Bottle Envy... or not so much

So Dave was home for 6 weeks on paternity leave with the girls until early November. During that time it didn't seem as though there were too many bottle issues. I woke up in the morning, fed the girls, then pumped, then off to work. When I arrived home in the evening, I came back packin' a cooler with the good stuff.

Then Dave went back to work and I started part-time. So in essence that meant, more one-on-one time with the babies, or you could say two-on-two. On the days Dave was home, and hence the girls took the bottle, we have begun to have issues.

It's really hit or miss on whether they are going to eat from the bottle nowadays. Our doc told us not to worry and if they are hungry enough they will eventually take their chow from good ol' Born Free, but what we have been finding is that they don't and they just get super super distraught and eventually cry themselves to sleep until mamma gets home (there have been a couple times that I have actually had to leave work).

It seems as though Lucy is the primary mischief maker in denying the bottle. I guess she has the infamous stubborn quality of a first-born:) A co-worker recommended that we try another bottle that has a nude colored nipple and that maybe that would work better-- it's not very exciting to think of purchasing another (most likely $$) bottle just to test it out... argh.

On another somewhat related note... I am still determined to give them only breast milk until they are 6 months but its becoming harder and harder to make extra to store so that I can leave for more than 2 hours at a time (shopping, maybe happy hour??).

If I am feeding them and then pump I only get maybe an ounce. I do find that if I can motivate myself in the morning to hook up to the Ameda after I feed them I will get more. I think its because they eat less frequently at night (every 5 hours, versus 2-3 during the day) I have more leftover after they are done.

My blonde nature shown through when I thought placing a frozen milk bag (plastic) in a pot of boiling water to thaw it out, only to find boiling milk and an empty bag shortly thereafter. That was 7 oz. down the drain. We also found that some of the frozen milk had gone bad; I think we froze it too long after it was pumped.

And... my sis and I have grand plans of hitting the town when we are back for Christmas and I guarantee that I will likely not have enough. I can only travel with so much milk on the plane and I will not be able to pump enough once I arrive so I am thinking about sneaking in some formula gradually a couple weeks before we go back to MN-- we'll see.

Mama Goes back to Work

So it's pretty amazing how fast 12 weeks goes by- I had all these plans of what I was going to do (besides, you know, have a couple babies)- and of course none of that got done. But that was OK, because I had 2 pretty cool things to show for it!

I went back to work on September 27, and this was the day that began Dave's 6 week paternity leave. I thought the first day would be really difficult, but as it turned out, the week went fine. It was the following weeks that were increasingly difficult.

Karin (Dave's mom) came to stay with us for a couple weeks at the beginning to help Dave out which was nice.

The largest challenge at work was to remember to pump every 3 hours... luckily my boss gave me a special space to do it on the same floor as my office. My Ameda Purely Yours did a great job however and I came home with a full stash.

The first week was not as hard as I thought it would be... weeks 2 and 3 were a lot worse:)

So its the end of November already (I'm still trying to catch up writing) and Dave went back to work a few weeks ago. I submitted a proposal to my boss to go part time. She was not surprised (she actually thought I was going to quit I think). Her reaction however led me to believe that she might not be OK with the part-time thing, especially since financial literacy is part of my organizations mission- it pretty much IS the mission- and I am the only one on staff that does it. But... guess what? I am working part-time now! So I go into the office on Tuesday and Thursdays and work half day from home on Wednesdays; Mondays and Fridays I can work as I have a chance from home as well. Dave is currently working from home on the days I am in the office so its pretty sweet!

I am enjoying being able to work, but its been a lot less stressful now that I am part time. I was worried I was going to be so busy that I wouldn't be able to enjoy the little moments of growth with the girls, and now I can!