I don't even feel like I can properly complain about the difficultly of pumping and working since I only pump once a day away from my house, but it is a bitch!
The best thing I have: two pumps. And I didn't buy either of them. I borrowed one PISA from my sister and one from a close friend. I know they are not closed systems, but I don't care.
Still, it seems that each day I forget something. Usually it's just the ice pack and/or insulated bag to store the milk. This is not a huge deal since I pump at the end of the day, then go home. Except that if I forget lids (which I do 50% of the time) there is a huge chance of spillage which is just a pain in the butt.
So even though I don't carry the whole pump with me everyday, I still forget things every day.
But the worst part is sitting there pumping. I pump after school so I don't have anything specific I need to be doing and I don't need anyone to cover my class (explain to me how I could have someone cover a half of the same class every single day...would not work!). But there are still issues.
1) I can't help any students after school. Students forget to come in at lunch. I don't check my email at home anymore and so not helping them after school really sucks.
2) The lights in my classroom are on a censor. The censor shuts the lights off after 15 minutes of no movement. I pump for 30. So the lights go off halfway through each and every time. I open one of the slatted vent windows to let in a little light so I can still see. To turn on the light again, I'd have to walk to the opposite end of the room. I guess I could just pump in that corner (honestly didn't occur to me until now) but I couldn't leave my stuff over there since my desk is on the other side.
And then you have the possibility of everyone's worst nightmare: someone walking in on you pumping. I keep my door locked all day (and just prop it open during class) so that I never forget to lock it. So the only people that could walk in on my are custodians and administrators. No administrator would be all the way over by my bungalow after school, but the custodians are around. Usually they don't clean until 4 or 5, but potentially, they could come in so I'm always on guard.
BUT...last week I let a student open my door because we had a big fair until the end of school and I had to return money and couldn't let students in my room to get their stuff. Then I came back and pumped. AND A SENIOR MALE WALKED IN ON ME PUMPING. Because the door was not locked because I was not the person who opened it which I forgot about. And no I didn't have my cover on. I think he was more traumatized than I was but OMG how horrible! I'm still cringing.
But then my door was still unlocked and you can only lock it from the outside so I hurriedly made a note that said do not come in and stuck my hand awkwardly out the door and attached it but I couldn't lock the door because I wasn't done yet so I finished pumping knowing that my door was unlocked. FML.
Anyway. Pumping at work is extremely difficult and I dream about quitting all the time. I imagine pumping moms making it to a year are a rarity. And because no one other than pumping moms or maybe all moms, understand the situation, our maternity laws still suck. If I still needed to pump a total of 8 times a day I would completely lose my mind.
End rant.
How long did you keep pumping WOHMs?
How embarassing! I just had someone walk into my office (they unlocked my door!) and I was bf'ing Daniel without my cover on.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to have to pump multiple times at work in the fall I think :( we will see how it goes.
I hate pumping - even the word is awful. I just started back at work yesterday, and I'm pumping 3 times a day in a little "meditation room" one floor down. It is SUCH a hassle, and I know my three 30 minute breaks are not going to fly with my coworkers (although I don't think anyone will say anything outright). But I'm not ready to wean yet, and I don't trust that my supply wouldn't plummet if I was just nursing at night. The whole situation just sucks.
ReplyDelete(Also, Jack HATES the bottle with a burning passion, so that's a whole other battle my mom is fighting while she watches him).
I hope Jack starts liking the bottle soon! I bet he will. An hour and a half is a long time to not be at your desk or whatever. How can anyone really do that for 10 months if you go back after 6-8 weeks? So hard! I hope you find a balance.
DeleteI went back after 12 weeks and, honestly, I might be resigning at the end of the summer or sometime in the fall to work from home with another company -- so if I can just hang on that long, it'll be okay! Jack tolerated the bottle today, according to my mom. He makes these terrible faces and gags in the beginning, but he is not the type to go on a hunger strike so he sucks it down in the end ;)
DeletePumping at work DOES suck, and it is exhausting. And I have been walked in on FOUR times so far. Once was by another pumping mom who just came back to work. No males, yet. But I am sure it will happen. Ugh. I keep a stash of milk bags at the office so I don't have to worry if I forget lids.
ReplyDeleteSmart to have bags! Common sense seems to have failed me since having a baby.
DeleteI nursed for a year... which meant I pumped at work for almost 7 months! I hated it the whole time! I am a nurse for a small place- so the only place for me to pump was the single person employee bathroom. I would bring a chair in there twice a day at the beginning and once a day toward the end. I got walked in on once by one of our male doctors. I hated having to have someone cover my patients everyone I took a break to pump!
