Saturday, August 18, 2012

Returning to Work...

...well, I made it the first full (almost) week of work! Tuesday, the first day back, was really hard. I was off and on weepy while getting ready in the morning but didn't really start crying. That is until I got in the car and then I sobbed the whole way to work. Once I got there and started catching up with people and doing work, I didn't cry. I ended up pumping 15 ounces in two pumpings! On Wednesday, I barely pumped 12. Maybe because I was so emotional leaving her on Tuesday is why I got so much work?

On Tuesday when I got home, I found Nana and AR sitting in the backyard. Once I changed clothes and got to them, AR was all smiles and gave me some good lovin' and hugs. On Wednesday, I pulled in the driveway and saw them sitting on the front porch. I got a big grin on my face and went straight to her. My little slober dober got my shirt soaking but it was worth it for all the good lovin' I got from her.

I'd left three 4 oz bottles on both days. On Tuesday, my mom ended up splitting up the bottles because she'd get so hungry. On Wednesday, she gave her a whole extra bottle and drank a total of 15 ounces!?! Plus when I got home she had 2 really good nursing sessions. Guess she's hitting that 12 week growth spurt!

When I got home on Tuesday, AR had dictated a letter to Nana. Here's bits and pieces of what it consisted of: "Dear Mommy, I was so surprised when I woke up and only Nana was here, but she explained to me that you had to go to some place called work...Nana got a package out of the freezer. She showed me how hard you've been working and making milk for me. Thank you, Mommy! She even showed me milk in the fridge upstairs and put one of the bottles on the counter so I could drink it later. By this time, I was sooo tired...Nana laid me in my bed and I fell asleep and dreamed about you...At 7:45am, I helped Nana empty the dishwasher. We counted 6 forks, 2 spoons, 1 knife...Noon and I'm so sleepy, 30 minutes ahead of schedule and Nana is mean. I'm upset with Nana! Send Nana home!!! 4:00-When's my mommy coming home? Where's my daddy?" Isn't that a sweet note from AR? On Wednesday, I didn't get another letter but I did get a sweet email from my girl.

On Thursday, Nana and AR sent me LOTS of pictures! Here's AR in the laundry basket helping Nana fold clothes.
AR helping Nana with ribbon, looks like she made a mess! They were also trying on the baby hat that my mom made her to wear in the hospital. Obviously, it was a bit big when she was born because it fits great now!

Here she is with her family book.

AR also sent me beautiful flowers on Tuesday. The card said, "Mommy, I hope you have a good day. Love, Autumn" Her Papa helped pick them out!

Then Friday night, I got off work at 1ish and made it home in time to nurse her at 2 inside of having to give her another bottle. She took both sides no problem but then at 5 and bedtime, she only took one side. At bedtime, she was freaking out! I had to give her the paci to calm her down and then snuck the boob in and she nursed then. I was so upset that she was rejecting the boob! I got up with her more Friday night because she'd nurse one side and fall asleep. I normally change her diaper then to wake her up and eat the other side. I didn't last night though because I didn't want to upset her.

So this morning, I was super tired! She only nursed one side but at least she didn't fight me. Then we took a nice long nap on the couch together, man-I miss that! Then at 8 she nursed for a long time on BOTH sides. I have a call in to the LC at Mo Bap so we'll see what they suggest. I'm hoping this is just a transition period and she'll get into the groove of taking both. It was seriously breaking my heart to see her so upset and not wanting to nurse; I cried twice this morning. Guess this is what I get for having such an easy time nursing in the beginning!

OH and side note: I took the dogs to the vet on Thursday. OMG! It was a 3 ring circus doing that by myself. Luckily, a vet tech helped me with them going out to the car. Anyways, Shad's ears have yeast in them so he got meds AND he weighed 112 pounds. His ears are always yucky, it comes with labs. I'd been cleaning them out with a cotton ball but I guess I didn't go as deep as the vet so I didn't think they were that bad. So my tweet on Saturday about feeling like a bad momma was in reference to Shad's ears/weight and the nursing dilemma.

So there you have it, the first week back to work. I survived, AR survived but we both are still getting used to the change. Wish us luck!

3 comments :

SLES75 said...

congrats on surviving....It's really tough to go back to work. I don't even work as much as you and it was hard for me.

Good luck with the bottle and nursing challenges....I know you can do it and so can she. Good call on talking to LC. They know their stuff and can give you all sorts of help! I'll keep my fingers crossed everything works out soon!

Julie said...

You're a great people momma and a great doggie momma :)

Kendra said...

When I had my son last year, our health nurse told me that it was ok if he only nursed on one side at a time, it was just that he was getting enough from the one side, he didn't need the other side. Some times he would take both sides, but I tried not to stress when it was just the one.