All the Details: My First Week Back to Work
Today marks one week since I returned to work. Since so many people have asked how my first week went, I thought I would write about it.
In short, it was good, hard and not like I planned.
So pretty much, as to be expected.
I cried a lot on Wednesday. I think I wept five times before my 8:30 meeting, and then teared up in the meeting. Though I love my work, it didn’t make it easier to be away from Ezra.
I knew the first day would be the hardest. I cried a lot day one when I left Elias and Adeline too.
My colleagues were super sweet and my office “roommate” had roses and a sign waiting for me on my desk. All day friends texted and emailed me to check in. I felt very loved.
Ezra did well with his bottles and being with Matthew. (Because of my extensive travel in March and not wanting to pump on the road, Ezra didn’t have a lot of bottles while I was on leave, so we were a bit nervous about this.)
Thursday was a bit more challenging, but for totally different reasons. Wednesday night Ezra was fussy in the middle of the night, but I thought it was just gas.
At 7:45 Thursday morning, about 20 minutes before I needed to leave, I picked him up to feed him and he was burning up. I took his temperature at it was 102.2.
Are you kidding me?
We found some tylenol, I nursed him and Matthew assured me they would be fine. His parents would be arriving by noon and they would manage.
Well, Ezra wouldn’t take a bottle and cried for much of the morning. So I came home just after lunch. (Thankfully, my boss is incredible and me leaving to take care of Ezra and working from home for the afternoon was not a problem.)
Late in the afternoon, I took Ezra to the pediatrician and she said it was just a virus and call again if he still had the fever in five days. He was just pitiful, as you can see below.
The fever last four days, finally breaking Sunday morning.
Sunday afternoon was his dedication at church and we were grateful he was feeling better!
Monday morning, Matthew’s parents left and I headed to work, praying that the day would be like my first day away. Easy, peasy.
Unfortunately, Ezra has not quite gotten the hang of the bottle. He gets mad, cries and, while he eventually takes it, it is pretty brutal for Matthew. Of course, this is stressful for me too, knowing they both are having a hard time.
I think I have spent close to $100 on bottles trying to find one Ezra will take.
I know that he will get the hang of it – he likes milk too much not to – but the process is hard. We should have been more diligent while I was on leave, but hindsight is 20/20.
Work-wise, things are going well. I hardly feel like I was gone for 4 months. I have projects and deadlines, am headed to a conference tomorrow and am happy to be back.
I have had to adjust to again getting up with an alarm, getting out the door by a certain time, remembering to pack a lunch, etc., etc., etc.
The part I dislike most about going back to work (besides missing Ezra) is pumping. UGH. I just hate it. But it’s only for a season!
Today, I am working from home. Typically my work schedule allows for this one day a week. It is such a gift. Not only does it save me 2 hours of commuting (more fringe hours!), but I get to be home with Ezra.
This morning, he is asleep in the swing and happy as can be.
It’s going to be a great day!
Love that you share this side with your readers. As a working mama, it’s great to get a glimpse at other working mom’s lives. We are SO not alone! Praying for Ezra’s transition to bottles. I went through that a bit with my first, so I know how emotional it can be!
My sister in law had the same issue with her little one taking a bottle. She tried many bottles, then one day, they happened to try heating it a bit longer, and my nephew drank it right down! So maybe a temperature issue? Praying for you as you get back into your work routine!
Great tip on the temp. I will definitely mention that to Matthew.
I totally understand your issues with pumping and having a baby not taking a bottle! My first refused to take any sort of bottle (or pacifier, for that matter), but she became okay with waiting for me to get home from work. I work 5-hour days, so that was not ideal at 3 months, but it worked, and my husband, who was home with her on those days, gave her mashed banana when she was really hungry. Again, not ideal, but you do what you can. My second did great with a bottle, but, for me, pumping was such a nightmare, I almost wished he wouldn’t take it! Whatever ends up working, you are doing a great job taking care of him!
Yes, Ezra won’t take a paci either. He is learning to find his thumb though! I am gone from 8:15-5:30, so he definitely can’t go all day. Bummer. Solids will come soon and hopefully that will help.
I’m so glad mostly things went well for you! One thing that helped me was to read a magazine while I pumped (fringe hours anyone?) I often would look down and see that I was already done and hadn’t even noticed. But I’m sure you have your method down, you’ve done this before! Glad it’s been a mostly easy transition.
Yes, I have a hands free bra and use that so I can work on email on my laptop. It’s just the hooking up, getting going, sort of feeling like a cow, cleaning the attachments, repeat, repeat, repeat… that I hate. 🙂
Ezra is the most beautiful baby ( outside of my own) that I have ever seen. It’s no wonder you hate to be away from him. You’ll have your hands full with the girls as he grows up. You have a lovely family and we should all feel honored that you share them with us. I know I do. Thank you.
Hi Jessica! Both my girls were not fans of the bottle when I went back to my work…especially my youngest (I didn’t have her take the bottle much on my leave either so I’m sure that didn’t help). We tried tons of bottles too and the one that worked well for both of them was the Playtex Nurser bottle with disposable drop in liners. They also liked the Playtex brown nipples which were super soft vs. hard plastic with those bottles – here (slow or fast flow depending on how fast he seems to want to drink): http://www.amazon.com/Playtex-Drop-Ins-NaturaLatch-Latex-Nipple/dp/B0009XAHZQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1430359921&sr=8-1&keywords=playtex+nurser+brown+nipples
I see those are discontinued so super expensive but wanted to share what worked for us in case that might help. All babies seem to have their own little preferences. Hope you find what works for your sweet boy soon!
My second son detested the bottle. The only way he would take it was when we heated the actual nipple of the bottle. Hang in there! Praying for you!
Have you ever heard of high lipase in the milk? Look it up. My hubby and I did a taste test and sure enough the pumped milk tasted like soap. It’s annoying because you have to scald the milk to stop it from doing that (an extra step when pumping is already annoying) but it’s the only thing that made a difference for our babe taking a bottle. And now I don’t have to do that and she takes it just fine 🙂
I feel for you. I just spent my first 2 days away from home since the baby, and while I had a great time, running up to my hotel room to pump every 4 hours (and trying to keep the milk on ice) was something. Here’s hoping Ezra embraces the bottle soon. It will all be fine — but you know that!