Busy Busy Busy

I realized that Ellie started a cough on Saturday. I should have known something was up when she took a three hour nap and we decided to wake her up so that she would be able to sleep that night. She was not happy. After an afternoon of errands and going to visit her great grandma (who has a broken arm) she was tired. It was a rough night because she woke up every four hours coughing and she wasn't nursing well.

Sunday had been planned for weeks. My mom turns 50 on 2/28/11 and she was up in the air on what she wanted to do for her birthday. So finally she decided Dim Sum Sunday morning and then a Karaoke party Sunday night. So we dragged Ellie to Dim Sum on Sunday and then we also took her to the Karaoke party, since my mom didn't say anything about bringing a baby to the party we took her.

Once we arrived the other Asians found it unacceptable that the baby was there. They said that the loud music was going to affect her heart and that she shouldn't be there. My mom heard it but didn't say anything so I went to the car to try to nurse her and then sent Eric to take her home while I stayed behind. At around 9 it was time for me to go back home to nurse her and put her to bed. Little did I know that my departure meant that everyone else was leaving and the party ended. I felt bad for my mom but a four hour party isn't too bad, right! There was some good booze, food, and singing. I hope that my mom had a good time and enjoyed the angel food cake that her friend's daughter made for her. I again was asked why I didn't buy my mom a more presentable cake but I told her friends the cake she got was what she wanted. I was more than happy to buy my mom a delicious cake from Dierberg's European Bakery, since she does not like sweet cakes.

Ellie's coughs only got worse and on Wednesday she began sneezing. Thursday when I went and got her she was crying and I could tell from her face that she was tired and exhausted. They said that she didn't sleep well and that they finally gave up and let her sleep in the swing since she kept waking up each time she coughed. Thursday night was no easy feat as she began to have massive spit ups each time she coughed. We weren't sure if Friday she could go to daycare.

Friday morning we got up and again she had a major spit up and I decided she was staying home. She didn't have a fever but with this being her first illness I just wanted to be home with her. We decided to call the doctor and the nurse said for her to come in since her cough wasn't any better.

The doctor stated that she most likely had RSV and that luckily she wasn't too bad (i.e. no fever, no fluids in the lungs, etc) and mostly what she heard was congestion. We need to continue to watch for any fevers because that could be a sign of something else. Ellie sleeps a lot and eats less which worries me but I really hope that she gets over this FAST!

I Survived the Four Day Work Week

Out of four days, I cried twice right after dropping Ellie off at daycare, teared up several times throughout the day at work on the third day and well, the fourth day was a little easier.

When I drop Ellie off in the mornings, the group is in a playroom where all the kids 2 and under play together. Today when I went in, one of the teachers that work with the 1 year old room, was excited to see Ellie and requested to hold her. I felt relieved for some reason and it was a nice feeling. I guess our baby's cute chubby cheeks and winning smile are melting the hearts of other people besides us, right? ;0)

Ellie doesn't have much of a day schedule but her nights are pretty right on. She is ready for bed between 7:30-8:30 and typically she gets up at around 4-5 to eat. That is almost 8 hours and I'm loving it. Most of the time she will go back right to sleep and will wake up on her own at around 8 or 9 a.m. She just started this when I went back to work and it's working wonderfully for us. It gives Eric and I some time to get ready for the next day, shower, and do the dishes. We are certainly behind on our TV shows and a 30 minute show could take us two days. We try to hit the sack at 10:30 so that we both have enough sleep for the next day. I could be more tired at work but I'm thankful that she's "sleeping through the night." She's definitely a sleeper like her parents!

However, since she goes to bed at 8 this only leaves a few hours of awake time that I get to spend with her and even less for Eric. I dread the day when Eric begins to work late hours because I don't think he'll see much of her. That part saddens me the most. Sometimes when I pick her up from daycare I feel like "did you grow while I was gone?" Thank goodness daycare is only a 5 minute drive from work and home. I love how it's on the way to work. Sometimes I think I'm running late because I leave at 7:40, I still make it to work at 8:05 the latest!

Eric and I brought up the topic of evicting Ellie out of our room. We're not sure if we're ready yet. However, if she continues sleeping 8-5 I think it's something that we can consider.

On a different note, my 10 page paper that's been nagging at me since November is due May 1. I guess I should begin working on that this weekend, huh? Except I say that every weekend and all of the sudden it's Sunday night! Next weekend for sure is what I say. It's going to have to happen soon!

A picture of Ellie with her cute flower headband that I got off etsy (Can I say that I absolutely LOVE etsy!?!). Nobody better ask me "is that a boy or girl?"

Much Needed Three Day Weekend

Friday was an interesting day. It was my first full day since my boss let me go 30 minutes early on Thursday. I asked Eric to go with me to daycare because Ellie was fussy and I just needed some moral support. Luckily daycare is only a 3 minute drive from our apartment.

She was the first one there and when I went to pick her up she was the last one there. I felt terrible, but Eric said that it was not a good indicator as people tend to work shorter days on Fridays and I did not pay attention on Thursday to see if she was the first one there.

I took things a lot slower Friday morning and arrived to work a little before 8. I realized I have run into some challenges at work with pumping. First, the pump is kind of loud but I think my coworker doesn't mind (I mean she did hear me puke during my pregnancy). Second is washing the parts in between sessions. I have to walk into the kitchen and I try to cover my hand over the bowl containing all the parts so that nobody notices. However, I've gotten the eyebrow from a lady when she realized what I was carrying. I realize that I need to have a cover but the handle of the bottle brush will stick out. I wish there was an easier way to do this. This weekend I need to buy more parts only because they are sometimes still wet after washing the parts. Until someone approaches me about this, I plan to continue washing it in the sink.

