I'll tell you what's wrong! Lack of sleep mommy brain is what's wrong! Chris thought it was hilarious. He thoroughly enjoyed informing me that he didn't think the monitor would charge very well in the phone base.I started back to work this last week, on Tuesdays and Fridays (hence the lack of sleep). And it hasn't been nearly as traumatic for me as I thought it would. I hate having to leave the little Bambina, because she's still so little and I feel like she needs me. But two of the three days I've worked so far, she's been home with her dad (to help ease the transition). I think it has been really good for both of them. Chris all of a sudden has a new-found confidence in his ability to soothe her and take care of her. And it's been good bonding time.
It's such a blur the night before and the morning of, setting out clothes and diapers and thawing milk, and getting up extra early so I can nurse her once before I leave. Once I get to work and sit down, I think, "Gees, this work stuff is a piece of cake compared to motherhood!" And once I got back and started working, I remembered how much I enjoy what I do. I still miss Emme all day long and call all the time to have Chris hold the phone up to her so I can hear her breathing and cooing. But when I stay busy, the time goes pretty fast. Then I race home and run through the door so I can pick up Emme and snuggle her. She gets a big smile on her face when I come home, and it's the best feeling ever. It's going to be a blessing for our family for me to work two days a week. I just hope I'm not scarring her for life.
Side note: I've been pumping while I'm at work, which has been going fine. I'm the only female on my floor, so I just go in the bathroom and stand at the sink while I do it (which Chris thinks is weird -- "what if someone walks in!?!"). The only problem is having to wash and dry the parts after I pump every time (which is 3 times a day). It's sucking my life away! I googled and found out that not everyone washes them every time. Some people buy extra pump part sets, and some people toss all the parts in a ziploc and throw it in the fridge at work between sessions (which would definitely gross out all the men in my office -- I'd have to disguise the bag). Anyone here have any experience or suggestions on what you did?
6 comments:
Don't you have a microwave at work? Just rinse them slightly, throw them in the steam clean bag with a little bit of water...put it in the microwave for 2 min and you're done. Dump them out on a towel and they dry fast!!
what kind of pump do you have? i have extra pump parts you can borrow!! they are soo rediculously expressive.
I don't have any advice about the pump but I think you are an incredibly organized and wonderful mom to be to do that.
Katie, I have the Avent Isis IQ Duo. Jules, I haven't tried the steam bags, that's a good idea. The only problem is I work with a bunch of dudes and I'd be embarrassed for them to see pump parts laying out to dry. I think they'd be grossed out! I guess I could try to hide them in my file cabinet or something, lol...
I used the Avent Isis single pump for all of my babies, and I just rinsed the pump off and toweled off as much moisture as I could before storing it for the next pumping session. Probably not the most super duper sterile way to handle it, but it never caused problems. Could you set up a little drying rack under your desk out of sight?
I've always worked a little bit. I had to work 24 hours a week after I had Ethan and that was hard. I cut back to once a week when I got pregnant with Rachel, and now work just twice a month. For the record, it hasn't scarred any of them ;). You just need to find the right groove for your family and just realize that what works now might not in a couple of years, so just be flexible. You're fortunate to have a job that will allow you the freedom to work less - I think that's awesome.
I had the Medela pump in style, and I would just leave all the parts attached to themselves (unhooked from the pump, of course) and just run hot water through the whole things as well as I could and dry it off with paper towels. I'd throw it in a gallon freezer bag and put it all back in my pump bag! I initially disassembled every piece each time I used the pump at work, but quickly found that it ate away a LOT of time! So this way worked better for me. Then I would go home and take every piece apart and scrub it really well with soap and hot water and lay everything out to dry.
The funny thing about my place of work (L&D) is that I work with nearly ALL women, so there are always at least like 5 of them pumping some point in the year. People would just label their milk really well and put them in brown paper bags or grocery bags and stick em in the fridge. My pump actually came with a little lunchbox thing with an ice pack so I just kept the milk in that. (Of course, any lunch box can do this job!).
Good luck! Your little girl is such a cutie and I love all the photos you post!
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