I'm sure most moms have mixed feelings about returning to work. Frankly, I couldn't wait to go back. I was looking forward to breaking up the monotony of my days. I think it would've been much harder if Little P had to go to daycare or a nanny, but she has the best "babysitter" a baby could have...her daddy! I'm slowly returning to work, going only one day and a half. My work has been so great allowing me the flexibility to pretty much set my own days and hours. RT's work is also working around our schedule, allowing him to go in later in the afternoon on Wednesdays. He still has the furlough Fridays, so I work the mornings on those days.
My first day back, I didn't really think about what RT and Little P were up to. I think I was so caught up in my work that I didn't have time to think about home. I felt kind of bad that I didn't call to check up on them. The surprising thing was that even though Little P and I spend 24/7 with each other, I actually found myself missing her a lot and couldn't wait to get back home to hold her!

Alas, the Spring Fling has come around again, but this year I couldn't make it because of the babe. That was ok since it gave Little P and me an opportunity to hang out with my folks. This was also a good test run to travel away from home. She did well, crying at first but settling down and sleeping the whole way.

The Spring Fling is a vintage VW show and a huge swap meet for VW parts and paraphernalia. RT was hoping to find some parts for his VW Bus. He came away with some useful parts and even some cool t-shirts and onesies!
You never know what you'll find at these shows!

I have not been out of the house on my own since Little P's birth. Sure, we'd gone to appointments and run some minor errands, but to be out on my own and actually driving by myself was so exhilirating for me! I wasn't going out to shop or have lunch or anything FUN like that. I was actually meeting my supervisor from work to discuss when I would be coming back to work. Truthfully, I didn't feel that Little P was ready for me to go back to work. I was emotionally ready, but not physically. Besides being sleep deprived, my body was still quite sore (yes, even after all this time!) from the labor & delivery and I couldn't imagine having to sit on my bum at work for hours at a time.

Our conversation went very well. I suggested another 2 weeks of time off and then going into work for one full day and one half day to start off with. Our organization just went through some major changes and responsibilities are being shifted and reassigned. As of now, my hours are minimal, but by July or so, I'll start back to three days a week. Yikes, that only gives me a couple of months to find a trustworthy daycare source!
As I glanced at my watch, I realized my time was up. I had to go back home and relinquish my freedom. It was fun while it lasted. It was a nice reprieve from baby duty.

It has been a whirlwind of days ever since our little one was born. Instead of having this blog consumed with baby news, I decided to have a separate one dedicated to the baby and the trials of motherhood http://lilsweetp.blogspot.com/.
I cannot believe that Little P is now one month old. The day-to-day time has gone by slowly but the overall amount of time has really flew by. So, here she is at one month. We've had lots of visitors, so these photos have her cousins and her aunt in them.

We still look at her and think to ourselves, "Wow! We created this little miracle. She's all ours. What is she thinking?"

Introducing our little Sweet Pea!
Born March 15, 2010 at 2:31 am

7 lbs. 1 oz, 20 inches

My due date has come and gone...March 11. I thought for sure that I would go into labor early, but this little girl appears to be a stubborn one and will come out when she's good and ready! Because I do not want to be induced, I will try anything to get this party started.

On Friday, I went to an acupuncturist for treatment to induce labor (I had been to an acupuncturist before when we dealt with the IVF). She used the needles on me, but she also used some other things. She put some burning incense stuff on my hands and feet. She called it Moxa. She sent them home with me and said I could do it at home as well. (Poor RT & Jannu--the smoke was very overpowering!).

Friday night came and went. Absolutely no contractions happened.

Saturday has arrived. We figured we would get out and walk as much as possible. We went to the local farmer's market. We also went to the natural food store and bought some Evening Primrose, raspberry leaf tea, and eggplant. All these "remedies" are old wives' tales that people swear got their labor started.

My labor did in fact begin tonight, but who's to say what started it. Was it the eggplant parmigiana? The Moxa? The birth videos we were watching? Or, did our little one finally want to meet us, too?

The Land Conservancy is an established organization with a 25 year history. In all of its 25 years, though, no employee has every been pregnant. My first official day on the job, as I met with our Executive Director to go over HR policies and such, I also had to let him know that I was pregnant! TLC has never had to deal with pregnancy, maternity leave, FMLA, etc., so in a sense I am their pregnancy pioneer!

It has definitely been a treat for me to witness the growing excitement throughout the staff as my due date has gotten closer. Last week, they surprised me with a luncheon in honor of the baby. It was very low-key and fun, and I was very touched!

I work with a bunch of great people. It's definitely a smaller staff than what I was accustomed to when teaching, but the family-feeling is still there and that's what counts when you work in a positive environment!