Back to work full time is HARD! I hate being away from Sienna for so long each day, and missing her daytime happy smiling face. She is the cutest thing there is and I miss her when I'm gone. I also am managing to work on about 4-5 hours of sleep per night which is not really ideal. But an unexpected awful part?! Breastfeeding and working! Which actually means pumping and working. I love my time with Sienna when breastfeeding, but I dispise pumping. It is a little rough trying to fit 3 sessions in an already whirlwind day. I run from meetings or patient appointments to pump and then run back!
So since I am exhausted at work with no Sienna to keep me smiling, and lots of time spent with me and my pump, I've taken to preparing the night before as much as possible and doing my best.
Here's what I've found to be important things in my day:
1. Eye brightener and mascara. I look like a walking zombie without their help. Good old maybelline seems to be the best mascara there is for my mama eyes. Cheap and easy. My sephora brands just can't hold a candle for some reason. Pixi eye brightener I happened upon by mistake and originally thought it was concealer. Not so, but stil awesome. Brightens up the face that looks like sleep has left forever. I usually put this on in the car in the work parking lot. Time management.
2. Water, water, water. With a mix of gatorade. Known fondly in our house as "waterade". I have two of these non sweat cups and I fill them up each morning and take them with me. They keep me hydrated because breastfeeding (aka pumping) needs some major hydration.
3. Tea. Mother's milk tea to be exact. This stuff is supposed to boost your supply. Oh I forgot to mention that in the I hate pumping sentences. With just pumping and not breastfeeding, I seem to have less milk. Problematic when I need to leave Sienna milk every day. So we've got this. I also take some natural herb pills sometimes that also help increase supply. I don't know whether it works or whether it is the fact that I'm drinking tons of water. But either way, I seem to be keeping up. A good thing.
4. Photos of the babe at my desk. The first one my work hung up in my space before I came back. So I had a cute birth photo of my little one when I got here. The framed one is a favorite- she's grown so much since then! I need a new one. I also look at my cell phone for photos about 10 times a day!
5. Two bags. One is the pump. Yuck. One is my bag o food. It actually has tons of snacks, like more snacks than ever because I need to eat all the time because hello breastfeeding takes calories. I am sure that even when I leave work there is still snacks in there. And yes, I have more food than work items. Don't judge.
6. I'm tired when midnight or 1am rolls around and the little one is crying. But then after she eats, this happens. And I melt looking at the little chubby faced sleeper. Cuddled up in her swaddle (I never even unwrap her to eat or rock her) she is just such a little cute nugget! So I take these photos because I know when she's older and doesn't want snuggle I will look back and cherish these moments.
7. And then I wake up to this in the morning. I mean, come on, how can this not make it all worth it?
8. Also important? Well let's rephrase important to "awesome". This week we cooked a total of one dinner. ONE. On Monday & Tuesday my mom brought was here and made us dinner. On Monday we had amazing tilapia meal, Tuesday was mushroom ravioli with pesto... Wednesday rolled around and I wondered what I would make after Sienna's first whole day with the nanny. I came home to chicken parm and pasta prepared. Now THAT is good child care. On Thursday my mom left us dinner to have when she took off to head to see the other grandbaby! THANK YOU to the best mama ever and to our great new nanny! Having dinner prepared = lifesaving when you're sleep deprived and have approximately 2 hours between getting home from work & getting baby ready for bed.
The thing is, I am surviving. Sienna is happy. And that's what is most important. Come September I will most likely not be working full time, so I keep telling myself just a few more months until I have more uninterrupted time with the little one.
xoxo
PS- still in the market for a good stroller and not sure what we want so feel free to offer suggestions :)
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