That morning I woke up before the baby, excited as if it
were Christmas morning. Once he got up,
I changed his diaper (my husband usually handles the first diaper change if he
is home) and nursed him for as long as he wanted. That turned out to be about
15 minutes which is half as long as our normal first feed. He had
breakfast and I got ready. Then I offered him some boob and he nursed for a
really short period of time much to my surprise. Yo Gabba Gabba was on, Orion was mesmerized
in his little chair, and I ran out of the house around 8:45 as if I was on
fire.
I jumped into our cute little impractical Fiat 500, turned
the seat warmers on, scraped the frost from my window and got my CD selection
together. I was ready for the 2 hour
drive to Richmond to meet up with a girlfriend (who has a 10 month old) and see
the Chihuly exhibit (awesome!), enjoy a leisurely lunch, and some shopping. If you saw anyone bombing down 95 south in
the left land on Saturday with a huge shit eating grin on their face, it was probably
me. It just felt good to be driving the
fun car and not the mom car (Scion XB which I do love) and listen to my music
(not children’s music) as loudly as I wanted.
As we walked around Carytown, I noticed some stroller
parking signs and was so happy that it was not currently applicable. I was able to go into a vintage shop without
fear of grubby little hands destroying lovely expensive things. I could stop in
every store if I wanted without worrying about a small man’s behavior or needs.
Yes, I did have a milk box, peanut butter sandwich, and veggie chips in the car
but they were in case I got hungry.
I was in the mood for big sloppy burgers so we walked down
to Carytown burgers and fries. I would have been impossible to order a burger
there while navigating a stroller, the place was super packed when we got there
around 12:15. My girlfriend and I both ordered the Kojack with guacamole,
fires, and a beer. I rarely ever drink while the sun is out but this was a
celebration and I enjoyed 2 beers without worry of getting my baby drunk on my
boob juice. How nice to not have to rush through a meal and to be able to eat
my food while it’s still hot instead of feeding Orion.
Someday I look forward to taking Orion to all sorts of
museums but he is at the age now where if he can’t touch it and run around he
is not interested. The Virginia Museum
of Fine Arts was crowed which usually drives me insane but I was in such a good
mood and just happy to see people out supporting art and enjoying Chihuly’s
wonderful glasswork. We were able to
take our time meandering through the museum and exhibit up to a point as I did
have a 2 hour drive home and one could spend all day in that museum. At 4, we
chatted over a hot cup of coffee without fear of it burning fresh baby flesh.
Then it was time to go even though we did not get to talk as much as we wanted
or see everything there was to see.
For the first time all day, I began to get nervous while driving
home. How are my boys doing? What if I get a speeding ticket, or get into an accident
or the car breaks down. I played out
each of these scenarios in my head. When I got near Fredericksburg, a light flurry
of snow began to fall and most drivers in Virginia are clueless about driving
in snow so there was always a slow down if we were driving downhill. I was running a bit late so I called Patrick when
I was about 30 minutes from home to let him know where I was. I got home around 7pm and was very surprised
to find that everything was perfectly fine
I walked in the house and Orion came running over to the
babygate with a small toy mouse in each hand. He really wanted to show me his
mice but the TV was on so he soon returned to his chair to finish watching his
program. I was able to have a civilized conversation with my husband, tell him
about my day, and show him the cute things I purchased. Then I asked Orion if
he wanted to nurse. There was no reply until I turned off the TV and he was all
“when did those boobs get here?”. I
nursed him and he was asleep in no time and slept through the night.
I was expecting to walk in the door to an upset crying baby
and a husband at the end of his rope. Orion would run over to me, claw at my
shirt and nurse for hours and be up a few times in the night. I was so happy to
be wrong. That day we had 3 nursing sessions and nursed for just over an hour. Since then he has nursed 7 times a day for
3-4 hours per day. This supports my theory that if I want to wean him I will
need to leave him. Working full time is
starting to look pretty good. Now I just need to find a job that will pay me
enough to cover the cost of daycare or even better has daycare available. Meh, I
would rather be with my baby even if he loves my boobs more than me.
I made Patrick tell me all about their day together repeatedly
so I could imagine it all in my head.
Patrick was also surprised by how well Orion did without me all day
long. Orion napped in the car, then they went to the indoor playground. Keeping
busy and having snacks is important to keep Orion happy. But if there are boobs, he will want them and
I have a hard time saying no but we are working on it. Maybe in another 21 months I will be able to
have a night away. I hope it doesn't take that long but maybe once a month I can have a day away. I came back
refreshed and excited to see my baby, I recommend it highly for every mom!
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