Pumping at work

One of the best parts for me about being a stay-at-home mom was that I didn't have to pump.  I breastfed on demand and pretty early on in Oliver's life decided that he was going to get formula the few times I wasn't around to feed him myself.  I realized that pumping was time-consuming and a chore and didn't want to be a slave to the machine.  Well, as of today, pumping is now a new way of life for me. 

I started a new job today and among the usual matters one handles on the first day, like meeting with HR, setting up your e-mail and voicemail and figuring out where everything is, I had to track down a place where I could pump and then interrupt my orientation to go do so.  Thankfully the office culture at my new job is supportive of nursing women.  When I told my boss that the HR rep didn't think I could reserve the dedicated nursing room, she took me over to the desk of someone who'd know the real answer - another nursing mom.  (And yes, I can look up when the room was available and block off time on my calendar so I have the room reserved and no one tries to schedule me for a meeting during pumping sessions.)  And I'm lucky I work in a flexible office environment.  I know women who are teachers, flight attendants, doctors and delivery truck drivers who face many more challenges if they choose to pump at work. 

Despite the favorable set of circumstances I was heading into, pumping had gotten off to a frustrating start when my attempt at stockpiling bottles of expressed milk yielded me three ounces by the first day of work.  Since I was nursing full-time on demand a baby who still didn't have an eating schedule and nursed quit frequently, finding time to pump, let alone reasonable quantities, was nearly impossible.  The lowest point was when Soren woke up unexpectedly early from a nap and wanted to eat and I ended up feeding him the bottle I had just pumped because my body hadn't had the time to produce more milk.  Then were the two times Chris was home with Soren and fed him a bottle of my liquid gold when I was just minutes away.  I finally gave up one night when the kids were in bed and I couldn't bring myself to pump, because I was paranoid that would be the night Soren would wake up earlier than usual and I'd be dragging myself from my warm bed down to the kitchen to heat up a bottle.  I reminded myself I wasn't opposed to formula and enjoyed the last few days of not being attached to a pump.  My gamble might be working out.  The number of ounces I was able to pump today was a little more than what Soren actually ate, so he should be set for tomorrow.