Hello Dear Boobjuicers and Friends!
Greetings from the lovely Oregon coast. So, here's how much of an evil little twerp is post-partum anxiety. This is our last night at the beach on what has been a fantastic vacation. So I walked the, what, fifty yards? to the ocean from our rented beach house, to say goodbye to the ocean. And was able to stand there for maybe a minute before horrible visions of a tsunami drowning my baby sent me back to the house. Sigh. I tried taking a deep breath, shaking my head, looking back at the house and then back towards the ocean. Wound up just watching for two more waves to make sure the water really wasn't rising and then giving up.
I finally decided to go on sertraline (Zoloft) a few weeks ago. I had been trying to avoid it on the theory that I wanted to expose my little nursling to as little as possible in terms of chemicals in my breastmilk. But after one night too many of crying uncontrollably for no reason I could discern, I decided she's better off with a sane mother than with slightly more pristine breastmilk. Man, I wish I'd come to that conclusion about eight months ago. Sigh. But anyway, I'm feeling much improved, even with tsunami flashes, and after much research am comfortable that Jackie will not be harmed.
And meanwhile, I have discovered the secret to a relaxing vacation with little littles. Extra grownups. We are on vacation with my sister and her husband (two of my favorite people in the whole wide world, also, and lots of fun). Outnumbering the kids two to one is sheer genius. Matt and I didn't manage to have a date (we officially suck at that by the way) but I got lots of sleep. No, really. Jackie and I had like a three hour nursey nap yesterday, and later that day I realized I didn't feel tired. For pretty much the first time I can recall since parenthood. Ahhh.
I brought my breastpump, too. I thought I might be able to sneak in a session a day or so. Well, not so much. I could have if I was willing to do one side while Jackie nursed the other, which is a perfectly reasonable strategy, or pump after she nursed. Some mamas get milk that way, I usually don't. But between all the nursing, sleeping, and s'mores and whatnot, I just didn't make it happen. Who is surprised? Sorry about that.
So presently I'm sitting in the upstairs loft area, listening to Jackie squawk and Robert insist that he needs help getting out of something which Cathy says he can get out of himself. I don't think I want to know.
Much love,
Suzi
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Sunday, June 17, 2012
On the Road
Hello Dear Boobjuicers and Friends!
Happy Father's Day! Fathers are important. I miss my dad. I have no idea what he would have thought of this blog. He probably would have been proud and embarrassed all at once. He was a chemist, and I'm sure with all the research I could have thrown at him, would have respected my breastfeeding and child led weaning. But the idea of his daughter talking about boobs all the time might have challenged his notions of proper conversation. I know he would have loved the house we just bought. We're in a quiet neighborhood, surrounded by trees and hills and kids and pregnant ladies. It's perfect for us. He would have enjoyed sitting on the back deck with a cup of tea or a glass of wine, watching the "traffic" go by. We joke that it's rush hour when two dogs go by at once. And he would have gotten a huge kick out of Matt's fancy stereo, which is linked up to the computer, or maybe a couple of computers, I can't keep track. There's an "Apple TV" involved and I haven't had my orientation training yet. But Dad was a sterophile, and also totally cutting edge on the computer front. We had a TRS-80 at home. Yep. If you don't need to Google that you are a geek.
My business trip was a rousing success! I brought a little hand pump (it's an Avent, sort of hard to find so I wonder if they're not making many of them anymore?) because of the horror stories I had heard about business trips with pumps breaking. I booked the trip to be as brief as possible, not quite doing the math about the part where that meant I would get 3.5 hours of sleep. But then that saved me from getting up in the middle of the night to pump. I talked to the flight attendants and my seat mates about pumping on the plane, and my meeting hosts found some spots in their offices for me to pump. I don't tweet so I posted to Facebook as I went. Here's how it went:
----
Hope that's useful for someone!
