First Week At Work

My first week back to work went (for me) better than expected. I cried a lot on Saturday - partially because I was frustrated with how little I was able to unpack because I needed to look after Baby L, and partially because I wanted to savor every last moment with Baby L but was living amidst a sea of boxes.  It was a really tough weekend, between setting up the new home and dealing with separation anxiety.

Hard to say goodbye to this little peanut!

The home part of returning to work has been really hard. I hate leaving Baby L in the mornings when she is super cheerful. She had a hard time taking a bottle at the beginning of the week too, so when I came home, she was fussy and hungry and just wanted to eat and eat and eat and pass out. I considered flexing my time to come into the office later and stay later so I could enjoy happy time with the baby and be available for my supervisor. With her new eating routine, if I flexed later, she would go hungry all day and then keep me up all night trying to eat, so we'll be keeping on this schedule in the near term. The goal is for Baby L to eat about 12 ounces while I'm away, and at the beginning of the week it was only 5-6 ounces. By Thursday, she had 10-12 ounces - so we're getting there, slowly but surely! G has been a champ, very patiently feeding her even when it takes literally all day.

Baby L just wants to eat and sleep and eat some more from when I get home to bedtime.

The home part has been hard for G as well. She's been particularly needy since I've returned to work, so he hasn't been able to spend as much time as he'd like on unpacking or on his coursework. The good part of this bonding time he's had with her is that now she actively looks for him when she hears his voice - like she'll stop nursing to find him when he's talking to me. This is simultaneously annoying and sweet.

Each night, after Baby L went to bed, I tried to wrap up a few loose ends at work and then assemble a little piece of her nursery. The  most frustrating thing was her dresser/changing table. I was so excited to have a place to put her clothes and  burp cloths that wasn't cardboard boxes and suitcases - only to discover that the beautiful dresser I purchased didn't come with any of the right hardware!! I'm currently working with Graco/Storkcraft to get the hardware sent to UAE, and in the meantime, we're still using cardboard boxes. At least her crib and rocking chair (both also Graco/Storkcraft) came together without any issue.

Baby L's dresser is a useless pile of lumber until the hardware arrives. I'd go buy all the hardware myself, but I'm not sure I'd be able to find all the weird little bushings and cams here in UAE.

The work part of returning to work has been great. Everyone on my team has been so kind and seems to be genuinely happy to have me back. It feels good to have some professional stimulation. My supervisor has been accommodating and allowed me to flex my schedule so that I'm in the office from 7:30am to 4pm, and then I log back in at 7pm after Baby L is asleep. I know it's hard for him to allow me to make that change since he is located in Basra, so my "away" time is 3pm-6pm -- his prime productive time. So far, it seems to be ok.

Another bonus is that I can take the metro to work every morning, and it's just as fast and half the  price of taking a taxi. And I can't beat the view of Dubai from my office - I can even see our apartment building, though our actual apartment is on the side facing away  from my office, so no chance of seeing G and Baby L.

Hello Dubai!

My office admin staff has been amazing. My new office in Dubai is mostly open office format - so the admins set up one of the huddle rooms as a place for me to pump breastmilk for Baby L. They chose the one huddle room that didn't  have any windows, and then they taped paper over the glass door. The room has a plug, so it's everything I need to take care of making food for my baby girl!

The not-so-glamorous side of returning to work while breastfeeding

The admins also found me an extra monitor - I didn't want to  ask for a dual monitor setup since I've already asked for accommodation with flexible hours and a place to pump milk, and they decided I needed a second monitor anyway. So now I have double cuteness to look at while I'm at work.

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How can you not smile when you come back to this at your desk???

On Friday this week, we got an extra special blessing. One of our friends in Abu Dhabi has a nanny/maid/helper that they don't really need anymore, so they suggested we "borrow" her for a month. This allows us to see if having a live-in helper is an issue for us in terms of privacy, and also allows her to see if she likes working  for us a family. Most expats don't have the opportunity to try it out for a month - they have to make a year-long commitment up front. She had been a Godsend, truly. We were a little uncomfortable at the thought of having someone live in with us, and we just love her. She has so much endless energy - together managed to unpack the sea of boxes in both the master bedroom and the nursery within her first afternoon.

She spent all morning on Saturday cleaning the  apartment, freeing me up to play with Baby L and then when Baby L went down for her afternoon  nap, G and I were able to take some time to walk explore the area around the  apartment. We're both looking forward to her helping G during these last few weeks before his final exams, and he already seems so much less stressed out about school. Hopefully she likes working for us and living in Dubai - we are already ready to hire her on full time!

Next adventures will be wrapping up the last of our business in Abu Dhabi next weekend, and then getting more settled in Dubai. As always, more to come!

Michigan plays Wisconsin tonight, and we know who Baby L is rooting for, even if Mommy put her hairbow on upside-down on accident. :-) Go Blue!