My Insane Daily Schedule

5am wake, change Julia's diaper, feed her
5:45am get Julia to sleep for a.m. nap so Jai can sleep longer (hopefully)
6am pump session # 1- get an extra ounce for Julia's bottle
6:25 exercise - ride my stationary bike for at least 15 minutes, 10-15 push ups (these arms are FLABBY!)
6:45am breakfast prep, pack up pumping gear (drying from cleaning night before)
7:00am shower & dress
7:30am eat breakfast, put lunch in bag
7:45am out the door, drive to work, drink Mother's Milk Tea

8:30am-4:00pm are my work hours

8:00am pump # 2 - hope to get a decent amount (2+ ounces)
10:30am pump # 3 - hope to get a decent amount (2+ ounces)
11:00-12:30pm eat a snack, later eat lunch at desk
1:00pm pump # 4 - hope to get a decent amount (2+ ounces)
3:30pm pump # 5 - usually get the most (3 ounces)

I get some work done in the intervals between pumping sessions, but it's challenging, especially because interruptions are the norm in a school.

Sidebar: I am without clerical support until Aug. 11 and new student registration is Aug. 3-7. My principal assigns that responsibility to Guidance (i.e. me) as well as make schedules for all the students. Despite the fact that she and the school secretary are there all summer and could work on schedules and students could get a copy way before school starts. I'm definitely tired of how middle schools staff Guidance support and counselors. I am the only counselor this year for 470 students! Basically I am a highly paid clerical person who does some counseling work. High schools get tons of clerical support and in elementary schools the counselors have much more counseling interactions with students. I've done my time in high school; I think it is time to move to elementary.

4:00pm pack up stuff, leave for home

4:30pm say hi, hugs & kisses to Jai & Julia - so glad to see them!
go to bathroom, unpack bags (sometimes Jai does it), wash & sterilize pumping gear (those Medela micro-steam bags are awesome!)
5:00pm change Julia's diaper, feed her
5:40pm hope to get Julia to sleep for a little nap
6:00pm Jai & I eat dinner & visit together
anytime between 7:00-7:45pm change Julia to PJ's, change diaper, feed her
after 8:00pm make sure lunch & breakfast prep is done, make cup of Mother's Milk tea, shower
by 9:00pm in bed, write in Grateful journal, read book for 5-10 minutes before falling asleep
at or before 9:00pm lights off

Weekend schedule is all breastfeeding. I plan to pump after 1-3 feedings in order to increase supply. We rented a hospital-grade pump again, this time so I have it at work to get the most milk out of me and to decrease the back & forth of carrying my pump every day. Tedious!

I pumped about 7 ounces on Monday; I pumped 11 ounces today. It's getting there.
We try to give her 14-15 ounces in 3 bottles. I don't think she drinks that much in those 3 daytime feedings from me, but we don't want her to lose weight, she's already light.
I'd like to get 13-14 ounces in 3-4 pumpings instead of 5. Until that happens we've been using stored milk in the freezer. If I pump less than 11 ounces a day, we'll run through the frozen stash by the end of August. However, with the post-feeding pumping, More Milk Plus herbal supplement 4 times a day, Mother's Milk tea twice a day, eating right and lots of rest, we've seen an increase in my milk supply this week. Ironically when Julia started sleeping through the night, my milk supply steadily declined in addition to the damage I did in June with my creative pumping. We're going to start solids in August - tomorrow! Come on high calorie bananas and avocados!

Luckily this is temporary - December 8 is ONE year which is my ultimate goal! At least that is when I'll stop pumping at work with this zeal. If Julia wants to continue to breastfeed, we'll do it when I'm home - that will still be 3-4 times a day, more on weekends.

Right now I don't do much else. I sometimes watch TV while I pump, but usually I don't; sometimes I look at the Internet. I miss my TV shows - I'm addicted to TV. However, usually I try to focus on being positive while I pump and think about Julia and making milk for her.

In a way I am glad to be back at work and I know Jai is happy to be home with Julia. I miss her more than I did in May which surprised me. Jai is wonderful with her, they have a great time together and I am greeted with Julia's beautiful smile each afternoon and stories of her daily adventures (Example A: Spiderwoman photo). Jai cooks dinner, makes my lunch and usually helps make my breakfast. When I was home and Jai worked at NPL, sometimes I made dinner, sometimes made his lunch [usually dinner leftovers, but he also could go out in a pinch though we try not to for economic reasons; I cannot go out for lunch (pumping!)] and sometimes I made his breakfast. I don't know who's getting the better deal.

We both are because we're Julia's parents! : )