Much love,
Suzi
Happy Father's Day! Fathers are important. I miss my dad. I have no idea what he would have thought of this blog. He probably would have been proud and embarrassed all at once. He was a chemist, and I'm sure with all the research I could have thrown at him, would have respected my breastfeeding and child led weaning. But the idea of his daughter talking about boobs all the time might have challenged his notions of proper conversation. I know he would have loved the house we just bought. We're in a quiet neighborhood, surrounded by trees and hills and kids and pregnant ladies. It's perfect for us. He would have enjoyed sitting on the back deck with a cup of tea or a glass of wine, watching the "traffic" go by. We joke that it's rush hour when two dogs go by at once. And he would have gotten a huge kick out of Matt's fancy stereo, which is linked up to the computer, or maybe a couple of computers, I can't keep track. There's an "Apple TV" involved and I haven't had my orientation training yet. But Dad was a sterophile, and also totally cutting edge on the computer front. We had a TRS-80 at home. Yep. If you don't need to Google that you are a geek.
My business trip was a rousing success! I brought a little hand pump (it's an Avent, sort of hard to find so I wonder if they're not making many of them anymore?) because of the horror stories I had heard about business trips with pumps breaking. I booked the trip to be as brief as possible, not quite doing the math about the part where that meant I would get 3.5 hours of sleep. But then that saved me from getting up in the middle of the night to pump. I talked to the flight attendants and my seat mates about pumping on the plane, and my meeting hosts found some spots in their offices for me to pump. I don't tweet so I posted to Facebook as I went. Here's how it went:
I don't tweet so I'm going to play by
play my business trip on this post. To start I'm at PDX, pumping in
an internet kiosk. Only other person in the "service center"
is a female employee on break eating a snack. Next challenge will be
pumping on the plane. Goal is no bathrooms.
On plane to Salt Lake City. Had seat
next to middle-aged man. Switched seats and got a mother of six who
natural birthed and breastfed all of 'em. Used hand pump during
descent.
Smaller plane for Kansas City. Fancy
hat lady next to me. We'll see. Loving the hand pump though. Smaller,
easier to be discreet.
Hat lady was great. Told her the deal
and she said, "You sat next to the right person!" even
though she doesn't have kids. Now FB friends with the mom of six.
In my hotel room with Beulah, pumping
before bed. I have to get up in four hours. Groan.
So after a cozy 3.5 hours of sleep
(downside of the "fast as possible" trip plan) I woke up
fairly full, which surprised me. Ran downstairs to get breakfast and
the freezer inserts for my coolers, which Nice Front Desk Man stuck
in their freezer for me since my cute little 1ft^3 fridge has no
freezer cubby. Ate while pumping. (In my room. That didn't seem
terribly clear.) Still pumping.
Due to meetings will have to go about
three hours from end of this session to start of next one. Have
hearty pumping bra and breast pads... Although come to think of it
that's rather like a normal business day... Also, just pumped for 53
minutes. Phew. Okay, quick shower and toss all my stuff back
together!
Meeting one. Then pumped in "wellness
room," converted phone cubby. Lovely, on par with the rest of
this swanky manager's fancy office. Meeting two. Tried to put me in
the bathroom. Pointed out, gently, that it's food, you wouldn't make
a sandwich in there. "I hadn't thought of that." After
declining one office with a glass door and no blinds, I'm in a file
room that's long and narrow enough that I can't be seen from the
door. Which doesn't lock but I pushed a heavy box against it.
I am noticing that I'm more full and
have a sore spot in the right breast. I'm glad I don't have to do
this often.
Seated on flight to Seattle. Pumping w
electric pump at my seat while they load the plane. I got the window
in the last row, which is perfect, and asked the flight attendant,
and pumped before the door closed. Now I can just sit!
Pumped again of flight because
uncomfortable. Lost suction, thought battery was done, got all
disassembled, realized a valve had fallen out. Sigh. But had pumped a
decent amount. Still have hand pump clean for next flight if I get
uncomfortable.
Almost home!!!
Standing by for half hour earlier
flight to Portland... Cross fingers!
Got the earlier flight!
She's conked out. I made Matt come far
me and Erick babysit and I don't even get to nurse until I get home.
I could have expensed a cab. Sigh.
Home! Nursing! We made it!!!
Oof. Nursed ouchier side first while
hand pumping the other. Now on second side. My little nursing champ
did a great job on the first side.
----
Hope that's useful for someone!
Much love,
Suzi
Saturday, June 2, 2012
Career Advice; Shipping Liquid Gold
Hello Dear Boobjuicers and Friends!
