CON: Everyone knows your bid-ness. Standing up to go take 15 minute breaks, having to grab the key to the designated empty office off the wall, carrying my pumping bag, cleaning the parts in the bathroom or kitchen (if empty), break times on my outlook calendar (to reserve said empty office) mysteriously labeled “Julie.”
PRO: Boss being totally cool about it. Not only does she allow me to take my “breaks,” she defends it righteously. I offered to work while pumping (the empty office has a computer) and she insisted I take the time to really break. “No, that time should be stress-free, ‘you time,’ you can read a magazine or something.” And she made a reference to smokers getting all the breaks they want, which I adore about her because I’ve always noticed that smokers seem to get more breaks than everyone else.
CON: Having to rinse off/wash pump parts over and over again.
PRO: I can now say I’ve been topless in my work place.
CON: When you take a phone call with someone who has a “quick question” even though you were supposed to start pumping a half an hour ago, and the phone call lasts 45 minutes, and oh shoot, my boobs are tingling and I’m leaking now. Great.
PRO: A forced break from work.
CON: Wondering if your male boss’s boss can hear the pump through the walls of the office.
PRO: Observing my coworkers maneuver around my pumping. “So, guys, what time should we meet? Julie…ah… when is your next…when are you next…?” “Doing my thang?” “Yes, when are you…doing your thang?”
CON: Battling oversupply issues. Wanting to pump a lot to get relief, not wanting to pump a lot to regulate your supply.
PRO: Feeling connected to my little one. I can’t be with you right now, June, but I can make sure you’re getting the best.
Do you have a refrigerated place to keep your pump parts? A tip I received early on (I hated cleaning the parts over and over!) from a breastfeeding support group was to keep the parts refrigerated between sessions. Then you don't have to keep cleaning them, or you can rinse them before or after you put them in the fridge, but basically keep them in there and you don't have to worry about bacteria growing, rotten milk crusting in them, etc. I wash mine with hot, soapy water once a day but keep them in the fridge between pumping sessions and haven't had a problem - I've been pumping for almost a year.
ReplyDelete