Friday, May 4, 2007

A scheduled sort of life….

I have determined that I am very fond of scheduling my days. How did I reach this epiphany of sorts? Well, it all started when DV was a very small baby (and by very small I mean VERY SMALL he was 2 lbs 4.5 oz when he was born and about 5 lbs when he came home.

Since DV was born 3 months prematurely he was quite developmentally delayed and totally sensory reactive. Meaning, he acted like a newborn for a LONG time and he was totally sensitive to any sensory stimuli- light, sound, touch, etc. This translated into a baby who didn’t sleep during the day except in small spurts while being held and if we were very lucky slept 3 hours in a split interval in his bassinet at night. Mostly he slept badly on my or IV’s chest in the recliner.

Because of his sensitivity and the fact that he spent 9 weeks in the NICU he has always loved a predictable schedule. And, I have always been a fan of a bit of scheduling myself- although not as rigidly as he required. So, we had a really tight schedule until he was about 10 months old.

DV started crawling when he was 10 months old so I tried to relax the schedule- but because of his sensory sensitivity crawling was really hard on him and he had to go back to occupational therapy and a strict schedule.

DV is now pretty much caught up developmentally (he doesn’t have any 25% delays anyway so he’s no longer in Early Intervention) and he’s ahead in his language development. We still pretty much stick to our schedule, though. He just seems happy with it and now that I am used to the scheduling it’s easier for me too.

Of course, some days the schedule just goes out the window. And who is that hardest for? Me!

Yesterday was one of those days, DV got up extra early and we went to Lowe’s because IV was home from work in the morning- then we went to the fruit stand- then DV and I arrived LATE (ok, I totally hate being late- if I am it just bugs me) to play at the park with some of our friends. Then DV and I went to the library which should have taken 5 minutes and took more like 45 minutes because the library misplaced the book I had on hold.

So we were very late eating lunch- and DV took his nap late…. And then instead of resting/internet surfing/blogging/sometimes even cleaning I decided I just HAD to go out and run errands since IV was still at home working and could listen for DV. Then we went out for dinner and DV went to bed.

Whoooo! Was I tired last night! I even fell asleep numerous times during Grey’s Anatomy, one of my two favorite shows.

I need my schedule!!!! Waaaaaa!

3 comments:

Jennifer said...

I hear you about schedules. Everything I do is based around Peanut's naptime or mealtime!

One Tired Mom said...

Awe how I miss the days of schedules! Ours flew out the window with me going to school. Hopefully your days will stay a bit more on schedule from now on!

Heather said...

I always had more of a routine than a schedule. It's just part of me but I often wondered if I had been more strict in a schedule if it would have been easier for the Heir, yk? Well, hindsight is 20/20. LOL!

Sounds like a busy day!