ReplyDelete7 months and counting over here. I pump twice at work and twice at home these days. It's a drag, and at work it is hard to get the time. I have my own office, and I hang a sign on the door that says I'm with a patient. i also have two pumps, which is awesome, but i have forgotten my flanges and/or bottles and/or cooler before. I keep some extra bottles at work in a drawer. and i have extra lids in the cooler (b/c i tend to forget them). once i had to hand express into a bottle b/c i'd forgotten the flanges. ugh. and once i had to use the office fridge b/c i forgot the cooler. double ugh. i taped napkins around the milk bottle so no one could see what it was. i'm hoping to make it to a year with the breast milk and pumping, but it is tough!!
ReplyDeleteI'm a nursing momma of twins. I am so happy summer break starts tomorrow because I hate pumping and I've been walked in in twice! I've had to give up my classroom a few times which means I have to find elsewhere to pump. Next year with the way my schedule is I'll have to find someone to cover my class because I go 5 straight hours without a break.... Those that continue to pump are pretty awesome in my book. Great job ladies.
ReplyDeleteOh yes. It sucks. My boss loves to throw surprise emergency projects at me and I don't want to say "I need to go pump" so I work really fast while I get engorged and quietly seethe. Then my pumping schedule is thrown off and that can throw off nursing at the end of the day. My pumping place is called the "Wellness Room." Nobody has walked in on me, but I've had to knock on the door to interrupt people using the room for naps and private phone calls.
ReplyDelete"Excuse me...so sorry! Time for me to pump!"
Pumping at work is awful. I do it twice but really I should get a third session in since I'm there so long some days. I pump in my office and lock the door so I've never been walked in on, but I'm still nervous! Since attorneys are generally insensitive to pregnancy related things in general, people like to ignore my closed, locked door and knock (because they always need something) and when I don't answer (because who wants to tell "I'm pumping!") THEY TRY AND OPEN THE DOOR. Seriously? And as if the locked door isn't a signal to go away, one person in particular continues to jiggle the handle before giving up. Mind you, I'm pretty sure they can hear the damn pump too. This has been happening since February. So, yeah, it sucks. Mostly because insensitive males make it suck (at least for me). Not to mention it totally dehydrates me more than normal feeding. Dunno why. Anyway , that's my rant. Going to try and get as close to a year as possible though!
ReplyDeleteWith my first, I pumped for 10 months. I worked at different locations and had to arrange pumping spots at each one. I think everyone I worked with walked in on me at least once!
ReplyDeleteThis time around, I have an office that's in a fairly isolated area (people don't just walk by). I can just shut my door, pull down the blinds, and pump while I work. I also have a car adapter and pump when I'm driving between sites. AND I have a boss with small children who pumped when they were babies and is totally sympathetic. So I'll probably make it to a full year this time.
Ugh I hate pumping at work. I'm lucky I had sixteen weeks off for maternity leave most was unpaid. I've been back to work for 4 weeks today. I pump three times at work. It's hard to work and pump because I often need to massage to get the milk out. I can barely pump enough to keep up with her. I have my own office but no lock and stupid law firm won't install one. I'm a librarian so people sometimes come looking for us in a hurry. Luckily no walk-ins yet. I have had to pump on a conference call but luckily I didn't need to say much so I kept the call on mute and turned the pump off briefly.
ReplyDeleteI was only able to maintain my milk through three months but I stretched it into my going back to work. I had nowhere to pump so I did it in my car. I was so exposed and if was a huge hassle. I only had time to do it on my lunch which is why I think I ran out of milk sooner. I feel you but I am proud of you for pushing it as long as you have.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely hate pumping at work, and I have only been back at work for a week and a half. I have to pump 3-4 times a day and my production is just not keeping up with what baby girl eats while I am away, so I have had to add two pumping sessions at home (after her morning feed and after she goes to bed). Sigh. I *really* do not want to supplement, but the situation is not good at all.
ReplyDeleteI went back to work when G was 4 months old and continued to pump until she was 9 months at least 2 times a day. I was lucky we had a mom's room but it was still a PITA! I had a great system and also owned two pumps (a totally free medela lactina for home that I scored off Craigslist from a twin mom who had premies so the insurance company bought it for her...and a borrowed PISA...and I didn't care if it was a closed system either...I just got new tubing and parts). I think being a teacher makes it harder because you pretty much are "on" most the time you are at work. For me...as long as I didn't have a meeting at that time..I could just slip away and pump. It only got to be a real big hassle when we had several pumping moms at work...we then had to schedule our time in the moms room....so if I missed my window or was late...I was either screwed or had to cut my session short. I hated that part! YOu can do it...school is out soon right? And then you have the whole summer and you will be coming up on close to a year so maybe by Sept you can avoid pumping during the day completly?
ReplyDeletekd