The fine art of lactation at work

Teaching and lactation are tricky, but not impossible. Figuring out how to combine working and pumping has been on my mind since I found out I was pregnant. Since I've been back from maternity leave, I've been able to pump every day, but it certainly has imposed some changes into my normal daily routine. I have to take my breaks and lunch at slightly different times than I used to, and no longer supervise kids during lunch (which they've all noticed and commented on several times). Tuesdays and Thursdays are hectic because I have to take kids to off-campus jobs that cut into lunch time, so it's tricky to manage the timing on those days. Nevertheless I've been able to pull it off.

What makes it work, is that I have a private location at my disposal. I have an office that I can use that has a door that locks, so I don't have to worry about random people (or worse yet, kids!) walking in on me. I have a chair to sit in, an outlet nearby, and a sink right in the classroom, so I don't have to go rinsing out the apparatus in a public area (like the bathroom or the teacher's lounge, which would be a bit weird).

Unfortunately I am not driving this semester. Carrying stuff on the bus is kind of a pain. I could leave my pump at school, but after enduring a nursing strike one weekend, I've decided NEVER EVER AGAIN will I do that...you just never know when your baby might decide to go on a nursing strike. So from now on, I always take it back and forth.

The timing is tricky. I don't have a planning period, so I have to do it when the kids are at lunch. Plus, as a side bonus, my one-on-one student can be supervised by someone other than me at that time.

Storage is critical. We have a refrigerator in the room, but since students are notorious for going in and taking stuff out of it (and who knows what they might decide to do with it!), I keep the milk in a lunchbox in the staff lounge. Considering there's food items that have been in there since last October (it's April now), I have no concerns about anyone coming along and disturbing it.

Three Months old

Cedar is three months old today!

Misc. Development Notes:

He's less interested in laying down, and likes sitting in a bouncy seat. He looks cute lounging there.

He can't hold himself upright by any means, but his head control is getting even better. He's on the verge of figuring out how to turn over from his back to his side.

He's much more awake, and has more active periods. He likes to look around when you hold him, and he'll turn his head to the side to see what's there.

When he's tired he gets a bit fussy. He likes to fall asleep being held so if he wants to take a nap, he'll fuss a bit to get you to pick him up, then pass right out.
What a silly boy! He also snores which is hilarious.

He looks around quite a bit, and likes to watch us doing chores. He's not passing out on walks as much, and stays awake most of the time looking at things.

He hasn't shown much interest in objects, but grabs my hair or shirt on a regular basis. He also really likes to suck on his hand, and has finally isolated his thumb from the rest of it and goes to town on that...no now he usually has a wet drooly handshake.

He still startles when you sneeze, or when he hears a loud noise. He also does the startle reflex when you pick him up (asleep) to move him, but he no longer wakes up.

He's lost all interest in his pacifier, especially now that he's discovered his hand.

He still likes to kick his legs, and does it in time with the music I play for him.
Another thing he likes to do is "wiggle-legs", and he has a whole exercise routine he does when I put him in the bouncy seat.

Most of the time he is still pretty quiet and non-fussy, but he's been cooing for the past couple of weeks and has thrown some giggles in there as well.

Nowadays he usually skips his night feeding and sleeps through the night, a fairly new development that thankfully came just in time for me to go back to work. Hard to say if he'll keep it up (or decide to be a reverse-cycler), but I'm enjoying more sleep these days.

He's getting more tolerant of clothing and diaper changes--he's even getting less cranky about shirts and onesies and things that go over his head, although he still seems to prefer not to put up with that.

His digestive issues started to improve at around 2 months, and now he's way less fussy due to gas. He's still quite gassy though--and puts on a good show for us. It's still hard to burp him--I've discovered the best thing is to do it standing up with a bit of bouncing thrown in there.

He's still a big fan of being held. He still likes laying next to me in bed, sitting in my lap, lay in my arms, and occasionally will do the "snuggle monkey" although not as much as he used to. He prefers to face out most of the time, but still likes to be patted on the back, especially when he's tired. He still likes to be carried around, but unlike when he was younger, he will let you put him down. When he's not being held, he is happiest if he's where he can see you, but he'll go a few minutes with me in some other part of the house as long as I come right back.

He has been smiling for a few weeks now. He recently started giggling as well. On the other hand, if he's upset, he turns bright red and holds his breath before letting out a wail. He generally only cries when he's really hungry. He fusses when he's wet, and when he's tired.

