Mommy Short Cut #1

Before I had my son, I decided that I wanted to breast feed and make as much of his baby food as possible.  I'm a little freaked out about some of the pre-made baby food (jarred meat- no thank you!) so making his food seemed a little more natural to me.  Now, remember I also happen to be Bridget Jones reincarnated as a mother.  My tip to making baby food- buy frozen fruits and veggies.  The veggies steam in the bag- awesome!  Most fruit just needs to thaw.  I spend about 3 minutes blending with my immersion blender and another minute spooning the puree into an ice cube tray.  Done.

Thank God for a Good Cup of Coffee

It rained like 3 inches overnight.  Whoa.  And with 3 inches of rain (well really even a sprinkling of rain) rush hour traffic becomes a nightmare.  Go figure.  Now in my pre-child days, I would have been more likely to leave a little early and maybe make it to work on time.  In my post-child days, I'm lucky to leave on time most days and leaving early is a figment of my imagination.  We actually were running sort of on time today and I would have been fine had it been a normal traffic day, lest it was not.  As I pathetically sat in traffic and watched the time tick closer and closer to 9 am on my clock, I realized that the silver lining to having a bad commute day is holding a really, really good cup of coffee to drink along the way.  It's the little things, really, it is.

Carpe Diem

A few months ago there was a blog post floating around from a mother who was mocking the fact that people suggest that she should carpe diem as a parent.  I get where she was coming from, but I don't really agree with her.  I am a person who tries to savor every moment- even the bad/trying/tiring/terrifying.  I figure they are brief moments in his life and they make so many other things in life that we used to stress about seem so unimportant. 

Case in point- last Tuesday was a pretty hectic morning.  Not really sure why, but leaving the house on time seemed to be impossible.  I wasn't helped by the fact that I realized while I was rushing around to leave, I remembered that our water and electric bill was due that day.  I had to make a detour to drop the payment off so we wouldn't get the bright pink reminder letter.  Not the day to need to make an extra stop!  My commute is long enough that I always have idle time to think while I drive and again I came back to the fact that even the craziest morning or most stressful moment doesn't matter or stress me like I did before having our son.  I'd like the challenge the carpe diem mother and suggest that she adopt the phrase "this too shall pass".  Life with kids is like that and at some point, maybe sooner than later, she will realize that she missed out. 

Oh, the Controversy!

I found out on Friday that Time magazines cover story this week is about Dr Sears and his attachment parenting philosophy.  I'm dying to leave work and get my hands on a copy of the magazine.  I was able to read a few paragraphs of one of the articles and was shocked to read these stats- 75% of mothers start breastfeeding.  At 6 months, 44% still are breastfeeding and only 15% are exclusively breastfeeding.  We're in that 15% and I'm not sure if I should feel honored or horrified.  I'm glad that 44% still are giving some breast milk so all things considered, I think that it probably is a good thing that we've made it this far.  I will post more thoughts about this article once I get the chance to actually read the entire article.

Support Network

I like it when other mom's share useful information with me.  I've relied heavily on two great resources at times during my breastfeeding journey.  La Leche League (LLL) and kellymom (kellymom.com). 

I like both for different reasons.  LLL is a physical group and has been a good way for me to meet some other moms who live in my general area.  The leaders for my chapter are amazing and know more than I could have imagined was possible to know about breast feeding.  My mom was very active in LLL when she was breast feeding and really encouraged that I find a group close to where we live.  I love having a physical connection to some like minded women that unfortunately no virtual group could ever replace.

Kellymom has been an amazing go to for quick answers to questions that I've had.  I've spent countless hours reading the forums during middle of the night feeds and have learned a lot through the questions and advice given to other moms.  They have an amazing collection of factual advice on different topics and often provide several sources for their information.  I believe that kellymom is one of the best online breast feeding resources available. 

Mother's Day

As I reflect on the fact that my first mother's day with an outside child is later this week, I'm humbled by the movement to raise awareness about the high maternal mortality rate during child birth. 

