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Showing posts from April, 2008

Doing My Best

I'm now a morning person. It happened when Zane was born, and my attention to my new son was required at every hour - not just after 10:00am. Even so, I still cannot make an 8:00am meeting. It's not for lack of trying, because I have tried everything. As I drove to the Capitol this morning, I figured out why. Stress. Every day I use a breast pump to express mother's milk so that Zane will be properly nourished while in daycare. This is not an easy task: Challenge #1 : find 20-30 uninterrupted minutes - twice - during a Session day. Challenge #2 : find an empty room in the Capitol with both an electrical outlet and a door that closes and locks Challenge #3 : hope that the availability of the empty room coincides with the 20-30 uninterrupted minutes - twice Challenge #4 : try to relax as the breast pump screams " WHACK-o ," and lobbyists are knocking on said locked door, so that the milk will "let down" and the pumping session will yield at LEAST 3 ounces.

In Mama's Capable Hands

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This is the current screen saver on my desktop at work. I love this photo. I titled it "In Mama's Capable Hands" because it reminds me of my REAL life. That is especially important right now as I try to balance work and mama-hood. It also reminds me that as hard it has been to manage the demands of Session with an infant, I'm doing a pretty good job. I'm reminded of that every time my son smiles at me. And when I'm away from him during the day, this is what I see: Zane at 8 weeks.

WHACK-o

I think my breast pump is trying to tell me something. The sound it makes as it rhythmically expresses mommy's milk for Z is something akin to "WHACK-o, WHACK-o, WHACK-o." The cadence of the message depends on the setting, so, when I adjust the pump to a faster setting, it sounds like a hoarse Marilyn Monroe on crack calling me crazy. It's true enough these days; I mean, really, why else would I voluntarily relocate to Tallahassee (a solid 7-hour drive from Fort Myers...) for 9 weeks, with my 3-month-old baby, away from my love and my beautiful home, to work a ridiculous schedule at the Capitol and be a full-time single mom? Clearly the breast pump is right.