So, when you were in the career advice office of whatever school you most recently attended, getting advice on your resume and identifying possible future employers, remember how the counselor told you, "Now, young hopeful, be sure, when your organization merges with a large bank, to talk to your new c-level executives at the closing celebration about your cheeky breastfeeding blog. That will surely advance your career interests most effectively."
No? Huh. Well, this guy is either the most gracious person in the world or genuinely interested, because we had a lovely conversation about it, and he pointed out the presence of a neat breastfeeding calendar which I must acquire.
So on to more immediately practical topics. Shipping breastmilk. There are several sites out there explaining methods of doing it - kellymom.com and eats on feets, for starters. Most of these suggest using dry ice. I don't know about you but I am too busy (lazy?) to go find dry ice to ship milk around. I used a cold shipping storage box I found on Amazon (was made by RNC Industries - they recommend their 12x12x12 box) and bought extra cold packs. These are just those gel packs you freeze yourself and much like you find in a picnic cooler. I found the best packing method was two gel packs on the bottom, one on each side, and two on top. We put the frozen breastmilk (in the storage bags sold by Lansinoh in this case) by the half dozen or dozen into larger ZipLoc freezer bags (this is important in case one of them has a leak in it) and put the freezer bags into the box inside the frozen gel packs. If they don't fill up the storage space, put the top gel packs on top and then use bubble wrap or something to fill up the rest of the space inside the insulating liner of the box. Tape it up but good! I used FedEx Standard Overnight, that delivers at 10:30 in the morning and this worked like a charm. It's not cheap but this is liquid gold we're talking about here. Also check if you can use your employer's account and reimburse them - they might get a better deal. (Someone pointed this out to me after I did this three times. Ah well).
My sister in law shipped her stash this way for part and let UPS pack the other half, moving house from NY to MI. The friend on the other end who received the goods for her said the box she packed by my method was still frozen solid and the UPS box was thawed, but still refrigerator cold. I asked her to find out how UPS packed that box but no word back yet. So again, I'm not an IBCLC or a FedEx employee or anything fancy like that, so follow my advice at your own discretion. But it worked for us.
Hopefully that is useful to some of you! Let me know if you try it and how it works for you.
Much love,
Suzi
So, when you were in the career advice office of whatever school you most recently attended, getting advice on your resume and identifying possible future employers, remember how the counselor told you, "Now, young hopeful, be sure, when your organization merges with a large bank, to talk to your new c-level executives at the closing celebration about your cheeky breastfeeding blog. That will surely advance your career interests most effectively."
No? Huh. Well, this guy is either the most gracious person in the world or genuinely interested, because we had a lovely conversation about it, and he pointed out the presence of a neat breastfeeding calendar which I must acquire.
So on to more immediately practical topics. Shipping breastmilk. There are several sites out there explaining methods of doing it - kellymom.com and eats on feets, for starters. Most of these suggest using dry ice. I don't know about you but I am too busy (lazy?) to go find dry ice to ship milk around. I used a cold shipping storage box I found on Amazon (was made by RNC Industries - they recommend their 12x12x12 box) and bought extra cold packs. These are just those gel packs you freeze yourself and much like you find in a picnic cooler. I found the best packing method was two gel packs on the bottom, one on each side, and two on top. We put the frozen breastmilk (in the storage bags sold by Lansinoh in this case) by the half dozen or dozen into larger ZipLoc freezer bags (this is important in case one of them has a leak in it) and put the freezer bags into the box inside the frozen gel packs. If they don't fill up the storage space, put the top gel packs on top and then use bubble wrap or something to fill up the rest of the space inside the insulating liner of the box. Tape it up but good! I used FedEx Standard Overnight, that delivers at 10:30 in the morning and this worked like a charm. It's not cheap but this is liquid gold we're talking about here. Also check if you can use your employer's account and reimburse them - they might get a better deal. (Someone pointed this out to me after I did this three times. Ah well).
My sister in law shipped her stash this way for part and let UPS pack the other half, moving house from NY to MI. The friend on the other end who received the goods for her said the box she packed by my method was still frozen solid and the UPS box was thawed, but still refrigerator cold. I asked her to find out how UPS packed that box but no word back yet. So again, I'm not an IBCLC or a FedEx employee or anything fancy like that, so follow my advice at your own discretion. But it worked for us.
Hopefully that is useful to some of you! Let me know if you try it and how it works for you.
Much love,
Suzi
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