One!

Amazing. Tonight at 11:23 a whole year will have gone by.

Last year at this time I was still in labour. A labour that went on and on and on for 48 hours. I can’t believe how much I have done in the past two days and how much can happen in two days when you are not in labour. All worth it though

Almost one

She is almost one which has got me thinking about our adventures in the last year. Here are some of the highlights….

The biggest surprises

How much fun it has been. I honestly didn’t know. I had always pictured us with a 5-year-old and thought that would be great. I couldn’t quite imagine the baby time. In prenatal class when people started having and bringing their babies it freaked me out. Now I would love to fill my house with babies.

I also couldn’t imagine exactly how little free time I would have and how tired I would be when I had it. I still wouldn’t trade this for anything

I had no idea about breastfeeding. I was planning to do it because I had heard it was a good idea. I didn’t know how difficult it would be in the beginning, how soothing it would be for her, how easy it would be once we got it figured out, and how sweet some of those nursing moments would be. I also never thought that she wouldn’t take a bottle and that I wouldn’t leave her for more than 2.5 hours until she was almost 7 months. I don’t regret it at all, but wow I had no idea what I was signing up for.

My most unglamorous mama day

The afternoon started by pushing a non-sleeping baby after nap failure in the pouring rain while crying because I was so tired. This was during the sleepless six month time when she woke up every hour. I headed to the mall to escape rain and hopefully have some retail therapy. While at the mall change table I looked up at the mirror and saw the dark circles under my eyes, bad hair and milk stains on my shirt. Not good. I then looked down at the poopy diaper and saw worms. Very not good. Instead of going into Old Na.vy for retail therapy, I stood outside it and called the baby hotline to discuss worms in the diaper. I must have looked a fright. After lab results came back it turns out she was not a wormy wonder after all, she had just eaten banana. Dr. Google was right.

Favorite mama and babies activities

Stroller fit
As soon as I could push that stroller and was allowed into class, I started going and went every Wednesday until I went back to work. She started as a little tiny baby that fell asleep as soon as she was in the stroller and last week when F took her there, she did her first big independent walk. All the stroller fit moms cheered for her as she walked over to another visit a baby on another mat. We have had so much fun going to class, being outside rain or shine at the park and having picnics on the nice days.

Traveling as a family to Cuba
One whole month together was amazing. I wouldn’t have traded that for anything.

Nurse drop in
Every time I made it, I learned so much as well as met other moms. We have fantastic community health nurses. I wish I could have gone more, but it is during her nap time.

My advice for other moms

I got a lot of advice when I had a baby. More advice than I had ever had in my whole life. This is my recommendation. Don’t hear terrifying stories from other moms about their babies constipation and then go home and feed your non-constipated baby prunes as a preventative measure. It isn’t a good idea. That’s all I am saying about the whole experience.

What about you? What advice do you have? what was your most unglamorous day? What surprised you the most and what has been the most fun?

A Canadian duck

I feel like an odd duck here in Canada pumping at work. I know I am not the only one. I also know that many Canadian moms take the one year maternity leave, add-on some vacation that gets them over a year and then get their babies on cow’s milk before they return to work.

I still have a personal security guard while I pump. He used to leave, but the security office is across campus, so he started just waiting and then locks up when I am done. Yesterday when I left he said, “wow that was fast.” The whole thing is kind of hilarious and crazy at the same time. Oddly enough I am still able to easily get the milk to drop pumping at work. I struggled all summer, but suddenly it just clicked. I think pumping nowhere near the Bee really helps. Having her fuss and try to pull apart and destroy the pump is in no way milk inducing.

The whole thing is working really well: my supervisor is very supportive, the milk is dropping, Bee is transitioning really well and there is still milk in the freezer to make up the extra that she drinks everyday. I just feel odd. I am hoping it gets easier like nursing out in public did. I know that very quickly I was comfortable feeding that baby anywhere and everywhere. It may also be that pumping at work is just such an weird thing to do that I am stuck with feeling funny about it. I am also hoping that it won’t be for too much longer. She is just still such a nursey baby.

Milk Security

Today I pumped milk in room with a security guard outside the door. I would like to think that the college I work at values my milk as much as I do and sent someone to make sure it was safe. In reality, I think they are all confused about what is going. I have to get security to let me in out of the first aid room in health services every day to pump and for some reason today security was told to stay. I still got the milk to drop. That is two days in a row! That is unheard for me.

Today she walked. Really walked. Before she took a couple steps but today she walked back and forth between F and I. Now I am very tired and am going to bed.

Thanks :)

You ladies made my milk drop. I have been using the elastic band technique to be hands free and it works good enough that I can use my phone. After getting all hooked up I started reading everyone’s blogs and some messages from home. My brain fell kaplunk into mama-land and the milk fell with it. I will see what tomorrow brings. My body really only likes to feed a baby not a pump so getting milk to drop is a miracle. Do you recommend the hands free bra for pumping at work or the elastic band system?

Done.

Getting ready to go back to work and thinking about it was worse than going. It was a good day and it was nice to see some of my favorite co-workers again. Pumping at work sucks mainly because it takes away my lunch break. Today it left me with no time to eat before I had to be in class again. I must have the nicest supervisor in the world because when she noticed that I was going to run to class without lunch, she covered for me so that I could eat. I pumped twice for a total of 5 ounces and she drank about 12 at home with her mamee. I am hoping that the freezer supply gets us through until she starts drinking milk.

A perfectly ordinary first day back ended with the college going into lock down. They announced that there was an armed person on campus and that we had to stay in our rooms with the door locked. Panic alternating with denial washed over me while my co-workers, that I was with, and I texted the others who were spread out all over the campus make sure everyone was ok. Finally it was announced that it was a false alarm. What a relief. There was some more chaos when someone thought they had found a bullet hole outside our office but in the end we are all okdokay. I did buy some lotto tickets for Poppy and I, but I haven’t scratched them yet. Poppy also went back to work today. She is the super duper cool mama of twins at eeny meeney miney mommy.

I am super duper happy that this week I am only working three days because even though this seems like it will be good it is going to be tiring.

PS I am love this nambo blogging thing where everyone posts all the time. Thanks everyone!

Pump in the prayer room?

I got looked up and down today by the medical secretary where I work and got a boob comment. Unbelievable. She actually said, “You can’t have that much milk in there.” This is the person who when I first contacted her when I was looking for a place to pump milk, suggested I use the “prayer room since not many people use that space.” I can’t imagine pumping milk besides people praying. She was also concerned about me not having a space to lie down. I don’t know what she is picturing me doing with that pump that would involve my breasts, lying down and being appropriate for a prayer room. She also told me that she feels uncomfortable when she sees three year olds wanting to nurse. Everyone has their own idea of how long is the right amount of time to nurse, I just expected her to be more neutral of families choices since she works at health services. In the end, it was the wackiest discussion I have ever had about breastfeeding.

Anyway it is all set up. I can use the health services room which is almost never open, but security can let me in. Monday is the day when I go back to the day job. The Bee is just now starting to nurse less, but definitely still nursing. In another month she will start drinking cow’s milk. I am thinking this whole nursing, pumping, cows and me at work process is just going to evolve into something or another quite quickly and I just have to do it and see what happens. In the meantime, I will not be pumping in the prayer room.