The First Week Back

Overall, the transition to work and daycare went well. I actually had butterflies on the first day back! It felt like the first day of school for both of us. After three months at home, it was just a bit of sensory overload and a challenge to adjust to a new routine. I was nervous about how the first morning would go, but of course everything went fine. I dropped her off at daycare, and I think I was just in too much shock from the whole day for it to really hit me. I walked around the rest of the day in a daze. Each day after that, though, it got better, and now I feel like I've been back at work all along.

Many moms describe feeling guilty when they go back to work, either guilty about leaving the baby with someone else or guilty about WANTING to go back to work. While I wouldn't say I was itching to go back to work, I knew it was what needed to happen so I made the best of it. So I felt very little guilt, but I did miss Amy Grace a lot :) It was like having baby withdrawal! I've been going over to nurse her at lunch, though, which has been a great thing for the both of us.

As the days have gone on, it's gotten SO much easier. I never really got cabin fever at home, but it's nice to be back in the swing of things again too. Plus, I'm only working 30 hours a week and have Wednesday and Friday afternoons off, which has been GREAT. Since we are paying for that daycare time anyway, Amy Grace stays there on those afternoons while I clean, go grocery shopping, or do whatever else I need to around the house so that we can all enjoy nights and weekends more. Yay for that!

House of Pain...

Well, on Friday our little Nublette started coming down with the sniffles. This was somewhat to be expected, as lots of kids get sick right after starting daycare (or so I hear). We took a quick trip to the doc as I mistook her sniffles for wheezing. (It sure sounded like wheezing, but the fact that it mostly happened when I nursed her - aka, when the only breathing she could do was through her nose - should have clued me in. Oh well. She was fine.) In any case, her cold worsened over the weekend, but Amy Grace remained in good spirits and was quite the trooper! We've taken to calling her "Dragon" as well (I forget how that started), and it was pretty funny to hear our little Dragon actually sounding like a dragon. Perhaps she's been spending too much time with Star Baby. There's nothing quite so humorously tragic as taking care of someone with a cold who does not have the motor skills nor verbal comprehension to learn how to blow her own nose.

In any case, Brent started coming down with AG's cold on Monday, and I bit the dust on Tuesday. Now we are just one big, not-so-happy-right-now family of snifflers and coughers. Here's hoping everyone recovers by the weekend...

Serious Case of Mommy Brain...

Well, it is Day 2 of being back to work (more on that later), and I just gave everyone in the office a serious laugh. I heard a text arrive on my cell phone (thanks Holly!) and thought, "hmmm, I need to put it on vibrate." A quick search yielded no phone. So, I called my phone instead and got down on my hands and knees to search under my desk. No matter where I looked, it sounded like it was so close by! Not in my purse. Not in my pumping bag. Not in my pockets. What??

After about 4 calls to my phone, I went on the other side of the cubicle wall to see if it had somehow scooted under to the other side (completely unlikely). Our office manager saw me and asked what was wrong:

Me: I can't find my phone!
OM: What? How can you tell it's ringing?
Me: I keep calling it, and I can here it, but I can't find it.
OM: (Comes to my desk) Oh!! I thought you meant your OFFICE phone! I mean, there have been a lot of moves and I thought maybe it had gone missing.
Me: (Laughs) Hah! No, my cell phone. (Puts hand on belly by accident). Oh, wait...oh no, this is so embarrassing!
OM: What?
Me: I stuck it in my waistband this morning because it falls out of these pants pockets easily. Ok wow. Nevermind.

This was all made doubly embarrassing by the fact that I was able to stick it in my pants waistband so easily because I am STILL WEARING MATERNITY PANTS for my black dress pants. Hah. :)