Looking for other professor mamas - Page 15

[huggingmama]

Rock Dr.-- Wow: I am so impressed that you are so committed to pumping for your babe with such an intense schedule. When I was first pumping DS, there was no way I could have not pumped for 9-10 hours... I would have exploded. That said, I could have made it 4-5 hours, so maybe you'd only need 1-2 pumping sessions each work day (my workdays at the time were 13 hours including commute, and I pumped twice).

All that aside, I wonder if something like the pump you can use as you go might be an option for you? Something like Whisper Wear?

[Geofizz]

Field trips with universities and oil reps go on the oil rep's schedule.

Going 10 hours without pumping when you have a 4 month old simply isn't feasible. You *might* be able to get away with pumping once at hour 4 or so. How long have you gone so far without pumping? As much as it would pain me to do it, I'd be tempted to just dump the milk instead of dealing with carrying it and ice along with me.

How many people are going? I would consider taking my lunch on the back side of a boulder and pump and eat on my own. That might not fly with the oil reps, though, so you may have to tell them. Otherwise, an option would to bring the baby and a sitter along with you if the majority of the hiking is something that can be done with an Ergo or something. 4 months might be big enough for a Kelty backpack, too.

On another note, I just got my AGU abstract in. #10,581. :

[kerc]

Know what I would do? Consult with our colleague in St Paul about what she did with baby Ayuna. email me if you're confused who I'm talking about.

How well do you know the oil company reps? Students? Is baby a good public nurser? What's the weather going to be like?


There's a married couple at my undergraduate school who used to regularly take research trips to a foreign country. (I think turkey, but I forget which country exactly). They would pay for another student to come along and be a nanny on the trip. The kids would go in the along, but not into the study areas. Could dh do that? I suspect you could camp with her, no problem. Especially since she's not crawling yet and she's not eating other stuff yet.

[kerc]

Originally Posted by Geofizz

On another note, I just got my AGU abstract in. #10,581. :

But it's in.


I'm not doing AGU this year. I just decided to spend the time I would preparing a poster or whatever to get my act together as much as possible and hopefully prepare for a defense.

[Geofizz]

Originally Posted by kerc

Know what I would do? Consult with our colleague in St Paul about what she did with baby Ayuna. email me if you're confused who I'm talking about.

D.W.?

The kids would go in the along, but not into the study areas. Could dh do that? I suspect you could camp with her, no problem. Especially since she's not crawling yet and she's not eating other stuff yet.

Yup, camping with a not-yet-mobile baby is easy and fun. Any undergrads that might want to come along, but not yet to the level that the oil company is interested in them yet?

[kaybee]

Ah, field work. I haven't done any work that remote, but I have had to deal w/my baby and field meetings. The first time, he stayed w/my MIL. I was gone from 5:30am til 10pm, and I only managed to pump once around 1:00 (lunchtime). I thought I was going to burst when I arrived back home.

The 2nd time I had a 2-day meeting - I didn't have any help, so I brought him w/me. He hung out in the sling while I trekked through a river all day. This was actually easier than dealing with pumping on a riverbank, but it sounds like this is not a possibility in your case.

I'd go the route of bringing baby along and making sure you can pump at least once mid-day. I'd be upfront w/the reps. You are really stretching it to meet their needs and they will hopefully be ok with your brief absence. You can decide if "nanny" and tenting works in the heat, or if you need a hotel.

And no AGU for me either, but I will be at GSA - anyone else?

[rock_dr]

yeah, you're right, 9-10 hours is totally out of the question, I'm only going 4-5 hours at night between feedings and that's my limit. what was i even thinking? So I'd have to pump. Guess I just have to figure out my comfort level as far as announcing to oil dudes and students (and of course they are all dudes) my schedule. as far as I know, Ayuna (L.L. and T.H.) was set up pretty well in death valley with a nice day camp. if camping, we're totally on undeveloped sites (blm) without water or toilets or anything. I'm not even sure DH would be that excited to hang out there alone all day (especially after I told him about a rattlesnake incident last year). I know it's do-able but the hotel convenience might be worth the inconvenience of having to drive a bit further. I'm probably looking at 4 days minimum plus travel time... plus, good practice when I start looking at Mongolia and Azerbaijan trips next year! (umm yeah, I think I'll be hiring a student for those, know lot's of people who do that.)

I don't think they'd yank our funding if I postponed till spring, but then again this is one of those things I've put on the front-line in my work priorities.

GSA - didn't submit an abstract but I still might pop down for a day or two with ella.

thanks for all your advice and stories!

