On going back to work

Well, I officially started my second week back at work today. Timmy stayed home with Kacey since the weather was too bad for him to drive up to Wenham. All in all, I'm doing pretty well with my return. It helps that I only work 4 days a week and that Kacey is being watched by people who really love her (and keep logs on her comings and goings which I love reading when I get home). I do really look forward to Friday and the weekend. It's easier for me to treasure every moment with her now. I think my patience has really increased overall. I now am fine with the idea of spending 3 hours rocking her to sleep just because it gives me a chance to hold her at night. FYI for anyone returning to work: I love the digital picture frame that Timmy gave me for Christmas. It just scrolls through Kacey's pictures all day long and that just gets me so excited to go home at the end of the day.

It also helped that as soon as I returned, I was thrown in on a large project with a good team., one of whom is the father of a 5 month old girl so he's good to chat with (here's their blog if you want to check it out) although I try and keep baby talk to a minimum to maintain some semblance of professionalism. Anyhow, it keeps me busy enough to make the day go by fairly quickly. I'll be really excited to have Danielle come back to work next week so at least I have someone to talk baby with all of the time. I'm branching out though. I went to lunch today with a girl from the office who I've never spent much time with. She just announced she's 3 months pregnant so I thought I could be a listening board for her and "new resident expert" on all of those things that only pregnant women and new moms talk about. There is definitely a camaraderie there.

Anyway, one of the hardest parts of going back to work is all of the time I have to spend pumping in our office's "quiet room". I seriously had no idea how much time this was going to take out of my day! So far it makes me feel a bit guilty and unproductive, but I know how important it is for me to maintain my supply. Basically, I pump 3 times a day (once when I get to work, once around lunch time, and once about an hour before I go home). Each pumping session averages about 30 minutes which can really add up. I'm not getting as much output as I would like either so I've started taking fenugreek. Not only does it up your milk supply, but it makes your urine and sweat smell like maple syrup (I kid you not). So, pretty much it's a win-win, well, except that Timmy hates the smell of maple syrup...I'll let you know how that one turns out :-)

For moms returning to work from maternity leave, these are the websites that I found most helpful:

Work and Pump
Kellymom
Bluesuit Mom
Baby Center