I also tried to visit some people on Friday. There is certainly a level of pressure of looks when I went back. One lady said to me, "you lost your weight but you just need to tone."

Here's a video of Ellie's second rounds of laughs. Eric has made it a mission to get her to laugh everyday.

I Am SO Tired

Apparently, I overestimated my times today and ended up at work at 7:45 instead of 8. I guess tomorrow I can take things a little slower or maybe today was a very good, fast morning.

I woke up at 6:15 and began nursing Ellie at 6:45. Just like the night before she got up at 4:30 and fell fast asleep at 4:50 allowing me to sleep a little over an hour and I appreciated it! It wasn't hard for me to fall asleep since I had trouble going to bed last night (up until 11 when I went to bed at 10).

When I arrived at daycare, my heart dropped when I saw a bottle of breast milk on the side and it had leaked. I know the whole saying, "don't cry over spilled milk" but I had worked tirelessly to pump enough for daycare so I was disappointed and glad that I had brought an extra bottle of breast milk than I thought she may need.

On my way to work I shed some tears but once I got there everything felt weird. I had so much to do that I didn't know where to begin. So I just focused on what was most important which were trying to get a hold of students doing poorly in classes.

I was able to pump three times and got a total of 9 ounces. I was happy thinking that Ellie probably on took in 8 ounces since she only took in 4 during her half day yesterday. However, when I got there I looked at the sheet and she took in 10 ounces! Yikes! She also didn't nap very well so she was clearly tired when we got home.

Another mother at the daycare was very supportive and told me that her son did not nap a wink during the first two weeks of daycare but had begun napping recently. So I took comfort in her words of encouragement. It doesn't make it easy when I got her and she started to fuss right away.

When we got home, she did not sleep for very long and was up while I was making dinner and waiting for Eric to get home. Once we finished dinner, Eric picked Ellie up in her bouncer and started smiling and laughing and guess what!? She began to laugh back and giggle. She did it for me once before but never again but she did it over and over again. Her laugh melted our hearts and we kept encouraging for more. Finally she stopped but Eric and I kept talking about it over and over tonight.

I'm so tired right now and in the back of my mind I'm not sure how I can do a full work week of such a busy schedule.

Dad and Ellie cuddle time

Daycare and Returning to Work

Today Ellie did a half day at daycare just to get her (and me) adjusted. She went to bed around 9:30 but work up at 4:30. Unfortunately, she did not fall asleep right away and I landed back in bed at 5:40 with the intention of getting up at 6. I was so tired I decided to sleep anyways, 20 minutes is better than 0. However, at 6:15 Eric's alarm went off and he asked me what time I wanted to get up. Not knowing the time I said 6:15 and he said "well, time to get up." Since this was just a run I said 15 more minutes and got up at 6:30.

I was able to make breakfast and get ready. Ellie was asleep (I said to Eric, "this is so wrong to wake up a sleeping baby") so I had to turn on the lamp and unswaddle her to wake her up. At 7:15 I began to nurse. Well, our 20 minute nursing session took 30 minutes as she decided to poop while nursing and it was a large one that made me change her entire outfit and then she decided to spit up on my clothes.

My lesson for tomorrow morning, wake her up earlier (6:45 a.m.), which means I need to get up earlier (6 a.m.), and nurse then get dressed. I have a feeling I'm going to be VERY tired tomorrow. Thank goodness I decided to go back on a short week.

Overall, I did well. I only cried once which was an improvement when we did orientation where I teared up several times even though we weren't dropping her off. I feel better because they and the director stress to me to "call anytime."

A picture to show you our lovely Turkey, Ellie (we decided on a nickname....finally, more because there's another Elizabeth in daycare!)

Prepare to Return to Work

In one week I will be returning to work. Last night I had a dream that one of my students showed up at my apartment to ask me a question. I was furious that he did not go and see my supervisor for help. Maybe it's a sign that I'm ready or a sign that work is upon me.

Before Eric and I decided to have children I would ask Eric if he would be okay if I was a stay at home mom. At that time he would reply, "if we had the money." So, I knew that where he stood on that but he would ask me, "do you think you could be a stay at home mom?" Honestly, I didn't know then. I hear from my friends that some of them can and some of them cannot. Who knew how I would feel after having my own child?

Towards the end of my pregnancy, Eric opened up the conversation of his acceptance of me being a stay at home mom. I found this quite odd as our child wasn't here yet and he was beginning to have a change of heart. I didn't think much of this since my intent was always to return to work after maternity leave.

When Elizabeth was born (by the way, we're still in discussion in regards to Ellie or Ella) Eric and I were both like "we cannot be stay at home parents." However, as I took my daycare orientation tour yesterday I had a hard time handing her off to one of the teachers while we went to take care of paperwork. I kept tearing up as I saw where she was going to sleep and as we filled out the paperwork. Even seeing the numbers on how much we would be paying a week was hard (luckily for a 10% SLU discount).

A friend told me recently that it's hard to let them go to daycare at this age, but by the time they're three it'll be "see you later!"

My other challenge is having enough milk to send with her to daycare. I've been reading and reading on how to have enough but with trying to pump so that she's given an ounce of milk a day and trying to get a freezer stash started is proving a lot harder than I thought. The daycare she goes to provides formula so we started giving her the formula that the daycare will provide (Good Start) and see how she does. She has taken formula before but she's done so well these past thirty days that she did not even finish half a can of Similac. Luckily one of my friends daughter will be able to use the unfinished can.

Here's a picture of our less fussy, more smiling baby Elizabeth! We love her more than she'll ever know.