working momma drama

If you do not want to hear a story that includes the words breast pump 12 times, kindly stop reading now and revisit us again tomorrow.

I am still breastfeeding Lila (granola mommy alert!) and loving it. I love the time we spend together each day, just the two of us while she nurses. I love how she rubs her little hand back and forth against my arm while she's nursing. I love how she stops and gives me the biggest smile because she's so content being in my arms. This is by no means a bottle bashing post, because everyone has to do what's right for them and their baby, but this is what is right for Lila and I.

But going back to work last week has created a whole new challenge. Breastfeeding now includes a third person: The Pump. I have worked our schedule so Lila needs 3 bottles while I am away at work: 9am, 12pm, and 3pm. Which means that I need to pump 3 times while I am at work in order to keep up with all the milk she needs. So imagine walking into work your first day and not only are you learning everyone's name, going through orientation and organizing your desk. Now, I am also looking for open outlets, setting up my dish soap and drying station for my bottles and trying to carve an extra 60 minutes (20 minutes for each pumping session) into my day.

Any mom who still breastfeeds their child after they go back to work will tell you it creates some serious drama in your work day. But for me right now, it is still worth it.

So back to the story...normally I pump 3 times a day in the supply closet in my office. Yes you heard me right, in the supply closet. Next to the post it notes and file folders. And sitting up against the office computer server so it is a million degrees and there is a large humming noise to cover up the "urgh-urgh, urgh-urgh" noise of my pump. On Friday, I was running around like a crazy person all day with lots of meetings and whoops, I skipped a pumping session. So I knew as soon as I got home, I would need to feed Lila or I would be in some serious pain. But when I got home, she was sound asleep. And the nanny had just fed her a bottle!

After paying Nanny Hannah, I decided to quickly pump before Lila woke up. After getting all of the 12 million parts assembled and reaching for the power cord that makes it run, I realize the cord is not in my bag! I left it in the supply closet at work. FAIL.

Now I have two options: wake Lila up and see if she will eat anything else (mommies know better than to ever wake a sleeping baby) OR...use my car charger for my pump. So since Lila is downstairs in her pack and play, I have no monitor to listen to her. I crack our front door, run out to the car, roll all the windows down in the 95 degree heat so I could maybe hear her if she cries and hook up the pumpto The Girls. So to recap, it is just after 5pm and all of my neighbors are getting home, I am sitting in my car in the driveway with the windows open and pumping with my shirt open. Class, class, class.

After 20 minutes of crouching over towards the floorboard every time a neighbor drove by, sweating profusely from the heat and stress, and straining to listen for Lila, I had a bottle of milk and a new vow to NEVER leave my pump charger at work again.

There are three reasons for breast-feeding:

the milk is always the right temperature;

it comes in attractive containers;

and the cat can't get it.

~Irena Chalmers