Awkward & Awesome Thursday: Pumping Edition

Today I'm going to enthrall you with all of the awesomes & awkwards of pumping breast milk at work. Let's see if I can organize my thoughts, because there are so many things I want to mention. I've been pumping at work (and at home) for over a month now and I'm finally into a routine. I think. Usually when I say I've got a routine down, something goes horribly wrong. So I probably just jinxed myself.

Random cute baby pic!

Awkward


Trying to discreetly store breast milk in the break room fridge. My pump came with this neat little cooler, but everyone knows what's really in there. (It's not toxic waste people. It's probably more sanitary than what you put on your cereal this morning.)


Toting my pump bag from the 3rd floor down to the 1st floor twice a day. Someone always says, "Have a good night!" because they think I'm leaving. Then they see me later... So now when someone acts as if I'm leaving, I say, "Oh, no, I'm going to pump breast milk." This guarantees that they will never question my comings and goings again. Plus, it educates people who think you can't work and continue to breastfeed. I'm doin' it!


Rinsing out bottles & pump parts in the women's bathroom. It was so awkward the first few times I did it, that I just gave up and started washing everything at home after work.


Being in a long drawn-out conversation with a co-worker, feeling my milk come in, and trying to abruptly end the conversation so I can go pump. It's technically called "let down" but I refer to it as "the booby tingles." 


The sound the pump makes. The walls at my office are thin, and I know people can hear the pump when they walk by my little pumping office. REH reh REH reh REH reh REH reh. (Sometimes, the pump talks to me. The suction noises sound like words. Yes, I've lost my mind.)


Practically undressing at work. Unless you're a total whore, it just feels wrong.


Awesome


The fact that I don't have leakage problems. One less awkward thing to worry about.


Knowing that I'm connected to my baby even when I'm not with him. Makes me feel less guilty about working when I know I can still provide him with the best form of nutrition.


Getting a little break twice a day a/k/a People magazine time! Brangelina. Are they ever going to get married? WHO KNOWS.


Proudly toting home 4+ ounces of milk. 5 oz. is my all time high. One day I only got 2 oz. and I cried. (That was when I had mastitis and took antibiotics. HUGE mistake.) Flynn drinks 2 4oz. bottles in the afternoons when I'm working, so I still have to pump another 4 oz. before I leave for work the next day. Low milk supply is the devil!


The Medela Pump In Style. Truth be told, I haven't tried another pump to compare it to, but this one is working great so far. They sell tons of accessories for it, too. Amazon has the best prices. Just throwing that out there. As if Amazon doesn't already have high enough self esteem.

Nom nom nom

To all you other pumping mamas. I salute you.