Kerc - a defense is in the works? yay!

[kerc]

Originally Posted by rock_dr

as far as I know, Ayuna (L.L. and T.H.) was set up pretty well in death valley with a nice day camp.

I guess I was meaning Lisa would have a handle on the oil guys and the terrain and she also did some field trips where she pumped in the van while everyone else had lunch (groups of faculty that is).



re defense: the last convo I had with advisor over the issue I was pressing toward a january defense, which would free up my november and make me eligible for a pt ta-ship (which is apparently available, but may or may not be offered to me) in the spring. According to her I'm "closer than I think." Not at the rate I've been writing this past week.

[kerc]

I did a little more thinking on this issue

Any chance either of the oil guys has kids? There is an oil guy out there, who was here for about 3 years, who has been incredibly supportive of me and my kids (while he was here in MN).

For example: he was running a field trip to Utah and was willing to let me tag along with my 18 month old (who was still nursing). It didn't work out, but he was totally willing. This particular dr. oil educator is married and his wife breastfed/pumped exclusively for a long time. Dr. Oil educator is probably not the only guy out there with a wife/kids who is receptive to the needs of a wee child.

[flydale]

wow, and I was feeling bad for myself when I had to drag DH along to DC for a few trips to the archives there... he had to hang out all day in the sweltering summer heat down there and bring the lo to me at appropriate intervals... I'm gonna tell him your stories and he will feel sooooo lucky

[rock_dr]

kerc - yeah I see your point about lisa. I need to talk to that woman anyway!
I actually am quite certain the oil guys WILL be receptive if I make the request. I know them reasonably well (I also know the guy you're talking about . They wouldn't say 'no you cannot go pump milk for your baby.' The issue is really more whether I feel comfortable with it - both asking and doing. Well that and whether the few days in the field are worth all the trouble. it's just that funding is hard to get right now, when you have it you want to make sure the funders are happy campers! literally and figuratively.

[namaste_mom]

CJ - Boy do I feel your pain. I have taught field camp before while pumping with a 4 month old. I fed him in the morning and tried to pump. Drove out to do field work. At lunch, I pumped again which required me to find a quiet place away from everyone. I had to tell students what I was doing so they wouldn't come looking for me. I have a Medela pump that runs on batteries and that has a side pocket to put 3 ice packs in. And fed DS as soon as I returned from the field. BTW, I had to carry the pump in my backpack while scrambling up cliffs and up the valleys along with everything else you have to pack for a day in the field. After 3 weeks of doing this, I think I lost some of my supply but after some intense bfing. It came back. I realize that you will be with oil guys but you are going to have to explain to them what you are doing so they know you are not blowing them off. I think they will understand.
My DH kept my DS and DD back at the place where we were staying. Is there someone else that might enjoy staying in a hotel for a couple of days with Ella, like a grandparent?

GSA - not going, I don't think I told you all the I'm pg again and I will be 37 weeks at the time

AGU - not going, new little one will only be 3 weeks old.

It is a low stress conference semester. Although, I'm at Maryland giving a colloquium talk today...

D.

[Geofizz]

Cool. Now I know who you are. I hope the seminar goes well!

[rock_dr]

D. You are amazing!!

seriously, 3 weeks of field camp, I am so impressed!

congratulations on your new l.o.! Say hi to your new colleague for me.

[namaste_mom]

CJ - Yes, it is not easy but it can be done. I don't know what I'll do next summer. This l.o. will be about 6 months at field camp and my DH doesn't really want to take a 5, 3, and 6 month old. I'm thinking I'll just pump like crazy the month before hand to try and build up a good enough supply to last 2-3 weeks and then pump morning, midday, and night in the field to keep up my supply. I'd rather have my l.o. with me but must respect what my DH can do. We count on the $$$ from field camp so no skipping it for me. As for international field work next year, I don't know. I'm scheduled to go to Tibet and I have a student starting a project in Nepal. I guess it will all work out somehow. I think I could take the l.o. to Nepal but not Tibet because of the elevation.

Geofizz - can you give me an idea of who and where you are? or you could just pm me and tell me or email my university email.

[shayinme]

Hi all! Not really sure I fit here since based on my reading of the thread there are few adjuncts here but I need some advice/comments so hopefully you ladies can help me out.

