Romanticizing at Work

The lights are dimmed. Soft music plays in the background. The phone (and clock) is not allowed in the room. Longingly, I look into the eyes of my loved one. No, this is not a romantic dinner with my husband. This is me in the lactation room.

I hear the professional working moms who are in and out of the other private milking room before I can hook myself up. I used to get mad. I’d roll my eyes and picture the 6oz they just expressed while clicking away on their Blackberries and I’m in here practically mediating and praying for 2oz. Two pictures of Jill are taped to the facing file cabinets (used to encourage faster letdown – allegedly); her lullabies play on my iPod; and light comes only from the side table lamp. It is comical really, but it seems to work.

In the past few weeks, I ordered soft shells (ouch) and emailed back and forth with my midwife for a medically convincing script for a hospital grade pump. I selected the Symphony by Medela and worked with Cambridge Medical Supply to get it covered through insurance. It was fairly simple and 3 days later my shiny new (not really, it is a rental) pump was sitting on my front porch, in a bomb case. No lie, I need to take a picture of this case. It is very intimidating. I can’t tell for sure yet but it seems to be helping. Tony says it’s all mental but I don’t think so. The new pump is stronger yet smoother. It has more settings. It has a longer cord (good for pumping in bed just before I conk out). And it’s super quiet.

On to Jill. She is growing a ton and is becoming more and more entertaining. Not as entertaining was Friday night. She was up from 2-5ish with a cold and upset belly, or so we thought. We'd been spoiled with her sleeping through the night so Friday felt especially rough. We took turns staying up and trying to soothe her. Tony watched Lockup Extended Stay (I would have went for my awful show "Hack") while Jill slept elevated in her chair. I slept on the couch in the early morning hours and Jill settled down again and snoozed until 7:30. We spent Saturday at my brother's house visiting with family and friends. Jill had her first sunscreen application and seemed to enjoy the time outside and in the grass. We kept things fairly calm for her so we wouldn't irritate her cold. She slept like a champ Saturday night. Sunday she woke up seeming just as stuffed up so we decided to visit my Mom at the ER and get Jill checked out. The doctor confirmed her cold and checked her ears "just in case." He was completely surprised that she had an ear infection in her right ear. Poor kid. We had no idea. My Mom was helping the doctor with Jill's check-up when she went to take her temperature. I hope this was because it was her Granna, but Jill giggled - multiple times - while the thermometer was in her bum. It was hysterical! Everyone was laughing. And here we were - the new parents - worried it would upset her!