Every Working Mom's Dilemma

For Christmas I took two weeks off of work to spend some time with my daughter. I had such a great time with her and I was so glad I took the time off. Sadly I had to come back to work this week and I miss her so much. Since I have been back I am wondering am I spending enough time with my daughter? Just like most working moms I have to drop my child off at the babysitter while I am at work. I work eight hour days and when you calculate the time I spend getting to/from work I am gone for 9 hours a day. My daughter goes to bed at 7 pm so I really only get to see her for 3 hours a day. I am very lucky that I get to work from home once a week so I am able to be with her all day 3 days a week but I still feel like I am not spending enough time with her.  I wondered should I be a stay at home mom? I had never really thought about this before. I have worked all of my life and I don't know if I could be a stay at home mom. I worked very hard in college to get my degree and I really like my job so I am not sure if I would want to quit. Finally I just don't think we could afford to be a one income household right now. I have decided to give this a lot of thought. If I really feel like I want to stay at home my husband and I would have to work towards that goal. For the time being I have taken a look at my schedule and changed some things around so I can be with her more. I was working out after work 3 days a week and I wouldn't get home until 7 pm so those days I would only get to see her for 30 mins. During my vacation I realized all the wonderful things I was missing while I was away. Obviously I still need to work out, this is great me time and I also need to be healthy. I decided to no longer work out after work. Instead I work out at home after I have put my daughter to bed. This lets me spend an extra 2 hours a day with her. I also plan to take a day off after every three day weekend so I can be at home for 5 days. I know this is a great start to spending more time with my daughter!

Product Review - Lansinoh vs Medela Breastmilk Bags

When I first started pumping at work I used the Medela Pump and Save breastmilk bags. I really liked these bags. They were made out of a thick material and I felt confident the bag wouldn't easily rip. It was very easy to open and close the resealable top. They were compatible with my pump so if I ever forgot a bottle it was no problem since I could just attach the bag to the pump with the attached sticker top. The bags only fit 5 ounces of breastmilk but that was no problem since I never pumped more than 5 ounces at a time. The bottom of the bag opens up making it easy to store in the refrigerator without tipping over. The label area worked well with any kind of pen I had. My friend had some left over Lansinoh bags and she gave them to me to try out. Well I don't like these bags at all. The material seems flimsy and I am always afraid it will rip, it hasn't yet though. The bottom of the bag doesn't really stand well so the bag is always tipping over in the refirgerator. The label area is very hard to write on. I can never get any pen to write well on it. The bags are tall so they will fit more than 5 ounces. The easy to pour spout is not very easy to use. I can never get the last 1/2 ounce of milk out without spilling milk. It breaks my heart to see the milk I worked so hard to pump wasted on the counter. Since I don't want to waste any bags I am stuck using the Lansinoh bags until they are all gone but I will not buy them. I would rather spend the extra dollar a box and get the Medela bags.

Baby's First Rice Cereal

My daughter is ready to start solids and I wanted to give her homemade baby food. My pediatrician recommended that I start with baby rice cereal mixed with breast milk. I found this great recipe in my Mothering magazine that I wanted to share.

Toasted Rice Baby Cereal
short-grain brown rice
salt
water
breast milk or formula

1. Place rice in a fine-mesh strainer, rinse, and drain
2. Place the washed rice in a large skillet on burner and toast on medium heat, stirring constantly, until the rice is dry and gives off a nutty aroma (5-8 mins)
Hint: To save time I usually toast 2 cups of rice on the weekend when I have more time and I store the rice in airtight containers to be used for the rest of the week.
3. Grind toasted rice
Note: Ground grains begin to lose nutritional values within 24-48 hours. For the best nutrition grind rice just before using.
4. Mix together 2-3 tablespoons ground rice, 1/2 cup water, and a pinch of salt in a small pot.
5. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer covered for 5 minutes.
6. To get the right consistency I mix the cooked cereal with freshly pumped breast milk until I get the consistency I want.
Note: For babies just starting solid foods, cereals should be the consistency of thick milk or thin soup. As the baby gets older, thicken the consistency.

I usually taste the cereal before I mix it with breast milk to make sure its not to salty. My daughter loves this cereal and best of all it only takes me 5 mins to make it.

Pregnancy Weight Loss

With the new year comes new resolutions. This year my only resolution is to finish losing my pregnancy weight. I gained a whopping 45 lbs during my pregnancy. Since I only gained 7 lbs the first 5 months of my pregnancy I didn't expect to gain so much weight. I think the reason I gained so much weight was because of the preeclampsia. Once I gave birth I expected to lose a lot of weight but I only lost 8 lbs, I was very disappointed. I didn't excercise after I gave birth due to my c-section but I continued to lose weight rapidly. I am sure breastfeeding helped me lose the weight so quickly, another benefit of breastfeeding. I lost 20 lbs the first month and 10 lbs the second month and I didn't diet or excercise during this time. The last 15 lbs is proving to be a little harder to lose. I decided to start eating healthy, not cutting calories since this would affect my milk supply. I lost 2 lbs in one week but I didn't lose any additional weight after that. My work started providing free fitness classes and I immeidately signed up. I started working out 3 times a week for an hour and I lost 5 lbs the first month. I was really happy with the weight loss, only 6 more pounds left to lose. I decided since I had to lose 20 lbs before I got pregnant I would make it my New Years resolution to lose 26 lbs by my daughters first birthday. Since the fitness classes were taking up so much of my free time I decided to follow the same excercise routine at home. I bought the Biggest Loser exercise videos at Costco for $8 each. My workout routine is Boot Camps on Monday, Yoga on Wednesday, and Cardio on Thursdays, each session lasting an hour. Since I want to keep my milk supply high I am changing my diet only slightly. I will still eat every time I am hungry but I will make good food choices. I cut out soda, junk food, and will only eat healthy food. I am sure I can lose the weight if I keep up with my modified diet plan!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year Everyone! May 2010 be a fantastic, wonderful, and joyous year for us all.