Enter the working nursing mother aka the clock watching pumping b!*$%. Is being at work difficult? No, not at all. It’s the “Sorry – I can’t handle that crisis or family meeting or fit in that kid in that time because the other kid didn’t show or drive out to see that kid at that time. You see, I require ample time to get to a private area to set up, hook up, relax, let down, pump, store, and clean up at that time, and two other times throughout the day.”
Example, it’s 9:30am and a kid hasn’t shown up for a session. Normally, I’d call for another kid. But now I can’t because there is no point. I have to pump at 10am. That means I’m unavailable until 10:30. An hour of work gone! In the back of my mind, I know I cannot meet the quota of encounters per day with this pumping schedule. Of course I have a legal right to pump and my employer must accommodate for this. How do I accommodate for the overwhelming feeling that I’m failing as a mom because I complain so much about pumping and failing as an employee in terms of productivity?
Another example, there is an emergency crisis team meeting that is happening in town at 3pm. I’m asked to be there. I need to pump at 4pm. Do I leave the meeting at 3:30 so I have time to get back to the office and pump? Thus feeling like I’m abandoning a client in need and not meeting my obligations. Do I leave at 4pm when the meeting will hopefully end, and pull out my boobs in the parking lot of children's Services, while praying to God that no one sees me there or while I’m driving back to the office? Did I mention how difficult it is to relax when you try and pull the drive-n-pump move? I’ve done it once and avoid it like the plague. To say that I hate public pumping is an understatement. Never will I ever look at my fellow drivers at a stop light again.
Our darling little girl is only 5 months old and I’m sick of pumping! It's been two months and I'm already SICK OF IT! Truth be told, we have at least 7 more months of this. Introducing solids at 6months is really just her playing with her food. The boob-juice is her main calorie supply. And don’t get me started on how she is refusing to gain more than half an ounce a day. We're shoving milk down her gullet like it's the end of days. Poor thing is just pooing it out.
Here is a sample of our schedule (keeping in mind, some day’s I’m at the school, other days I’m at the office and other days I’m going from another school and the office and so forth). Somewhere in there we’ll get our taxes done, clean the house, clean the garage, plan our family vacation, pay bills, balance our accounts, return calls – oh and actually try and go on a date.
· 12:00am: Seth bottle feeds Eva (because we are battling the 5 month old who refuses to gain
· 5am: Seth wakes up and gives her bottled snack
· 6:00am: Wake up, dress, get ready
· 6:15am: Seth get’s Eva up, changed and dressed
· 6:30am: Pump one side, clean pump parts, bottle 3 extra ounces and store the rest
· 6:50am: Gather pump supplies and lunch and throw in the car
· 7:00am: Nurse Eva
· 7:20am: Gather Eva’s diaper bag, frozen milk, bottles, the 3oz that I pumped to add to her bottles, change if she needs it and walk over Eva over to her awesome sitter.
· 8:00am: Arrive at work try to see 2 kids (if I’m lucky) before I have to pump unless it’s Tuesday and I’m in a staffing until 9:30am and no kids are going to be seen until 10:30am.
· 10:00am: 1st pumping session (hand sign on door, pump, store and wash pumping attachments) (missing a chance of seeing any kid during 3rd period)
· 10:30am: Back to work
· 1:00pm: 2nd pumping session (missing any change of seeing a kid during 6th period)
· 4:00pm: 3rd pumping session, while I do some documentation and provider contacts (I’ll have to juggle this when I start doing 3pm group sessions)
· 4:30pm: Drive home
· 5:00pm: Get home to bag and store pumped milk, clean pump supplies, sterilize bottles, place milk cooler in freezer for tomorrow, transfer milk to deep freezer if needed
· 5:10-30pm: Pick up Eva if Seth hasn’t already, discuss Eva’s day
· 6:00pm: A 30min workout, get Eva up with toys in the living room or swing in the garage while we workout
· 6:30pm: Set Eva down for a nap, shower, and start dinner
· 7:00pm: Nurse Eva
· 7:30pm: Change her, get her PJs on, finish dinner and eat at some point in the night
· 8:00pm: Get bottles and diaper bag ready (binkie, extra outfit, toy, diapers or wipes if needed), for the next day, pack lunches. Squeeze in anything that cannot wait for the weekend (a bill, an order, read a few pages for book club) – and play with Eva of course
· 9:00pm: Eva naps
· 9:30pm: Head upstairs. Eva get’s her last change, a bath on some nights, and nurse her and put her to bed.
· 10:00pm: SLEEP
I’m painfully aware that I don’t HAVE to be pumping or nursing. I’m choosing this. Why in Sam’s hell am I choosing this again?
- To provide the BEST nutrition for Eva
- To make it possible to still nurse her when we are together
- To keep that special closeness and attachment going
- To avoid the health risks associated with formula feeding
- To miss less work, because breastfed babies are sick less often
- To save money ($800 a year!)
- Later in life she'll have fewer cavities
- Less likely to become obese later in childhood.
- Less likely to develop juvenile, insulin-dependent diabetes than children who are fed formula
- Decreased risk of childhood cancer
- More likely to have lower blood pressure on average than those who were formula-fed. Thus, decreased heart disease
- Decreased risk of psychological, behavioral and learning problems as she grows older
- Her cognitive development is increased
- In researching the psychological benefits of breast milk, one researcher found that breast-fed children were, on average, more mature, assertive and secure with themselves as they developed
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