Back at work

Yesterday was my first day back at work, and Ben's first day at daycare. I wasn't worried about how he'd do at daycare - he's an easy going kid and I love the ladies who are looking after him. What I was worried about was how we'd get ready and out the door on time and all together.

I woke up at 5:30 and the adrenaline kicked in fairly easily.... I was looking forward to a "required" shower instead of just a 3 minute fast-as-can-be shower. Putting on make up and making effort to look presentable sounded heavenly! I'm happy to say that things went fairly smoothly, though I'm sure both Dave and I were tired under it all.

We managed to snap a quick picture on the iPhone of the morning. (Apologies for the grainy quality - our DSR camera's battery was dead.) Ben doesn't look too happy to be leaving Mama (that's what I told myself).
Things seemed to be going well until I left for work, got half way there and then realized I forgot half my stuff in the fridge. Whoops! I had to turn around, which made me late. Dave also forgot his lunch and didn't realize it until he was at work, so there was no turning around to be had for him. But overall, we didn't forget our laptops or kids, so that's good right?

The day passed fairly quickly for me. Lots of things to catch up on, and it was great to see my work friends. The day wasn't without its challenges though; a laughable moment occurred when I was pumping in the afternoon. What you need to know is that I work in a male dominated industry and building (there are only about a dozen females in the building) and there is really NO place to pump (unlike our HQ building which actually has a designated lactation room outfitted with comfy chairs, privacy curtains, fridges for storing breast milk, etc. )

Since I just have a cube and no door, there really isn't any place for me to pump. I will not pump in the bathroom. So they've given me access to what is basically a large storage closet for the computer servers. Only 2 people in the building have an access key, so it's small chances that anyone will enter. And the sign I place on the door hopefully keeps those 2 people out.

Well, yesterday as I'm finishing pumping, the power went out in the building! So there I am in a pitch black closet, fairly exposed so to speak. I buttoned up and attempted to find my way to the door. I imagine if anyone would have seen me inside, I'd have looked like a drunken person stumbling into things left and right. I finally managed to make it to the door (about 20 feet) and open the door to find a friend running to me with a flash light. Thank goodness someone was coming to get me! Apparently an HVAC unit was smoking badly and filing the building with awful electrically smelling smoke. Not sure if I would have heard any alarms as I had my ipod playing and my earphones in. It was quite a few minutes! My poor friend said she was just glad I was clothed as she wasn't sure what she'd find when she opened up the door....

Picking up the kids went fine and we went home and the crazy hour of trying to bring everything in / give the kids my attention / prepping dinner / waiting for Dave to get home started. I figured that dinner (spinach salad with almonds, strawberries, Gorgonzola cheese and shredded chicken) called for some wine!
Sometime around 9 PM, my adrenaline rush fizzled out, or the wine kicked in, or both. I was exhausted!! I couldn't even stay awake for my favorite TV show Castle at 10 PM. I got up at 1 AM to pump and felt like a train hit me. My head was pounding and I was so, so exhausted! I had no clue how I was going to get up in 4.5 hours and do this all again. Somehow I woke up, the Tylenol had kicked in (thank goodness) and I made it out the door only a few minutes late. But I have no clue how long I can keep this up, and it's only day 2!