Back to Work

So where have I been? Where have all of the blog updates gone? Don't worry, I haven't quit blogging yet. I just have started back to work this past Wednesday, so there just hasn't been time for much else after working all day.

Overall, I am glad to be back at my job. I love working in transplant. The work environment is wonderful, which is a huge blessing compared to other places I've worked in the past. I also love my coworker who is a minister's wife and a great support to me as a new mom. I owe her big time for taking up the slack for me while I was gone for 12 weeks. So thank you, Tanya!

The past 3 days of daycare have been an adjustment, but have gone about as well as can be expected, which I'm thankful. The workers at the daycare fill out a communication form everyday that they send home with me so I can get a glimpse of what Kent's day was like. For all 3 days, he got a "happy day" comment, which made me feel good. Yesterday Kent even participated in making an American flag in honor of 9/11 with his handprint! The form tells me things like what time they changed his diaper & what was in the diaper, what time he took a nap & for how long, what time they fed him & how much he ate. The first day they forgot to give Kent his reflux medicine, but did better after that. Kent also isn't sleeping well at the daycare (usually about 1 hour total all day, which makes for a very tired, cranky baby in the evenings) mainly because he has to sleep on his back (he sleeps on his belly at home). The daycare workers told me to go and buy a swaddling blanket that looks like a baby sleeping bag to try out next week, as they said he does sleep better on his back when he is swaddled. He just kicks off his blanket & wakes himself up. So I'm about to make another Babies R' Us run today. The daycare also doesn't understand Babywise, which I was kind of surprised about. It has taken a lot of communication on my part to stress to them the importance of following his feeding schedule, etc. One day this week they didn't follow the schedule, which made for a stressful evening for me because I didn't know what Kent needed. After talking with his teachers the next day, they did better. I dont' want to sound like a "OCD" mother, as I know I have to be a little flexible since they are caring for 7 other infants along with Kent. But at the same time, I am paying quite a bit for them to care for him.

So in summary, please pray that Kent will sleep better while at daycare and that the workers will do their best to follow his usual routine.

Another good thing happened just last night....Kent is sleeping longer at night now...hallelujah! This means that I have eliminated his 10pm feeding, aka "dreamfeed." So the last time I feed him is around 7-7:30pm, I give him a bath, then he is in bed around 8:30-9pm and doesn't wake up until 7am! This works out great since I am getting up earlier (5:30am) for work. The only thing I don't like about this earlier bedtime is that it makes it difficult to be out & about later at night or at a friend's house. I'm hoping to learn how to flex this around as I adjust to this new part of Kent's routine.

As for breastfeeding, I'm still able to manage in the mornings & evening while working. Kent so far hasn't rejected me after being fed from a pumped bottle at daycare, so I'm thankful. I'm going to try to keep up with this for as long as possible. Pumping at work is working out well, as my job is pretty flexible. I can pump either in my office or my nutrition consult room down the hall that has private bathroom, so the setup for pumping success is there. It is extra work & you do have to be pretty good at planning your day out in order to figure out when to pump, etc, but so far I've managed ok.

Thanks to everyone for your prayers as I adjust to returning to work, in addition to the never ending job of being the mother Kent needs.