Daily Routine as a Pregnant Preschool Mom with CF

Our lives are a little crazy at the moment as I try to balance my CF, caring for our preschool son, and a new baby on the way! (Not to mention working, housework, relationships, and my own mental health as well!) Even though our routine can vary a little bit from day-to-day, it generally follows this chaotic and crazy “flow”.

Our goals are pretty simple: take extra care of my health and growing baby, make sure my son’s needs are met and he’s thriving, spend time as a family, and keep the house livable.

Our CF daily flow

Our day begins:

...after a few hours tossing and turning, bathroom trips, toddler nighttime water breaks….

3:00 AM: Undoubtedly, my Continuous Glucose Monitor will start alarming me to a low blood sugar that I need to get up and treat with a juice box.

3:15 AM: Time to use the bathroom again!

7:00 AM: Everyone in our household gets up around this time, or a little earlier. Everyone is tired and cranky. So we start coffee, our 3-year-old son gets a snack of yogurt bites and dried cereal, and we cozy up in bed to watch cartoons. My husband starts working in the home office, as he's been working from home since the start of the pandemic. I start my breathing treatments and airway clearance while drinking coffee which includes:

• Albuterol
• Sodium chloride
• Pulmozyme
• Cromolyn
• Inhaled antibiotic
• 30 minutes on Vest

8:30 AM: Breakfast time for all! We make breakfast downstairs and usually enjoy it on the sunporch. This is when I take my morning pills, enzymes, and insulin. Our son LOVES to help me inject insulin or dispense pills as my special helper.

10:00 AM: After what seems like hours of coaxing to get us ready, this is when we set off to do something “fun” - a visit to the library, playground, errands, or visit friends and family. We spend a lot of time outside or at the playground in an effort to reduce germs. Since being pregnant, I have caught every cold possible and our guards are up against germs in order for me to stay healthy during pregnancy.

Afternoon break

12:00 PM: It’s lunchtime! Time to take enzymes and insulin again. The nice thing about my husband working from home is that we can eat lunch as a family some days. Our meals have been simple lately, easy to make, and high in calories to support the growing baby and help me gain weight.

2:00 PM: Quiet time is the best time! Everyday we do an hour of quiet time where I rest or do an extra round of treatments, make pharmacy/insurance calls, work on my computer, or do anything that needs to get done around the house. Our son will either play in his room independently or have screen time with the IPad in his room. This is a must-have break in our day for me as a pregnant mama with CF.

4:00 PM: Play, clean, laundry, play, clean, laundry... Prepare for dinner or order out if we feel run down from the day. I really like ordering from meal subscriptions like HelloFresh for some dinners so that ingredients and instructions are ready to go and all that’s left is the preparation.

We made it to the evening

6:30 PM: After dinner, we try to spend time as a family either going for a walk/bike ride for some exercise, hitting the local playground, or getting ice cream as a treat. We love being outside in the evenings as a family in the summer.

8:00 PM: My husband takes over the bedtime routine every evening - bath, PJs, brush teeth, and books before tucking our son in. While they do bedtime, I make a cup of tea and settle in to do my third round of airway clearance for the day, take my final handful of pills, work on my computer, and relax.

9:00 PM: Bedtime for me! We go to bed pretty early in this house. Mostly, we are tired from working, parenting, and pregnancy. Sleep has been a priority for me in this season of life since I know in a few short months, I won’t be getting much!

Obviously, a lot of the details and nuisances have been left out, but that’s a wrap on a typical busy day in our household. What does your routine look like in your season of life with CF? Share with us below!