opps!

I didn't mean to disappear for almost a week, but time just got away from me. But I'm sitting here now, with my organic tomato soup with some goat cheese melted in, slices of mango, and a big Nalgene bottle full of herbal tea... and I thought I would write as I ate.

So, observations from this past week:


Pumping sort of sucks. Its annoying and if I weren't so dedicated to Gwen having breast milk exclusively until 6ish months, and if I didn't love breastfeeding so much, I would have quit already. Honestly, its not horrible... and I think it would even be "okay" if I got myself a hands free pumping bra like this (which I'll probably do soon) and could type like normal. But having to always keep track of time, the annoyance of getting myself set up, holding the bottle in place, and keeping the nursing cover perfectly placed... well, its just a pain. Not to mention, there is always the awkwardness if someone calls or walks into my office when I'm pumping. I'm covered, but the sound is sort of, er, distinct. I don't care if people are around when I do it, I mean, I breastfeed in public! But I feel awkward worrying about others feeling awkward. And this is all occurring between three and four times a day (I try to do it four times at work, three at minimum since some days I'm just too busy to reach four, but four is ideal). The last two days of last week, I only got three in since it was so dang busy, but I think I'm getting four in today.

[As an aside, if anyone else is pumping, I got the Pumpin' Pals Hands-Free Strap and their Super Shields. I LOVE the shields, and recommend them to all! But the strap doesn't work for me with the single pump. I feel like if I had a double, it would work nicely, but its off kilter with only the single. So, if anyone pumps and would like the Strap, drop me a line... I'd be willing to send it to you for the cost of shipping since I'm out the cash anyway.]

As for output, that's been going pretty well. I normally get between 9 - 15oz a day... which may not seem like a whole lot, but the most she's ever taken in one day at daycare was 15oz, and her average is around 12-13ish. (They say a infant her age takes about 25oz total in a day, and I feed her twice in the morning before she leaves, and at least twice in the evening.) So I normally get right around what I need for her, for the next day. If I'm a little low, then they can just grab a bag from the freezer stash. And I often pump between 3.5 - 5oz in the morning, AFTER I do a full feeding with her, sometimes even a little over 5oz... especially if she sleeps completely through the night and I'm all engorged. So I can either send that in with her if I had a low day the day before, or freeze it to keep the freeze stash up.

Anyway, I am going to keep pushing through, and I think as I get adjusted it will go easier... but just had to report the frustrations!

Mondays also suck. I think Mondays are always going to be a little harder for me. I mean they always were anyway, but now I've just had two days with my beautiful baby and have to leave her again. I get a little teary watching her and Trav drive away. But overall, its been going fine being back.

Apartment fires are crazy! Friday night I got a call from Ro, asking if her and GG could spend the night at our place. Turns out, the building behind theirs in their apartment complex was on fire. Flames licking the roof, on fire. So everyone in both buildings had been evacuated. Also, she hoped I could come get them since one of the fire hoses had been unrolled right behind their vehicles, blocking them in!! So I shot over there to grab the two of them (Pat was sticking around to see how things unfolded and make sure that everything was kosher with their place... it was, no damage to their building at all.). It made for a long tiring night, but I was happy to help them out. I know if the rolls were reversed that Ro would have done the same for me. Plus I hated to think about how she felt, having to drag GG out of the house after she was already asleep, and just stand in a parking lot with her for hours.

I'm dying to meet my nephew! He's such a cutie, and I'm so excited that Gwen has a cousin so close in age. I'm close with a few of my cousins, and I hope that she can have that kind of relationship with Wyatt.

A few pictures that make me happy and melty:

I'm so happy for them.

My husband is in his 30s!! :-) We had a great weekend celebrating Trav's birthday. He had an awesome time at the game last Monday, and after our little BBQ get together on Saturday, he thanked me for making his birthday really special. Saturday was a lot of fun. It rained a little, but we still had plenty of outdoor time. Plus two of the three couples that attended brought kids. It was actually really neat to have a house full of children!

Gwen adores Willy. We stopped there on our way home from lunch at the Cheesecake Factory with Ro & Pat on Sunday. She couldn't get enough of him, smiles galore! I think its the accent. I'm so glad, and we're definitely hoping she'll keep her affection for her Pappy. He's a neat guy.

Everyone heard about the Infant Tylenol and Infant Motrin recall, right?! If not, go here to read the details: Recall Press Release. Also, Target will give you a refund on any of the recalled items, even opened ones, no receipt needed. We did that Sunday too, which is why I thought of it.


Well, I need to go pump one last time for today... so I'm going to run. I'll try not to make it a week before I come back again this time!!