He likes to listen to music and listen to you talk. He especially likes daddy's silly talk.

He still tolerates baths although he's not crazy about them. He still likes riding in the car, and going for walks around the neighborhood. He also seems to enjoy riding in shopping carts, so I can take him to stores that have them and he's usually content enough being pushed around that he'll let me get some shopping done, as long as I don't take too long. He's to the point now where he likes to look around at things when he's on the move.

So far, so good

The good news is that Cedar seems to be adjusting to daycare just fine. That'll make going back to work that much easier for me. He seems happy when I pick him up, and doesn't howl when I drop him off.

As for me, it's very very strange to have the overly-quiet house all to myself. To keep from dwelling on that fact, I'm playing loud music and doing all the cleaning that hasn't been done since he was born. The amount of dog hair I've removed could build 2 or 3 new dogs...shudder.

The weather's been nice the past couple of days--highly unusual for spring break. I'm getting started on my garden before I go back to work, and hoping that I can somehow keep up with it once I have a ton of stuff on my plate again.

Once again, I'm super-grateful that I'm working in a classified position this school year, so I don't have to do any grading or paperwork outside of school hours. Oh, and let's not forget meetings...yes. Glad I don't have any of that to deal with--I just go in for my 7.5 hours, and I leave when the kids leave. I can't imagine doing a certified job right now...

Starting daycare

The dreaded day has arrived--Cedar's starting daycare this week.

I feel pretty good about the daycare in question, and the people who work there; it's more a question of how will he react to strangers. Plus, we've been together non-stop since he was a unicellular organism...I haven't spent more than a couple of hours away from him until today, so needless to say, this is going to be an adjustment for ME as well.

Fortunately I have the whole week to ease him into the whole change--I don't have to start work until next week, and this way we can start off with half-days and gradually build up to the longer days he'll have to get used to when I go back to work.

Giggle-bug

Cedar's started giggling recently, and it's very cute. He even giggles in his sleep, silly boy!

winding down

Time is a crazy thing. Slow. Slow. Quick, quick, slow.

Some days seem to fly, others crawl by at a snail's pace. A single 50-minute period of a horrific day of substitute teaching could last seemingly forever. Other days you really have to be careful not to blink--or the next thing you know, an entire week will go by, leaving you gaping in the dust.

A 12-week maternity leave has moments that are as hectic as a rough week of substitute teaching, or as sedate and leisurely as a sick day spent in bed watching movies. Often you get both in the same day, swinging like a pendulum between frantic problem-solving induced by shrieking howls, and other times basking in the afterglow of a milky-faced grin. It's surreal enough in the beginning that it has the feel of Groundhog Day, where you are literally doing the same thing again and again and again, day after day. The days themselves blur together--into a mushy kind of Monthurswedfrisunday. Around here we've escaped from the clutches of linear time that hold the rest of the world prisoner, and made schedules irrelevant. Everyday is a no-day. A declaration of independence from calendars and clocks. A single moment. An eternity. A space between time.

Nevertheless, to bring it all back down to earth, this is my second-to-last week off, and the last week before we introduce the trials and tribulations of daycare. Hard to say who will have the harder time adjusting...adjusting back to imposed schedules, calendars, time-tables, clocks, timers, and all of the trappings of life ticking away. I both crave and abhor this...

tick tick tick...

Dear "Friend",

I received your recent Facebook friend request. Due to my own very strict policy of "only people I am friends with in real life", I must regretfully decline.

I’m sure you're a very nice person, but unfortunately I wouldn't know because I have never met you. We don’t have that shared history of togetherness implied in the title "friend".

Furthermore, it is very unlikely that you would really want to be bombarded on a nearly-daily basis with my controversial views, activist links, mundane teaching information, endless personal gripes, or vapid updates about my dog and family situation unless you know me pretty well. Let's face it, sometimes I'm boring/offensive/random, and it takes a special person to appreciate that. Often that person is a blood relative, or at least someone I've known for at least a decade.

Because I'm a fairly private person anyhow, I resisted the whole Facebook thing for years before finally succumbing to the urge to see what my former college buddies are up to. I'm not the sort who needs or wants to freely share ALL of my personal business with the entire world, so that's why I have limited my "friends" to people I really know well. Ultimately, if you’re not a friend of mine in real life, you can't be my friend on Facebook.