It's a longer commute, but my boss is much, much cuter!!

It's a good thing my boss has a sense of humor. :-) And is understanding and flexible, along with everyone I work with at Freescale. I left them somewhat in a bind, as I wasn't able to train them on everything, and even for what I did train on, it's hard to fully understand right away. I'm surprised I haven't gotten more calls from them, but I know they will get through everything ok. But I'll probably be gone longer than I was for Owen. My paid (at 90%) maternity leave is 6 weeks, and then I can take 12 weeks of unpaid family leave after that. With Owen the 6 weeks took me to his due date; there was no way I was going back to work that soon (I started working part-time from home a few weeks after that). With Sophie, the 6 weeks takes me to 2 weeks BEFORE her due date. She may even still be in the hospital at that time. What sucks is that if Sophie was still in my belly, I would've been able to finish up some training, and then go on short term (paid) disability - right now I would be scrapbooking at home and getting paid for it, then I would still get the 6 weeks paid after she was born. But because she came early (and it's no longer MY medical issues, it's hers), I only get paid the 6 weeks. We have been blessed financially, so this isn't an issue for us, but I can see how much of a financial burden this is on other families.

Sophie is at Scottsdale Shea hospital. That's about a 20 minute drive without traffic, and about 30 minutes with. It's not really that bad a commute (and it's actually very pretty), but at first it was frustrating because we live within walking distance of Banner Desert. But from what I have seen & heard, we are at a great hospital, so I don't mind filling up the gas tank more often. I am very happy with the care that Sophie is getting. We were unhappy when Chandler Regional hospital sent Owen (a 34 weeker) home at 2 days old, and we had to go back into the hospital (this time Banner Desert), the next day. Plus, Shea is closer to both sets of grandparents, which is important for dropping off Owen (that definitely worked out well for the birth). It has been an amazing blessing to have both sets of grandparents here to help out with Owen. I'm not sure what we would do without them.

I generally leave the house shortly after 10am to get here in time for Sophie's 11am feeding. I then stay for the 5pm feeding, which gets me home in time for dinner. She gets fed every 3 hours, at which point I take her temperature and change her diaper. She has started to take part of her feeding from a bottle (usually between 10-20cc), and then the rest through her feeding tube (for a total of 45cc). I have also started trying breast feeding with her, which at this point is just trying to get her acquainted with the breast. All of this takes around an hour, and then at some point I pump so she can have a constant supply of milk. So it's a pretty busy day. On the "off" time I do some reading, blogging, eating, or exercise.

Although I have had some episodes of post-partum depression, I generally feel upbeat when I am at the hospital. The nurses and doctors are very happy and caring, which helps a lot.

Plus, my boss is getting cuter every day. :-)

From LGA Arrives!