I can't stop thinking about going into work on Monday. Things are going to be crazy different and not just because I'm now a working mom. My awesome boss retired on January 3 and I'm truly bummed. She was a great boss because she basically just left me to work on my projects, giving support when needed, but allowed me to manage everything by myself. She completely trusted that I could handle everything by myself. Now that she's retired I have a new boss, but I really don't know much about him. I spoke to him a couple times prior to leaving for maternity leave, but that was mainly to give him some of my work. I hope that he is as hands-off as she was after he gets to know me and my work.
In addition to my boss retiring one of my coworkers also retired. I'm going to miss talking with her as she was a really nice woman who always asked how the dogs were doing. I am sure she would be sad to hear about Koda's passing. I know that I won't have to take over any of her work, but I'm curious to see if my workload changes at all with my new boss.
The other odd thing is going to be pumping at work. We have a room in which we can pump but when I called last week, the woman in charge said that there are six other women using it right now. I was planning on using that room because everything set up already and all I would need to do is buy the parts. However with six other women I have no idea how I would be able to get in for two or three times a day with the other women vying for pretty much the same times. So after speaking to CP I decided to order a second pump to leave it work. We have a three other rooms available to women that bring their own pump so I am pretty much guaranteed to be able to pump whenever I want. If I really wanted to I could've lugged my current pump back and forth to work every day along with my milk. However my goal is to make it a year of breastfeeding Izzy. I cannot imagine nine months of lugging a breast pump back and forth to work every day along with the milk. That is simply too much. So I decided to suck it up and pay the money to get another Hygeia Enjoye breast pump as I'm familiar with it and it works great. It'll be interesting to see how I work this around my work schedule. I have a lot of conference calls and meetings (especially in the morning) so it may be that as soon as I get into work I'm pumping. It also means leaving my office for 20-30 minutes at a time and while I know it is permitted under law I don't know how it works out with getting my work done. Am I supposed to stay late these days because I missed an hour of work while pumping? I can't do that. My daycare hours are long enough and I won't be able to take an extra hour and still make it back to pick up Izzy at daycare on time. Maybe I'll bring my BlackBerry and type on it with one hand or figure out some sort of method while I hold the pumps on my breast? Ugh. All of this logistical stuff makes me totally get why some people stop breastfeeding/pumping once they get to work. Any tips or tricks?
I have no idea what I am going to wear to work this coming week, but I did try on some of my pre-pregnancy clothes and some of the fits are...interesting. I was able to find three pairs of pants that fit (thank goodness for my pre-retrieval pants!) and some shirts, but with my current huge chest, a lot of my fitted shirts are too tight in the chest. I don't know whether to buy a few shirts to finish out the winter season, but hope that they are too big come next winter (or maybe not if we are trying to get pregnant again), or just to wear a lot of cardigans and hope that they are warm enough until spring. Stupid weird body.
The last thing I can't stop thinking about is how many emails I'm going to have when I get back to work. Last I checked I had 1500 emails waiting for me. Now to be fair, there are going to be a lot of meeting announcements or just various emails on events that I missed. But 1500 emails when most people knew that I was out on maternity leave for three months? That should be interesting. So do I go from the oldest to newest email (thinking that I will see in chronological order what transpired while I was gone)? Because I'm pretty sure that the people that took over my work cc'ed me on everything that they did. I guess that's the best way to do this? Any guesses on how long it will take me to get through all of my emails?
11 comments:
Get a hands free pumping bra. As far as work goes, pumping does take a lot of time. Use that time for YOU, because as moms we barely get any of it. Read a book! I found it hard to miss an hour or more out of my work day, but my co-workers were really understanding and never once mentioned that I wasn't getting things done as quickly as I had before. People are surprisingly kind and patient with new moms at work.
I was going to suggest a hands free pumping bra as well. It will pay for itself on the first day. Seriously.
Going back to work is hard. It sucks. But you will make it through. Good luck. I'll be thinking of you.
Good luck! I'm sure it will be hard to go back to work (and leave your little girl at daycare)-- hopefully you at least like your job!
I'm already worried about pumping at work. I do some traveling (by car) fairly often, so I'm not sure how that will work out with pumping. I picture a lot of stress & extra time trying to figure stuff out. I'm committed to it too though. I'm interested to hear how it goes for you!
Oh my gosh that all seems so complicated! I admire your resolve to pump at work, I don't know if I'd have the resolve. Also, pumping rooms? You must work in a really big office!
Good luck on your first day back!
I've been pumping at work since June -- it can be exhausting, but YOU CAN DO IT, MAMA!!! :-) Just think about your precious girl.
And, yes, definitely get a hands free pumping bra! I've also heard of mamas somehow using hair ties attached to their nursing bra to fashion some kind of DIY hands free "bra" -- never tried it, but who knows. It might be an idea ;-)
Good luck, lady!!!
Get a hands free bra. I spent the first few days pumping in the bathroom until someone could tell me where the lactation rooms were. That was fun. I have been using a manual hand pump because the room is on a different floor than my office and I'm not sure I want to haul a pump all over the building. Plus, it's super awkward (for me anyway) because I feel like when I leave to pump my coworkers are thinking about my boobs. I am not loving the pumping at work thing. But, I'll keep at it. My goal is to pump twice while at work and the times seem to vary everyday. So far it hasn't affected my supply. You'll figure out what works for you. It's hard but only temporary.
I breastfed for a year with both my kids, and plan to do the same for #3. I usually would bring my laptop down to the mother's room and worked while pumping. It was time-consuming though! I tried to keep a set schedule everyday and then adjusted as needed based on meetings. Just be flexible and you'll figure out what works for you.
Best of luck! Will be thinking of you on Monday!
Oh boy! 1,500 is a little overwhelming. But I'm just happy for you that you made it to the "other side". ;) Working mom. Hopefully I'll share that title with you someday.
can't wait to hear how it goes--i'm already having anxiety about it!
Try a handfree bra, Sungbell has been my favorite and I would bring my lap top into the room and set up and get some things done.
Good luck tomorrow.
Someone suggested to me to use a snug fitting old sports bra, cut out holes to make a make shift hands free bra. I gave up bf before I ever had to worry about this, but somebody shared that was their secret to pumping.
Holy smokes! 1500 emails! I don't envy you having to catch up on all of that. Good luck!
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