The Hand-Off

Alright... so it's been 4 days back at work and I've only messed up 2 of the 4 shirts I've worn this week due to ineffective arrival to my office for pumping purposes... at least for shirt #1. It messed up the remainder of my day (which was Michael's birthday actually) and I asked to go home. Would you have stayed at work if your outfit was navy blue/khaki based and you ended up with a black shirt, khaki pants and navy blue sandals at the end of the day? I didn't think so.

The second shirt was because Becton was actually with me at work (in the evening) and nursed on the "wrong" side... dumb mommy, i can never quite remember which side to start him on because they both seem to fill up beyond capacity and leak either way.

So Monday and Tuesday was Daddy Day care with Michael. He took the little one for an adventure ride - he calls it 4-wheeling - and sent me pictures along the way. He lost like 50% of his daddy day care privileges for sending me a picture of the baby in the stroller near the train tracks. And then another 10% for the picture of the baby in the stroller next to some lone wall in the middle of nowhere with graffitti on it.

Those pictures did not necessarily get me through the day. I will post them on here as well.

Wednesday and today were Day 1 & 2 of "Operation Baby Handoff" with my mom and sisters because Michael had orientation for his new job all day on both days and could no longer do Daddy Day Care.

It goes like this. I live in Tooele, mom and sisters live in Lehi/Orem/Provo area. The original plan was to have my oldest younger sister (19) come to Tooele and watch the baby at home. As I thought about it, it was a 1.5 hour drive from Orem/Provo (where she goes to school) to my house in Tooele. So when the "master plan" as I called it, hit me I said "let's meet halfway at my job and you can just watch him at mom's house."

So we agreed to that idea for the most part. My mom wasn't the most agreeable because she doesn't want the baby "up and down the road, getting stressed out." which I understand, yet the reality is that he's either up and down the road with family or he's somewhere near my job with a stranger or at a daycare.

Wednesday, my sister came to get him around 9 and ended up leaving at 1030 because I was in the middle of making baby-viewing rounds with my colleagues. We transfer all of his stuff into her car... baby seat, base, diaper bag with 6 bags of frozen milk, walmart bag with 6 changes of clothes (in addition to the 3 that were in the diaper bag).

So Mr. B-man is all tuckered out after visiting everyone and really just wants to go to sleep on mommy. I indulged him for a little bit and of course, right as he hits the "just about to go all the way to sleep" point - I had to put him in the carseat. the carseat that he doesn't like at all. And then started the tears and the "i'm crying so hard that i stop in the middle and hold my breath before screaming ultimate bloody murder complete with red face and eye contact so that you feel REALLY bad" cry.

wonderful.

As I take him to my sister's car, he calms down a bit. Once he's in the non-moving car he starts crying. I sit in the back seat to test my sister's "reach back for the binky and put it in his mouth" skills... she doesn't really have any so I tell her to just let him cry until the car starts moving and he'll stop crying.... and I get out of the car and watch my muted child continue his wide-mouth, eyes-squinted shut, crying episode. As my sister continues to adjust and prepare to leave, he's STILL crying, so I did what any heartbroken mother would do.. I jumped in the car to help calm him a little bit.

Magic mommy hands and voice to the rescue.

So once he was calmed, sis was ready to go. So I got out of the car and let her drive away, not before I saw him start crying again. Sister was going to call me once they arrived to the house safely.

Once I got the phone call that they were home, I was on the phone doing business, but I was okay that they were safe. My sis struggled a bit with him to get him to nap or to sit still long enough for her to make him a bottle... without crying (haha - yeah right).

I could tell by my mom's intermittent phone calls that my sister may have been having a bit of a time trying to quiet him. My 3 younger sisters, and the 19 year old especially, didn't really grow up taking care of kids the way I did. The 14 year old though (she's the baby) is a champ when it comes to taking care of the baby, so far. So I didn't really worry about my sister's stress levels, I knew that either mom or baby sis would be home soon and able to help her take care of him. And they were.

Today went a little better, on some fronts more than others. The general plan is to meet at my job at 8am for the handoff. Today I came in later, around 830. I called my mom to let her know. She was working but said she would call my sister to let her know. Both of us got my sister's voicemail when we called. So I came in to work figuring that the message had been relayed.

Of course, when you figure something's been relayed, it usually hasn't.

So she didn't get the message that I would be late. I didn't know she'd be at the school waiting till 8. I stayed in my car once I got to school waiting for her phone call to tell me when she'd be there (she was already there) - so when I go into my office I'm told she's looking for me, but she's no longer there. So i call my colleagues downstairs and ask if they've seen her and they say they have but she's not there anymore. Well there's only 2 places I'll be when I'm at work.... my office upstairs or my office downstairs.

so while i'm looking for her around my office, she's gone to her car. I decide I'll stay in my office because she eventually has to come back looking for me since her phone is still off when I try to call it and I can't reach her any other way.

And she shows up not much longer after that... but long enough for Mr. Snuggle Monster to get comfy on mommy again and want to go to sleep but have to be put in his carseat again. Enter tearful tirade from yesterday. So I get my sister situated with the 2nd diaper bag - now that I think about it, i have no idea why I gave her that one since she has the same one from yesterday too, dangit - and in her car, only to find out that her gas tank is on E and she's got a dollar and some change in her wallet... and no cell phone because it's dead and her charger is in her apartment in provo. (No car charger either.) "Can you get to Lehi on that?" I ask, referring to her E-is-for-empty gas tank and she says Yes. I thought to myself that today would be the day that with no cell phone and an almost empty tank that something goes wrong and she can't reach anyone to let them know.

So I tell her to take me back to my office so I can give her money for gas. I then realize that I don't have my ATM card so i can't give her cash. I give her my credit card instead and tell her that she has to fill up with gas before she leaves and to call me when she gets to the house because my car charger works with her phone.

After a quick discussion with my mom to see if she knew that my sister's cell phone was dead and that she had no gas in her car & no money on her person, I reminded myself that this is just how my sister is and has always been... and that is very different from me! With her own strengths and weaknesses, just as I have my own. Some things she excels in that i could never wrap my brain around and some things that I think are common sense, haven't crossed her mind. In the same respect, I'm sure she could say the same for me within her area(s) of expertise.

Such is life.

Fortunately, I have Fridays off... so I will get to snuggle my little mister tomorrow all day. Michael is slated to start work on Saturday or Monday. He only had a half-day of stuff to do today so he might go get the baby when he's done. And I've got 46 days left, and counting, until I am done working 40 hours in 4 days at my dream job that I hate to leave.

wonder what new adventure July 1 will bring?