The Joys Of A Working Mom.....

As I have completed my first week back at school, I can't help but chuckle at the insanity of being a teacher and mom at the same time.  If you happen to be a guy who has stumbled upon this post, don't worry, I'm not going to start talking about all the nasty details of pumping.  I will, however, share how pumping has not only been one of the most annoying things about going back to work, but also the most entertaining aspect my return.

It's the little things, like finding a place and time to pump that may not seem like such a big deal but have been quite an interesting fiasco.  As a teacher, you are required to be in the room with your students at all times, so how does pumping fit into the picture?  You would think that once a time and place were determined the rest would just work itself out. I can certainly say I have had my share of hilarious pumping experiences, and I'm sure I'm not the only one.

I was quite certain that the sound of a breast pump coming from our office bathroom would discourage anyone from coming too close.  I guess I was wrong, and found out that the same pump, which seemed so loud from inside the bathroom was not nearly as loud from the outside.  I often check...and double check to make sure the door is locked. On this particular day I was overloaded with paperwork and must have had a brain of mush because I forgot to lock the door!  That was the last time I would ever forget, as a co-worker stumbled upon me in my not so wonderful state.  You may think I was mortified, but on the contrary I was extremely relieved to see that it was one of my female co-workers rather than the two male co-workers who it could have been!

I have also experienced numerous instances where I have had to leave my pumping station to get to class on time not realizing that I have milk spilled all over the front of my pants and shirt.  To this day, I'm not really sure how this seems to happen as much as it does but I have determined that as long as I am a mom, I will forever smell of sour milk.

I realized today that having a fellow co-worker walk in on me while pumping was maybe not the worst thing that could happen.  As I went to turn on my pump it made several very unique noises and then proceeded to die a very quick death.  I made several attempts to try various outlets etc but it was dead, and I needed a solution fast!  Not pumping was out of the question, and so I sat....staring at the wall wondering what the heck I was going to do.  It was then that it dawned on me to possibly borrow a fellow teacher's pump.  Genius.  What was not so genius about this plan was that I would have to interrupt an 8th grade L.A. class to get a pump, and then proceed to walk the pump down the hall to my office.  The good news is, I didn't explode.  The bad news: the pump is dead and is over three years old, so no longer has a warranty.

I'm sure there will be many more stories to come in the next 6 months of these pumping adventures.  Let's just wait and see.....

Preparing My Heart

Once again, my time at home with Wes is at it's end and my heart is aching at the thought of going back to work.  Before Wes was born, I thought I would be okay with working.  If I'm completely honest, I thought I might go crazy being a stay at home mom. I was confident that being a teacher was the best profession to be in as a mom because of the hours and having the summers off, of course!  Although this is certainly still true,  now that Wes is here my heart is 100% focused on him. I want to be the only one that teaches him, feeds him, sees his cute little face when he wakes up from a nap, and witness all of his first accomplishments.  Having been able to spend so much time with him this summer, I am dreading, more than ever, returning to work.  It's so frustrating that while Brandon has done everything in his power to find a job that could support our family if I did stay home, he has simply not been able to. To be clear, I literally mean a job that will allow us to pay the bills, not live outside of our means in any way. Trust me, we are not looking to make a lot of money, we are simply looking to be able to pay the bills. If I were a stay at home mom currently, we would be able to pay most of our bills but would not be able to afford health care, groceries, or gas for our cars.  I can't write about this topic too much because it frustrates me to tears.  I do not understand how so many women can afford to be stay at home moms.  If you have some big secret, please let me know!  I wish more than anything that my husband will be recognized for his talents and amazing work ethic some day soon.  I just keep praying and hoping for this day to come.  

The Journey Begins

Wes had his 6 month appointment today and we got the "okay" to start on solids.  I have not been looking forward to this time for many reasons, including: the mess involved, the time involved, the money involved, the nasty poops, and the potential for allergic reactions.  The last one has me especially worried due to our constant battle with allergy issues throughout his breast-feeding months.  I decided I was going to put it off for as long as possible, but was strongly encouraged by his doctor to start sometime soon.  So, we will give it a go.  