I have a masters in Organizational Management, and spent the last year teaching business courses at a vocational school or career college as some call it. A friend gave me a lead for a local community college, I met with the dept chair a month ago and was offered 2 courses for the fall term. All was looking good. (was offered a class on entrepreneurship and a macroeconomics course, both I felt pretty good about teaching)

Well last week I call the dept chair after realizing I still had not received the materials for one of the classes and the term starts Sept 17, well he informs me both classes have been canceled : but he has a class open still that he would like to offer me, its Software Applications which really is not my thing. The class involves teaching Word, PowerPoint, Access and Excel.

Now at the vocational school I taught a modified version of this class only focusing on Word & PP and have little experience with Access and marginal experience with Excel.

So late last week I go in to pick up my materials and he assured me with my background this class will be no problem. Well I am at home reviewing the stuff and frankly I feel very uncomfortable for starters I can't open the fricking teacher's CD-Rom to view the powerpoint in preparation for class tomorrow and after going through both the book and syllabus am really feeling like WTF have I done.

At the last minute I was told of a mandatory new faculty member orientation being held Sat which I could not attend (um, there is a reason I am teaching days.. no night and weekend avail) so I feel like I am about to walk into this cold and I feel so unqualified.

Guess my question is, is this type of thing normal for adjuncts where you are thrown into teaching a course even if its not your area of expertise? Honestly I need the money and since it was a good friend who got me the lead I really don't want to bail at the last moment but as someone who prides themselves on doing a good job I am feeling really shaky.

Thanks for listening.

Shay

[athansor]

Wow, it sounds like you really got a challenge in front of you. I'd be a bit shaky if I were in that position as well. I have had a few classes in my life where I've felt like I was just a lecture or two ahead of my students. The workload at the beginning is amazing, but I somehow got through them, and learned a lot in the process.

Is it possible that the reason that you can't open the CD-ROM is because of a windows XP vs. vista issue? I know we've been having lots of problems with all the office programs becuase of XP vs. Vista issues. There are some patches out there that might help. This is a pretty good group for getting help with issues that might come up during the class, and I know my way around Excel and Access pretty well, so feel free to PM me if you have any questions.

Sue

[shayinme]

Originally Posted by athansor

Wow, it sounds like you really got a challenge in front of you. I'd be a bit shaky if I were in that position as well. I have had a few classes in my life where I've felt like I was just a lecture or two ahead of my students. The workload at the beginning is amazing, but I somehow got through them, and learned a lot in the process.

Is it possible that the reason that you can't open the CD-ROM is because of a windows XP vs. vista issue? I know we've been having lots of problems with all the office programs becuase of XP vs. Vista issues. There are some patches out there that might help. This is a pretty good group for getting help with issues that might come up during the class, and I know my way around Excel and Access pretty well, so feel free to PM me if you have any questions.

Sue

I am hoping its a technical issue on my end since at home I have both Vista and XP and this disk didn't work on either computer so I am going in early tomorrow to see what happens in the classroom.

The class is 2.5 hours and meets 2x a week so I am hoping tomorrow I can kill a fair amount of time with household stuff like introductions, etc. Figure I can talk to the chair and work out the kinks but I just hate feeling shaky in the classroom. Yet I know if I were to just bail at this point it would not be a good move professionally on so many levels. Just nervous..

Thanks for the offer, will probably take you up on it in a few weeks.

Shay

[Realrellim]

Originally Posted by shayinme

Guess my question is, is this type of thing normal for adjuncts where you are thrown into teaching a course even if its not your area of expertise?

From my experience I'd have to say yes, though it does improve once you have a working relationship with the institution because they tend to give you more notice if they want you to teach a class you haven't done before (this time, I even have a whole semester to prepare!!). Last-minute requests are definitely the norm at both of the institutions I work as an adjunct for too.

Good luck!

[kerc]

Originally Posted by shayinme

Guess my question is, is this type of thing normal for adjuncts where you are thrown into teaching a course even if its not your area of expertise? Honestly I need the money and since it was a good friend who got me the lead I really don't want to bail at the last moment but as someone who prides themselves on doing a good job I am feeling really shaky.

Thanks for listening.

Shay

unfortunately. But it has happened to me more times that I can count. Chemistry, Environmental Science, etc. You can do it. It helped when the Dean was doing my annual(ish) review last spring and told me I had outstanding evaluations -- he said he expected them to go down with a new class, a higher workload and major life stresses. He knew I had all three and still managed a decent evaluation. Lots of stress though. In my instance it could really be worth it.....if we can stick around long enough PT folks generally become FT folks here. We (dh and I) live in a fabulous spot, our salary goes really far and we're both using our degrees doing about 75% of what we thought we would (we would both rather be at undergraduate spots than technical college).