Last Day of Maternity Leave

So there you go, 2 months of bliss. Amazing how time flies and my fat, fat baby (as my hubby, J, sometimes calls her) is 2 months old. And, I go back to work tomorrow ;-)

As I remind myself how lucky I am to have a job that I like, I am also setting a goal of retiring in 4 years' time, so that I am able to spend more time with the kids. Today I am supposed to attend a seminar that will help me achieve my cashflow goals, but I had to give it up as I need to prepare things for tomorrow. The babysitter needs to be visited again to get a short briefing on what to expect tomorrow. I also need to pack all the baby stuff to bring to her, as well as get all my work stuff ready. It has been so long, I've forgotten how to juggle an infant and work; forgotten how it was that I coped with night feeds and a fulltime job (10-11 hours a day). And this time round, I have 2 school-going kids (Wei, 9 and Yuan, 7) as well. I still call them my babies - children do not grow up in their parents' eyes!

Yesterday, I was very happy because I bought a 2nd-hand Avent ISIS manual breast pump. Baby Xin is being fed by a combination of formula and breast milk. No excuses here, it was my fault for not breastfeeding exclusively because I couldn't bear the baby crying pitifully during the first few days before the milk "came in". But I shall try the combination feeding for 6 months at least, and now that I am going back to work, the breast pump would really help me. Why a 2nd hand breast pump? I owned a Pureen electric pump which had seen better days and now does not work anymore. I have been surviving on an ordinary manual pump which is hardly effective, the final milk product quantity is so little, you'd think why bother! I have read reviews on the Avent pump and would like to have one, but it does not seem very cost effective to be buying a brand new one for one last use. So I found a seller on the web who wanted to sell her pre-loved Avent ISIS, and I believe it is okay to be used as I can wash and sterilize all the parts. Thank you, Nana, the pump works perfectly! Even my hubby, J, noticed the difference and said, "Wow, so much milk!"