Ahhhh, for 40 minutes today I sat by the pool and read my book and then went for a dip...all by myself. It's funny, though, I missed Senior because I had no one to play games with in the pool. I'm reading The Awakening, and it gives me this nostalgic, childhood summer feeling. I keep daydreaming of going to live at the beach with J and not working and just doing arty things and taking naps and day drinking. I guess that is everyone's fantasy. And yes, I know what happens in the book and I suppose I needn't be so envious of Edna's lifestyle.
Last week was my first "cut back on pumping at work" week. I looked to the interwebs to get some advice for not pumping at work but still nursing. You know what I found? A few stories on La Leche League's website about working mothers who didn't pump at work. I'm like, oh good, I found what I'm looking for. Let's see...have your husband bring your baby to work? Get real, people! Seriously, that was the way that these three women avoided pumping at work. Why didn't I think of that?
I didn't really have an opinion about La Leche League, but now I do. Basically I now think anything they say has been discredited by this little bit of advice. So anyway, back to my first week of cutting back on pumping. No blocked ducts. At least one day of only one pumping. I can't really remember now, but one pumping per day was my goal. So I was successful at at least 20%. Friday Senior brought the baby to work and I avoided a second pumping by feeding the baby. Thanks, La Leche League! (It was Friday and I didn't have anything else to do.)
What else happened this weekend? Oh yeah, J fell off the bed while I was in the bathroom. I left him between two pillows WITH HIS DAD IN THE BED. I came out of the bathroom and Senior was standing on the other side of the bed, holding J and scolding me for leaving him unattended. One pillow was on the floor, and we suspect that J fell onto the pillow because he barely whimpered a few times and then he looked at me and smiled. Later in the day he rolled over onto a toy on the floor and screamed his head off. Maybe he's the next bungee-jumper in the family, like his mom. But anyway, I tell that story so that no one's surprised when I don't win mom of the year award for 2013.
I may or may not (ha!) have mentioned how I am not busy at work right now, so I hope I don't forget to drive straight to a hearing tomorrow morning. It will take 53 minutes, or an hour and 53 minutes, depending on traffic and construction. Awesome. Last week I went to a Phillies game and by leaving at 5:00 managed to make it in two and a half hours, which is only about two and half times as long as it's supposed to take. That made me not so sad to live in my crappy hometown where it takes me 12-15 minutes to get to work and that three-minute variation doesn't depend on traffic, but on how fast I drive.
Sigh. More about misadventures in parenting, my crappy hometown, and how I suck at my job later. I have a 10:15 computer curfew tonight, and true to form I am late. Ciao for now.
I hate pumping at work also. One thing that helped me was getting the advice not to wash the pump parts in between pumping. Sounds yicky, right? But breastmilk can sit out at room temperature for up to 5 hours before it shouldn't be used, so having breastmilk sit on pump parts for a few hours between pumpings isn't really an issue. At least, it wasn't for me.
ReplyDeleteI got a hands-free pump bra so I could work (and by work, I mean Pinterest) while pumping. (Of course, I could also lock my office door and be left alone--I think you have this privilege as well? Doesn't work for some people--like my friend who is a cashier at Whole Foods.)
I pumped only twice a day at work and then nursed as much as baby wanted at home. When baby was about ten months or ten and half, I pumped once a day, and waited until later in the day to do it. It didn't have a major affect on my supply (but I had oversupply for a while).
I know one mom whose kids are older now, but who told me she hated pumping so she didn't do it. She gave baby formula while he was at daycare, and then nursed in the evenings and on the weekends. It totally worked for them and baby nursed once during the night. Her supply kept up because the 8 hour work day was no different than a baby who sleeps 10 hours at night (haha, who ARE those babies?) without nursing.
LLL's website and publications are annoying, but the LLL women I've actually spoken to have been AWESOME. So don't write them off entirely. Reading the LLL book about transitioning baby to bottle for daycare stressed me out so much--I was in tears. But the leader I talked to about that (and later about my plugged duct) was amazing and supportive and talked a lot about how formula is not the enemy although LLL doesn't like the way it's marketed because it would be far more affordable if it weren't so heavily advertised and distributed. Anyway, I wish you luck!
Thanks, Brooke! I don't have a lock on my door, but I figure anyone who opens the door despite the "verboten" note will be more embarrassed than I will! I stopped rinsing pump parts after a few days of that noise. My babe is 9 1/2 months now and I am down to one pumping in the afternoon. I balked at the stopping entirely thing. But I can't believe I actually pumped three times a days for a while! Hands free...but still. Are you still pumping, or is Zuzu on cow milk now? How do I keep the baby chubby if I want him to drink almond milk (though not go dairy free necessarily)?
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