Party

As the nine month non-stop binge is drawing to a close, I have been rationalizing all sorts of food indulgences over the last few weeks as “the last one.” Last Friday I went to Dunkin Donuts on the way to work and picked up an iced coffee and some munchkins (huge mistake, on a day when you’re going to the doctor, btw; she totally busted me on the donut holes by the sugar in my urine!).

One of my coworkers, Dave, spied the iced coffee on my desk and surmised that I was the guilty party supplying the munchkins in the break room. When I explained the “probably the last one” rationalization he said “oh this is your last day?” and I said “no, but I’m a week from my due date, so fingers crossed here.” (At this point I hadn’t been to the doctor and taken off work) And then he was like “Well, we should do lunch or something then!” Yes, yes, we should do something; that would be nice!

As I had my doctor’s appointment around lunch that day, they arranged to have lunch brought in on Monday. Then I came back from my appointment and announced that I was not coming back, so thanks anyway on the lunch. I felt kind of bad, but I was also kind of like, nice waiting until the last minute, fuckers. They said they’d probably still have it, and I could come in if I felt like it. Gee, thanks!

So anyway, when I told the office manager I wasn’t coming back she was like, “oh, but we have something for you; I don’t know who has the card!” So I had to wave it off, and be all faux gracious…while in my head I’m thinking, maybe you should have planned this a little better. It’s not like it’s totally unheard of for babies to come before their due date (although this one seems determined not to, despite my best efforts!).

Since I was out yesterday to have my bp checked, I went by for lunch when I was done at the doc’s office. It was nice, and they gave me a card that they all signed and a gift card for Target and the Learning Store.

The Target one will come in handy; I plan to put it towards the breast pump purchase. So far, I’ve been holding off on that; it’s just such a big expense. And what if I end up not being able to breast feed for some reason, or don’t do it for very long? On one hand, I was kind of hoping that one of the people that casually mentioned they could lend me theirs would remember and come through…on the other, I’m still kind of squicked by the idea of using something so personal secondhand. In theory, you just buy all new tubing and plastic parts, the machinery/pump never comes in contact with any fluids.

I looked on ebay and none of them seem a big enough bargain to justify not buying it at a convenient store where you can return it if something goes wrong. I also looked into renting, but they don’t come in stylish Modella bags; they look like a big hamster habitat or something; not very transportable. Plus, beyond a certain point, renting it becomes as expensive as buying one. I wish I had a better network of mommy friends around, then I would have some more borrowing options…