I let her sleep on me for a while (trying to get my bonding in), but now she is next to me in her bassinet while I type this post and perhaps make dinner. I will likely transfer her to the crib soon. It will be interesting to see how long she sleeps tonight. I heard many babies start sleeping through the night when they start daycare and I can see why.
It is hard to believe how fast 11 weeks went by! I am sad to return to work and not be able to spend my days with her, but we will try to fit in plenty of bonding on evenings and weekends (and upcoming holidays!!). On one hand, being with a newborn all day.. everyday.. can be quite exhausting, but now that I won’t be able to do that, I am going to miss our day times together.
Well… time to get bottles ready for tomorrow.
Below is a photo of Laurel I took on my phone before leaving for daycare. Not the best photo with her slumped on the couch, but I was trying to take it quickly before leaving. I decided to dress her up a bit for her first day 🙂
We had a hard time letting Elle go to daycare, too! Its perfectly natural. I did notice that her being at school did help her adjust to sleeping through the night better. I can’t believe she is growing up so fast!