First week redux

Well, working really does suck, but thank you everyone for your sweet support of even my most self-indulgent whingeing.  I will be working from home one day a week and that will help.  I pump 3x a day at work and so far I have not seen a steady decrease-- indeed on Thursday I saw a slight uptick in production over the first day, so I will continue my current plan.  If worse comes to worst I realized that I can resume my middle-of-the-night pumpings, which will always yield a few extra ounces each time.  I have been doing this for three months.  I can continue for another three.

Before I go any further, if you haven't already, please stop by Robbie & Trina's blog to offer them support & love.  What they are going through is unfathomable to me, and they really can use all the positive thoughts and support that they can get.  What is amazing to me is how much there is out there.  For the most part the ttc blogs are governed by cycles of hope and disappointment, good news and progress reports... and then of course the babies.  But once in a while someone has truly awful news, beyond the disappointment of a failed cycle.  Without fail, the blogging world has provided these people with tremendous support ranging from warm words to in-the-flesh gifts-- of time, money, support or what-have-you.  And even though Linus is a fighter, the pain that Robbie & Trina are experiencing as they watch their tiny son struggle for life is just beyond imaginable.  They need your love.

I have so much to write, so little time!

1. Jacques, Part Deux

Yesterday, as noted by 2C1H, was our conception anniversary.  Speedy and I were ruminating on the loss of our donor (given how perfect The Boy is, we've been sort of kicking around the idea of #2 with increasing intention).  On a whim, I called CCB to find out that there was one-- ONE-- vial newly available.  I was third on the notification list and no one had yet been called.  I snapped it up, of course, even though that means paying for storage for a year at least.  Does anyone have any ideas on how to procure more?  I have already solicited on both CCB's  sibling registry and the Other donor sibling registry.  Any other ideas?  It does feel kind of "fated" (whatever.  Y'all know I don't believe in fate or anything else, but you know what I mean.) that we serendipitously stumbled upon this small treasure exactly a year after The Boy was conceived.



2. Running Away

In a month we are putting our apartment on the market.  We love this apartment.  We have poured so much money and time into making it beautiful and homey.  We have the coveted set-up:  A two-bedroom a mere block from the park in Brownstone Brooklyn.  Windows on two sides.  A back yard.  Washer-dryer in the apartment.  A kitchen that cooks dream of.  And a pimped out bathroom.  But we have outgrown the space.  The Boy comes into a family of 4 dogs and 4 cats.  And no amount of vacuuming and dusting can change the fact that there is an animal on every soft surface-- all too often leaving us humans with only our cheap Ikea kitchen chairs to sit on.  We are bursting at the seams.  And we want to simplify.  To get out of the 12-hour days and endless cycle of hectic work weeks leading to weekends overstuffed with errands and long-neglected friends. I am going to miss those friends above everything, even above the fantastic bagels and cappuccinos and the wine store that is just perfect.  But the lure of cashing out this place, buying a place with almost no mortgage, getting rid of our consumer debt and my student loans, and living for our family rather than working to pay someone else to walk our dogs, take care of our kid and clean our house... is just too great.  I want to have time to cook again, to garden, to walk my own dogs and to wake up in the morning and snuggle in with Speedy...and decide not to get up.


3. On PC birth, diapering, parenting

This is a place holder.  I want to blog about this with some depth later on.  There are a few things that come into play here, and strong opinions on every side:

unmedicated birth
cloth diapering
breastfeeding
co-sleeping

There is so much to be said here re: pressures and fashions-- what's real and what's not, and how women specifically are held to these standards by which they are-- or believe they will be-- judged.  And what BS it all is.  More on that later.

Oh yeah and NGP v. GP stuff.  I promise to get very deep.

4. The Boy

Is perfect.  What else do you need to know?  Also, much less of a turnip these days.  More of a human.  See evidence, below.