More Preparations

Weekends have been so busy lately. I knew April was going to be this way and May is shaping up to be no different. I'm not complaining - a lot of it is actually very exciting! Sometimes I feel like the baby's arrival is so far away still but other times I start to think about all we "have" to get done still.

Saturday morning we went to a class at our hospital on breastfeeding. I had so many questions about this and I was eager to learn all I could. The class was really good and I feel that I learned a lot. I admit that in years past that I have been really on the fence about breastfeeding. I hear all of the difficulties, potential problems... and it seemed overwhelming and maybe not worth it. Lately I have been totally on board but I still feel I face obstacles. The biggest being my job. I only have 8 weeks off of work before I return. And as accommodating as my boss would be about it, that doesn't change the fact that I don't always have control over my schedule. It's not uncommon for me to be stuck in lab from 8 until 1 or 2 with barely time for a bathroom break let alone pumping. And I keep reading that you should plan to pump 2 or 3 times during an 8 hour shift. 2 or 3 times?! Yeah, if I want to be at work from 8-7 so I can fit in those breaks and still get all my work done!

Luckily, I stuck around after class to talk with the instructor about my concerns. She told me that I could get away with only pumping once and if needed, not at all. I can potentially program my body to only nurse in the morning and the evening. This was exactly the news I was hoping for! The only problem with this is that I will obviously not have enough milk to leave for the baby to last all day. But it's either that or it will be formula all the time. This way I might be able to use formula during the day and nurse in the morning and at night. If I try pumping at work one or even more times during the day and it seems to be working I can go with it. If not, this could be a good back up plan. Of course, who knows if nursing is even going to work at all. Only time will tell but at least now I have a plan for going back to work if I am nursing.

After the class we had a bunch of errands to run. Last weekend we had gone to Lazy.Boy and I fell in love with a rocker recliner. I don't really like gliders and had been wanting to go this direction. And this chair was perfect! It is super cushy but you don't feel like you are sinking. It is a smaller chair (there is like a "ma" and "pa" version) and there is not a ton of room from my hips to the arms of the chair. I think this is a good thing because the arms are the perfect height for me to rest my arms while I hold the baby. And hubby fits fine too. The salesperson told us there was going to be a sale this weekend so we had decided to think about it over the past week. The problem being that it is nearly twice the price I had budgeted for a nursery chair. After careful consideration, we decided to go for it! We figure it should be a good enough chair to last beyond the baby (or two) and if so it will be more useful as general furniture in the future. I'm pumped, I love the chair!

We also made a quick run to BRU to use a couple of 20% off coupons to pick up the crib mattress and the changing table pad. We are getting there! After the next ultrasound (Thursday) we will be able to start actually putting the nursery together. Painting is slated to begin next weekend. Let's hope the colors we picked out don't have to be replaced by blue and green due to a gender surprise. I know baby wasn't exactly cooperating last time so I just hope the tech was sure!

Whew. Less than 12 weeks to go. Is that a lot or a little? I can't quite decide!

But for now, it's off to do my commenting and return all the lovely comments I have gotten so far!