I was at least excited about being able to make my own baby food.  That was, until I actually did it.  It was certainly much cheaper, but was extremely time consuming.  I'm sure it will get easier once I have a system in place, but the first time was certainly not too thrilling, to say the least.  I decided that I was going to start with sweet potatoes, and then move to carrots.  Two great sites that I used for recipes and info about safe foods for babies were the following:

Hip Organic Mama

Wholesomebabyfood

The total time from start to finish was about 3 hours = way too much time!

I started with USDA Organic Bunny Luv (Costco sized bag) carrots and steamed them in a strainer over boiling water.  Apparently carrots have nitrates in them so you have to make sure that the steaming water does not touch the carrots or baby could be infected with the "evil" nitrates. See "Hip Organic Mama" blog if you are interested in reading more about this. You are also, apparently, supposed to steam all veggies rather than microwaving them etc., because this process preserves the most nutrients.  I then baked some Organic, Trader Joes sweet potatoes in the oven wrapped in foil (which was much easier than the steaming process).

Once they cooled, I stuck them in the baby food processor and added some water to get a consistency I was happy with.  

Finally, I stored the food in ice cub trays and special freezer/microwave safe containers I bought and stuck them all in the freezer!

Hope Wes likes them :)

A Change Of Heart

Those who know me well also know my opinion of cloth diapers.  If you were to ask me, I would say, "Eh...they are fine if you want to deal with the mess!" OR "It's not like they really save that much money!" OR "Who seriously has time for that?"  Several months ago Wes started to develop a pretty persistent diaper rash. It was driving me crazy! I tried a bunch of different brands of diapers, but to my dismay nothing would help except a good lathering of diaper ointment at every diaper change. Realizing that I would have to switch to some sort of super sensitive disposable diaper (which of course, I could not buy at my beloved Costco) had me thinking about the possibility of cloth.  I did not want to admit that I was really considering this option but I thought, it's worth a try.  After all, if I could not buy my diapers at Costco I was not going to buy them at all because they are by far the cheapest at this location.

I was so sad every time I looked at Wes' poor little rash, and honestly the disposable diapers were starting to gross me out.  The nasty little absorbent beads were constantly showing up on my sweet boy's bum since he is such a heavy wetter.  I finally decided to take the plunge, and found the transition extremely easy thanks to the help of the wonderful, Anne Parker Huret, and several cloth diaper bloggsters.  I bought all of my supplies from Sweet Bottoms, who I would highly recommend! They offer great deals when you buy in bulk and free shipping on all purchases. PLUS my package was delivered in two days! Awesome!  I bought a total of 14 diapers to start hoping to build the rest of my supply gradually.  Wes goes through about 8 diapers a day....depending on the day, so my plan is to do one load of wash (diapers) every other day.  My opinion of cloth diapers has changed 100%.  I love them.  They are super easy and of course, NO MORE RASH!  I spent a total of $180 on all of my supplies, which is essential the cost of 3-4 months of disposable diapers.  These diapers will fit Wes until he is potty trained (35 lbs) and I can use them on other (soon to come) Baughman babies.  I line dry the diapers, so my electricity bill will not increase by much at all.  AND, best of all, I will never have to buy a disposable diaper again!

If you're interested, here's what I decided to go with:
Baby Kawaii Diapers: $8 a piece: 4 blue, 4 green, 4 brown, 2 over-nighters

                                   

Butt cream  (have to use a special kind so that it doesn't build up on the diapers)

 Detergent (have to use a special kind of this too so that the diapers remain absorbent)

Medium sized wet bag (where the dirty diapers go when you are out and about)

Antibacterial pail liner (on left) for dirty diapers and mini trash can on right for dirty wipes

 Cute little baby to wear the diapers :)