No Mother's Day: Every 90 Seconds a Woman Dies Becoming a Mother

We are not big celebrators of "Hallmark" holidays so by default and choice I will choose not to do anything out of the ordinary to celebrate being a mother.  Sure I'll spend my day with my son and maybe my husband and I will make a special meal, but I won't expect or be hurt if I am not showered with gifts and cards. 

I feel fortunate that I had a very uncomplicated birth experience.  Yes, I had to have a little help from the vacuum, but in the end my experience was not one that, in theory, would have led to any kind of extreme danger.  However, having been through birth, I now realize just how quickly things can take a turn for the worse.  Scary.  My son and husband could have been sent home from the hospital without me.  Really scary.

My reflection on becoming a mother solidifies my position that all women in the US (and worldwide to be frank) need to have access to all methods of family planning- including safe, abortion services.  Along with access,  we need to learn to respect all women as independent thinkers and let them make the best decision for their situation and RESPECT that decision. In this presidential election year, I think it is even more important for women to stop and think where the current movement to limit women's access to safe abortions and family planning care will lead us.  This is not a political issue, even though it shouldn't be.  This is an issue of health above anything else!

I Choose Chaos

Every day I get home from work and survey the mess that is our house.  I usually stop at some point and dream about how clean my house would be if I were a SHAM.  Then I snap back to reality and remember that I didn't accomplish much while I was on maternity leave. 

I keep a running list of daily projects, prioritized in my head.  It goes something like this:

• Wash bottles and pump parts
• Prepare bottles for the next day
• Set up coffee maker 
• Unload/load dishwasher
• Clean up cookware from dinner

Big break in list!

• Change bag in diaper champ
• Grocery shopping
• Laundry
• Clean bathrooms
• Vacuum
• Get the mail from mailbox (it's across the street from our drive- just a few steps too many to do it every day!)
• Go through pile of papers on island/counter/kitchen table

Another big break in list!

• Wash windows
• Scrub floors
• Dust
• Vacuum vents
• File papers/organize in home office

Most days- I complete the entire first part of the list.  Some days I just do the first three.  Most weeks I do part of the second list.  My goal is to do the whole thing every week- that hasn't happened since before baby.  And the final part of the list- well, right now I only dream of doing all of those regularly.  Scrubbing floors is the one that I get to first and most often and by most often we are talking once every month or longer.  Does it bother me that my house is in disarray- yes- otherwise, I wouldn't be blogging about it.  Would I actually change it?  Not necessarily.  I will if it won't mean less time for my family.  Right now I'd rather play with LO on our messy floor or have an extra 30 minutes to connect with my husband than to put them aside to complete a cleaning project.  These are the choices that I make as a working mom and I'm okay with it.  Besides- I doubt my house would be much cleaner if I were a SHAM- so at least I can use work as an excuse!

When In Doubt...Trust Your Mommy Gut

I never realized how strong the mommy instinct is until waking up on Friday morning to a very crabby, clingy baby.  This is not normal for him.  I remember thinking to myself as I was holding him and putting on makeup with my other hand that maybe I needed to stay home with him instead of going to work.  I took his temperature and it was normal so we left for the day.  I had been at work long enough to turn on my computer when I got the call from daycare that he had a 101 degree temp. Crap.  Now I would not have minded if I worked down the street from our house.  Sadly- I don't and immediately thought- wow, I should have trusted my gut when it said stay home today.  It was my turn to stay home so I turned my computer off, packed my things, trekked back to my car, and drove 45 min back to daycare to pick him up.  We cuddled on the couch most of the day on Friday and Saturday.  Finally on Sunday we had a mostly normal, happy baby again.  Sigh. 

Lesson learned: the next time my gut says stay home with LO, I'll be calling in sick.

The silver lining- we were only out of daycare for a day instead of the mandatory two.  Thank God for the weekend!