Browse Month: August 2012

Mr. Mom goes to Tahoe.

Week 1 of Jes’ Paternity Leave is coming to an end and it started out well.  He really stepped it up and it’s made going back to work a little easier each day.  I don’t know if he has a greater appreciation of our little pipsqueak or being a caregiver but it’s great to see him so involved.  When I get home, he recounts all the blowouts she’s had, the walks that they take, and the little tantrums she’s had that day.  It’s also cute to see Kumquat give him a big smile in a way that tells me that she’s had some good quality time with him.

My mom is also here this week, which has been helpful with the transition and so that Jes could go to Tahoe today.  He went with his college buddies to see their old friend/roommate perform in his band on the big stage.

Everest is opened for Neil Young tonight and they were invited to watch from the pit and backstage. Here’s a photo of Joel being a rockstar.

By the way, they’re on a Corona commercial that was played during the Super Bowl this year.  Joel is the one on the right bouncing around with his guitar.

We’re also going on our first camping trip with Kumquat this weekend.  Everyone will be there tomorrow but since I’m working, so I’ll be driving Kumquat and Koa to the campground on Saturday morning.  It should be fun but also an interesting challenge to have a 3-month-old on this year’s trip.

Dinner and a Movie

On Tuesday, Jes and I had our first date night.  We never really went to see the movies before Kumquat was born but my mom is home to watch Kumquat and watching a movie is one of those things that you can’t really do with a 3-month-old.  For dinner, we went to Urban Tavern.  We shared French Onion Soup, Arugula Salad, Pretzel and Sausage, and Meatloaf Sliders.  All were pretty good but the big glass of wine that I had with it was even better!

We then walked to Metreon and watch The Dark Knight Rises.  Since dinner was mostly small plates, we got an order of nachos that came with two containers of jalapeno peppers.  Yum.  Paired with an Icee it was perfect for such a fun movie.

I had a great time and it was nice to go out as just the two of us again but when we got out of the movie it was nearly 11 pm and I was missing my baby girl.  I even said it aloud to Jes, which confused him a bit.  It seemed that I had a mini moment of panic and actually insisted that we take a cab home instead of walking.  I don’t know what had come over me.  Was it the fatigue catching up to me?  Was it hormones?  Maybe I’m just not aware of all the different emotions that come with this rollercoaster called Motherhood.  I guess I’ll just chalk it up to the stress of my first week back at work.

Well that kinda sucked.

Kumquat woke up hungry and crying at 4:30 am this morning so I fed her and tried to put her back to sleep.  Ten minutes later she started to cry again and Jes got up to wrap her back up and placed her next to me in bed.  It was nice.  She was all bundled up and happy and I got to snuggle her while she was wide awake.  I think I fell back asleep before she did.

At 6 am, my alarm went off and I snoozed.  When I woke up again and looked at the clock it said 7:28!  What?! That’s the time I was supposed to leave!  After scurrying into the bathroom to brush my teeth and change, I went back into the bedroom and saw Jes’ clock that said 6:34.  WUH? Apparently my clock was playing an evil trick on me.  So I had plenty of time after all.

At 6:55, I sat on the bed watching Kumquat sleep.  She looked so peaceful but I knew that I had to feed her at 7 before leaving for work.  She actually slept through the whole feeding and I was able to place her back on the bed without a single squeak from her.  When I kissed her goodbye for the day, I got a bit choked up.  However, I think having her asleep made it a little easier than if she was smiling or crying.

So I left.  I was on the Bay Bridge driving to work when my eyes started to well up in tears and I had my moment.  I was a mess but got myself back together by the time I pulled up to the parking structure at work.  When I arrived at the hospital it was a bit surreal.  Had four and a half months already gone by?  Sheesh.

After stopping at Employee Health to get my annual TB test, I walked into the gym and found a box on tissues on my desk.  Aw.  How thoughtful.  I was greeted by Teresa and Stephanie and they did their best to greet me without making me cry.  Of course I did anyway.  Those tissues sure did come in handy!  After a greasy bacon and egg sammich and some lighter conversation with my buddies, I checked in with my manager and suddenly got tearful again.  My manager actually got tearful with me too.  Aw shucks.  Once I got hand-off from the therapist that was covering for me, I was off to the races with a full caseload!

Once I got started with my day, I was feeling much better.  My mom sent me a photo of Kumquat doing her morning Tummy Time and I got updates on my BabyConnect app each time Kumquat pooped, ate, or slept.  Both were very reassuring.  Sounded like things went smoothly on Jes’ first day as Mr. Mom (with a little help from my mom).

Pumping at lunch was a little awkward but it was just me being self-conscious.  Working at a hospital is one of the best places to have to do this since 1) everyone around me is so knowledgeable/helpful, 2) we have hospital-grade pumps available for me to use, and 3) all of our past “new moms” have done this and one even gave me her “Do Not Disturb” sign to use on the door of one of our clinic rooms.

By the end of the day, I lost count of how many welcome-back hugs and greetings I received.  I was also back in the groove of things and surprised that my clinical skills had come back so quickly.  Before I left, my co-workers even congratulated me on a job well done on my first day back. I guess if I had to return to a job, this was one of the best situations I could have hoped for.

When I got home, Jes was out on a walk with Kumquat.  When they came home, I said “hello” to Kumquat and she gave me a big smile.  Aaaah…that just made my heart melt.  After showering all the hospital off of me, I got to spend the next 3 hours playing with my little lady until bedtime and it was plenty.  I guess everything is going to be just fine.  Jes will be ok, Kumquat will be ok, and I’ll be ok.

Transition

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It’s 11 pm and I can’t sleep. I’m going back to work full-time tomorrow and I’m so bummed out. This has been the best 4.5 months of my life. It has been awesome starting from the month that I had off waiting for Kumquat’s arrival, to giving birth to my baby girl, to the last 15 weeks of being home with Kumquat and watching her grow and change before my eyes. Now it’s time to hand her over to Jes who will be off for the month of August. In fact, as I’m writing this, he’s giving her the 11:00 pm bottle and putting her back to bed. I know he’ll be great and I know she will be happy but it’s heartbreaking to let go. I’m gonna be a hot mess tomorrow morning when it’s time to say goodbye. Wish me luck.

Aloha Festival

This afternoon we went to the Aloha Festival to watch my hula sisters perform on stage.  Kumquat hung out in the carrier while we ate lunch on the picnic blanket.

Here is one of the Keiki groups.  The youngest little dancer just turned 4 years old!  So cute!

Here’s Dot in one of the performances.  It was hard to get a good shot of her because there was a pole right in my line of sight of her on stage.

This is the whole group during “Aloha Oe”, which is usually our final song and made me miss dancing with them.  One day I’ll figure out how to make time for hula again.

Birthday Outing

For the second year in a row, we celebrated Nicole and Stephanie’s birthdays at House of Curries on Thursday evening.

This time we had a few more people around the table including Kumquat, who was only a bundle of cells this time last year. As Patty was saying last night, we’ve come full-circle.

They all went out for a 4-mile run beforehand and Kumquat and I met up with them once they finished.  Oh, I hope I can be back to their running level soon.

The food was delicious and I got a taste of all my favorite dishes.  We also stopped for ice cream at Ici afterward.  The burnt caramel flavor was so yummy.

It was so much fun hanging out with the gang again and they couldn’t stop telling me how excited they were to have me back at work on Monday.  *sigh*  As much as I’m dreading the end of my maternity leave, I’m glad that I have such a great group of people to welcome me back.