Friday, July 29 . . . the pumping adventures continue

For the past two weeks, pumping my milk at work has been CRAZY!

This past Monday we had a big premiere on our channel, TeenNick. Our '90s block of programming was amazing, it got great ratings, and was all the buzz on the internets. Getting on the air, however, was quite an ordeal and lead to a crazy week at work. There were a lot of emergency meetings and phone calls, and lots of running from one place to the other. There were a few times when, due to a meeting or some bit of urgent information that needed to be relayed to me, I missed my pumping time in our Mother's Room at work. I ended up locking the door to a conference room and doing it there, and while the people that know about it are fine with it, I'm always afraid I'm inconveniencing someone. I feel like I can't excuse myself from a non-essential meeting, or tell my boss that we need to take a break (cause she'll just keep talking). Plus, with all the stress of making the premiere look good and . . . you know . . . happen at all, I had a hard time relaxing and my supply was lower than usual.

I figured this week would be better -- the event was successful and people aren't as panicked. However the universe had other plans. Wednesday I had scheduled my makeup session for Sexual Harassment training (uhg), and had to make it during one of my pumping sessions (apparently "lactation" is not a good enough excuse to get out of it -- believe me, I tried). I rearrange my whole day, pump in my conference room, and what-do-you-know, they cancel the training at the last minute.
That same day the VP schedules a meeting during my morning pumping time, and again, pumping is not a good enough excuse to reschedule. So, again, I set myself up in the conference room. La-di-da, I'm pumping pumping, and typing typing, and who shows up? . . . the window washer guy. On the outside of the building, 40 stories up, I've got someone looking in the window at me. (in his defense, he probably didn't see anything, or is probably so used to seeing bizarre things through the window, nothing phases him anymore). It was so hilariously awkward.
Then the next day -- yeah, I'm not done yet -- I get a call from my mother, who is watching the baby this week while daycare is on vacation. Turns out she was taking the baby and dog for a walk and dropped her keys done the elevator shaft and was locked out of the apartment. Not as much of an emergency as it could have been, I still had a to rush home to let her back in the building. It was about 1:30, and I had left my pump in the Mother's Room after my 11:00 pumping. So I had to decide: do I go up and potentially interrupt the woman with the 1:30 slot just to get my pump and milk that's in the fridge, or do I just run home. I decided to leave it there and run home, since we now wouldn't need most of today's milk supply I'd left them, since I'd now be home. I spent the rest of the day working from home and feeding on demand, and it was great.
Cut to today. My pump is still up in the Mother's Room, ready to go for my 11:00am slot. I have a meeting with my boss first thing . . . and she talks until 11:45. Normally on a Friday in the summer it wouldnt' be a big deal; there are so few people around, I would just set up in the conference room again. Except my pump is upstairs. I now have to book it upstairs, hope no one is booked for 11:30, and try to get in and out before the person I KNOW is booked at 12:00. Sigh. I was smart though, and did NOT leave my pump in the room for my 2:00 session. Sure enough, my 12:30 got pushed to 1:30, ran until 2:30, and then the boss talked my ear off until 3.

Next week will be better, right?

Monday, July 25 . . . Over-Achiever

It's official -- my child is a genius. At least when it comes to growing.

Yup, that's a tooth. 15 weeks old.

Friday, July 22 . . . on gums and things

So baby has a tooth coming in. I guess. I actually have no idea.

Last week a little blister popped up on his bottom gum. It was small and clear, and he didn't seem to notice.

Then a few days ago, it turned purple!!!

He seemed a little bothered by it, but wouldn't take the teething ring.

Two nights ago, it seemed like it was getting bigger.

Then last night . . . it was gone. No black and blue, and barely even a bump. Does that mean it's gone, or does it mean it's going to pop out any minute?

***Update.
Yep . . . tooth.

Tuesday, July 19 . . . Taking Care of "Business"

Oh the joys of pumping at work. My boss and I have come up with a code word -- "Business" -- for when I have to go pump. The first week or two back, everything went fine. I put my three 30-minute "meetings" on my calendar and tried to schedule everything around them. When I was in my boss's office and she was going on and on about something, I would gently remind her that I had "a 2:00", and that I would LOVE to continue the conversation at 2:30.
This week however . . . people need to 1) plan ahead a little better, and 2) understand when things are not absolutely urgent. I missed my 11:00 pumping this morning because someone decided we needed to talk about on-air graphics running over letterboxed programming. Memo to someone: This is NOT urgent. But they were acting like we needed to decide this RIGHT NOW, so I couldn't excuse myself from the meeting. It went 30 minutes over, so at 11:30, when I had an ACTUALLY URGENT meeting, I couldn't pump then either. By the time I was able to pull myself away and find an empty room (since the company's pumping room is by appointment only, and I had missed my appointment), I was so worked up I couldn't get it flowing.
Eventually it was fine, and I got some work done and was able to relax, but seriously folks, you gotta let me pump. I WILL leak all over you.

