Thursday, May 22, 2008

What do May showers bring?


It's hard to grow tomatoes when the high is 52. But hopefully they will survive. It's hard to imagine how freaked out I would be if the survival of my family relied on my tomato, pepper, lettuce, spinach, carrot and melon plants making it through this cold snap. I'm worried enough as it is and I really don't have that big of an investment in these little plants right now. I finally got the beds built through excessive whining and ran out and bougt 12 plants right away. The seeds I planted are very experimental for me so we'll see what comes up. I thought I would be able to do all this on my own but it seems having a one month old around proved very difficult. He's really not into digging in the dirt...yet.


Being a new mom is quite an experience. I have accepted all the pains for the joys that follow, but there is one thing that I have really had a hard time with. I go back to work in less than two weeks and I just cannot get excited about pumping breastmilk for my child. I am very excited to feed him strained peas and carrots from my garden, but the thought of sitting in a tiny room at work alone with my pump just isn't doing it for me. I have a hard enough time right now when I have a little spare time here and there. I have a friend who keeps telling me I should be pumping like a crazy person. And I do try. I have at least a gallon in the freezer, but she says I should have three or four. This should be the most simple way to ensure my baby does not have to eat anything from a can while I have something to say about it yet I just cannot get into it. I have another friend who has been pumping so much she is donating her milk to a woman who had triplets. How do they do it? Why them and not me? I was looking at some of the ingredients in formula at the grocery store recently: corn syrup! Corn syrup is the first ingredient in almost every formula! Even the really fancy expensive ones! I can't feed my baby corn syrup! There has got to be a way for me to start to love pumping so I can keep up with the breastmilk as long as possible. Maybe it will be easier at work when I am missing him...but I doubt it.

3 comments:

BAWC said...

the garden looks awesome. we really need to get to work on tilling ours so that we can get our plants in. as far as pumping, it sucks (quite literally) but for me, when i considered the alternative it was well worth the effort. it is not fun sitting in the bano in MICU while someone is knocking on the door every few seconds, but it gets you away for awhile and lets you really contemplate the most important priority in your life. i did stock up before i went back just by making sure that i pumped at least once a day. it is worth it, make that commitment to your little friend! ps i miss you and i would love to have lunch before you go back. i am so happy that you updated your blog, i check on a regular basis. peace

sarah k. said...

Oh, I can't imagine how hard that would be! I tried pumping a little, but it was too hard. Do you have a hospital grade pump? Supposedly they're faster and not painful. I wish I had advice, but I don't. My mom did it a lot, and I think Camille may have. Maybe they could help?

So what have you planted? Here's what I've got: parsley, basil, thyme, lettuces, beets, chard, carrots, corn, green beans, broccoli, cabbage, sweet peppers, hot peppers, 9 tomatoes, onions, nasturtiums, sugar pumpkins, rhubarb, and strawberries. So far, the birds have been bathing in the large boxes, and the squirrels have eaten strawberries and onions from the small boxes. I can't believe how mad I am at the damn squirrels. I went out and dusted the boxes with cayenne pepper yesterday. I hope that teaches them.

There's also a rabbit den in our neighbors backyard, so I'm a little worried for when the babies get bigger. Oh yeah, and I had a tree planting adventure that has left me a little tired.

Clara Lieu said...

Hi Micah: I pumped for 4 months at an incredibly unsupportive work environment, but I still managed to make it work. Here's my advice: get a hospital grade pump, yes they're expensive but it's SO WORTH IT. I bought a mini-pump at first thinking that it would be enough, but it was very slow and inefficient. This sounds silly too, but it really helps your milk let down faster: making a recording of E crying and listen to it and look at photos of him while you're pumping, it makes a huge difference. Try if you can to stock up on frozen milk to back you up once in a while.

I'll be honest and tell you that pumping at work is tough, even when you're being supported and have a private place. ( I could only take 15 min. breaks and I had to pump in a half-private cubicle which I got kicked out of at one point and then had to pump in the slide library-don't ask)BUT you can do it, and it's worth all of the hassle because in the end you'll be helping you baby so much. If you have more specific questions feel free to call/email me. When I was pumping at work, it was a very stressful/emotional thing and it's nice to talk to someone who's been through the same thing.