Some people may think that it's not that great a deal going back to work, and I know some who actually enjoy and want to go back. But there's also a group of us who think it's a huge deal and need time to cope. I spent the first week moping and missing my babies a great deal. I know that's not the way to go but I can't help myself (I told you I'm Ms Emo) and I know that time will help everyone deal with things better. So here's a peek of how the week has been.
6.30am: that's the time I set my alarm to be up. That's because the husband starts work at 7.30am and he needs to be on the roads at 7am. Our new childcare arrangement is to drop off our helper and kids at my aunt's place. Aunt is a SAHM and she's a great lady who we trust. We just have to drive a lot because she doesn't exactly stay nearby.
We begin to wake the children up, change their diapers, brush Kate's teeth and bribe her with some biscuit/bread to get her to co-operate. In-between hugging/talking to/helping with the children, I try to pack my own bags. I have my mommy-duty necessities (check and check again, can't forget to bring anything!), my breakfast & my usual lady bag (make-up pouch, tissue paper, wallet, keys etc). By the time they actually leave, I'm left with about 20-25minutes. I rush to shower, have a tough time picking out my clothes (not enough that fit me! Damn the pregnancy bulge! Yes I need to pack my clothes!), paint on my work(war) face and make it out of the house before 8am.
For this week, I'm always up before 6.30am because Jake seems to fancy waking up without the help of this alarm clock. It's exhausting!
Kate has her moods and there are days she doesn't want to go to aunt's place. That's when we have to pull out tricks from our sleeves to distract and entice her to go. Similar to school, she's fine when she arrives at the aunt's but it's the separation anxiety that kicks in at times where we bid her goodbye which can be very challenging.
8am: I begin my commute to work. I have to get used to the very-packed trains, stress of not being able to board and thus reaching work on time... argh I hate it. It rained today which made me doubly stressed.
But so far, *pat myself on head* this week has been good. I've not reached work late.
10am: I go for my first pump. Now, my office building doesn't have nursing facilities, so I make do with using two different rooms to do the deed. Depending on which room is available, I take the key and head off (to either level 9 or 2). After the deed, I head to the pantry (level 7) to store the milk before heading back (level 11). It's a bit of a pain having to wait for the lift to get to my destinations and the logistics involved takes way longer than the actual deed (!) but I'm thankful that I have been able to attend to my mommy-duties all this week. Yay.
12.30-1pm: Lunch. By lunch, I'd have received some picture/video update from the aunt on the kids. It really helps - it's like I get a small dose of my drug and I feel happy.
2.30pm: Pump 2.
About 4pm: The husband calls. This week, he's been able to knock off at this time and pick the kids up early. This translates into them coming home early enough that the helper can prepare dinner. Yay to home-cooked meals!
6pm: Pump 3. At my previous job while expressing milk for Kate, I only did 2 pumps a day. This was because Kate was a small drinker. I'd always have enough for her from those 2 sessions - but Jake has a bigger appetite than Kate and I want to just work a little harder to be able to keep up with his demands. The other reason is because I would always rush home to do the evening feed with Kate. But with Jake, I may/may not make it back in time for his feed so it's just easier for him to be fed and for me to not have to stress about rushing back.
By 7pm: I leave the office. It takes about 45mins for me to reach home.
8pm: Dinner. Because of the husband's great schedule, I've been coming home to home-cooked dinners the past few days. And I tell you, it's such an awesome feeling! I love it! Upon reaching home, I always give Kate a hug and Jake's usually asleep by then. So I just watch him sleeping and kiss him lightly.
8.30pm: we start to put Kate to sleep. She's showered and had her night milk and we rock her to snooze-land.
9.30pm-10pm: I go take my shower. And with both kids asleep, this is when the husband and I manage to speak to each other and do our own things.
We go to sleep too late and get very tired when we wake up the next morning. Wash, rinse, repeat.
I must admit that I've not exactly been the most productive at work this week, but I know it'd get better next week. And I'm thankful that work's not too busy now such that I still have time to ease into things. Our schedule will change if the husband knocks off late and there's not enough time to prepare dinner. There will also be days that he has school. On those days, it'd be I who does the shuttling. It'd happen soon, and I'm not looking forward because driving can be so stressful with all the morning traffic (ugh!) but well, I just gotta deal with it.
So yes, I'm really feeling happy now because it's the end of my work week. I'm clearing my maternity leave and my boss has agreed to my request of clearing the leave one day a week with every Friday off.
So hello weekend!
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