Sunday, July 17

What a great day. Mommy and baby were both feeling better (not perfect, but loads better than Friday or yesterday). In the morning, I hosted a crafting event for the working moms meetup group. Only one other person came, but there were loads of comments about people wanting to come next time. I worked on the first
of two sweaters for Clark and Brian, and Rebecca worked on her crocheted bunny. She had started it while in the hospital having her baby, who is now 10 months old. I was so glad to give her time and a place to finish it!

Gramma and Grampa C came down today to see the baby. They had planned to come yesterday, but decided it was better to let us heal. They had some baby time and we watched the women's soccer world cup.

Saturday, July 16 . . . 1 sick baby + 1 sick mommy

= 1 quiet Saturday.

Thursday morning, I noticed baby was a little more "snorty" than usual, and my that night, he was very snotty and grumpy. All night he was cranky and snotty, and by Friday morning he had a full-on cough and stuffy nose. Not bad enough to keep him (and me) home, I sent him off to school and headed to work . . . where I started to feel not so great. But it was Harry Potter Day (the last movie premiered last night), and I was NOT missing it!

I pushed through the day, all the while feeling a little dizzy and "off". After the movie I texted Chris to say when I'd be home (the girls and I were going to dinner to celebrate Harry Potter and the fact that I was actually OUT), and the response I got was "Great. Oh, and your son has cried for so long he's lost his voice." uh oh.

After dinner, I took a rain-check on shopping because I had to get home -- both to see the baby and because I was still not feeling great. Because I was still feeling dizzy, and that's how my cast of Mastitis started a few weeks ago, I took my temperature when I got home . . . 100.5. Shit. And as someone whose base-line temp is more around 97.7 instead of 98.6, 100.5 is off the charts! I took a tylenol, got a glass of OJ, and put myself to bed. Baby and I spent the night nursing, and while it wasn't fun to wake up every hour or two, at least we were both able to sleep in between.

Today has been much better. My fever is gone, and baby cycles between a normal happy/eating/sleeping schedule and a clingy/crying/snotting schedule. I don't think it's anything worse than a cold for both of us, and we should be fine in a day or so. We're spending the day watching what's on the DVR and snuggling (plus I can crochet my blanket while he's asleep on me, so that's a plus).

Monday, July 11 . . . Three Months!!!

Baby Rowan turns THREE MONTHS OLD TODAY!!!

The series

  

So far baby can . . .

- Smile BIG!!!

- Stay entertained by a toy for nearly 20 minutes.

- Sprout Teeth (technically, it's still just a bump, but Spitty McDrooly-Face is starting to enjoy chewing on things like his burp cloth and my nipple).

- Do a squirmy crawl, where he kicks his feet and screams until he scoots forward.

- Hold a conversation with Mom and Dad, as long as the topic is "ah-goor".

- "Stand" while someone balances him.

- He has advanced to the "three month" toys, like his Bumbo seat, the jumper thing, and the "feet-out" hold in the moby.

The only thing he CAN'T do is fit in his 3-month clothes. He's nearly too long for the newborn clothes, but he's swimming in the 3-months! 

Sunday, July 3

So what do you do when Gramma lives far away but cannot handle not seeing her grandbaby every week? SKYPE OF COURSE!

We had a little technical difficulty with the audio (which is why Gramma has her cell phone), and baby didn't quite understand why there was a flat gramma on the laptop, but I think the grandparents got their fill, and should be satisfied for a few weeks.

We also spent the morning watching the Wimbledon Men's Finals. Here I am explaining to baby how tennis scoring works . . . he seemed confused, as he should.

Monday, July 4 . . . Happy Birthday to All!

Happy Birthday America. 

And Happy Birthday Daddy!!!

We spent the day home, because baby was being cranky (lord help me if he's got a tooth coming in!); plus it was 90 degrees out, which makes the park or zoo or beach less fun. We had burgers and fries for Daddy's birthday, and a special home-made giant Reese's Peanut Butter Cup!

Then we watched fireworks on TV and listened to the Boston Pops concert on the radio.

(it was also Gipper's Birthday this weekend, so we spent Saturday morning at the dog park with doggy cupcakes!)