Breastfeeding Stories: I Cry Over Spilled Milk

When I was pregnant with my first child, I managed to read a few books on what to expect (on commuter train rides between the full-time job at a public relations firm and business school). I admit, my studies were not exhaustive. However, none of the books, blogs or articles I read prepared me for a life of breastfeeding on the job.

No mention of the perils of leaks, difficulty getting to a pump due to long meetings and hauling the precious liquid gold around your computer bag. Just the beautiful bond you create with your baby.

The bond is a real thing and for me, breastfeeding was overall a very positive experience. All my babies “latched on” they got their fill, they didn’t have “nipple confusion” despite the bottle being part of their day nearly every day.

I did experience engorgement which sounds like something a man would want for himself – but in the breast department, quite painful. And I got a nasty infection. Oh my god the pain of that I won’t soon forget.

Breastfeeding Stories: I Cry Over Spilled Milk

For me, the ups and downs of breastfeeding were manageable. Until my maternity leave ended and I was faced with feeding my baby remotely. I had to learn to time-shift the milk. Which meant lots of pumps, cold storage and travel bags…and oh, so much more.

According to Section 4207 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (i.e. “Obamacare”), workplaces in the U.S. have to provide time and a secure private room (that is not a bathroom) for women to “express breast milk” until their babies are one-year old. I have been the fortunate beneficiary of such rooms but my female colleagues have not been so lucky (more on that in a future post).

The bigger challenge for me and many other women is the time factor. I found it very difficult to schedule pumping sessions in and around meeting times. Sometimes that meant I went without, which was painful. And I believe at least for my third child, led to an early dry up. Part of the barrier is ourselves. We sometimes lack the confidence to ask for the time to pump.

I found some ways around the time factor and even went so far as to pump during a conference call (as my office was private and could be locked). But I would caution you ladies to be careful with this “mommy hack” as my pump was loud. And when my boss at the time asked “what is that sound?” I had to quickly think up a fib “oh, that’s a lawn mower, they are cutting the grass right outside my window.”

Managing remote breastfeeding is hard enough when you are in the office. It’s much more complicated when you have to take it on the road. First there is just the physical and emotional pain of not being with your infant. Then you have the logistics of pumping sometimes for days with no baby in sight.

For a colleague of mine on a recent four-day business trip, that meant hauling 132 ounces of pure liquid gold clear across the country.

How Did She Do It?

For one she planned ahead. She made sure there were rooms for her and breaks in the day. And she stuck to her guns and had boundaries around the times she needed to pump.

She was also very fortunate in that her travel companion was a dad himself and the husband of an OBGYN so he was no stranger to lactation. He went as far as taking my friend’s large (and heavy) pump through airport security while she had to wait while TSA scanned – I kid you not – 32 individual bags of pumped breast milk, which she took in a large cooler.

She said it took them 30 minutes to get through all the bags. Good thing they planned ahead and got to the airport early! After I heard her story, she was officially my hero!

My Own Breastfeeding Story

But my own breast milk story that I will never forget and still feel the pain of it when I think about it was a day when I was away from my first child for 18 hours. It was a long day of work in the Bay Area. Taking a one-hour train to Berkeley, where I was getting my MBA at the time then getting the train back home to San Francisco where I lived.

I had pumped the entire day including during the break at class. When I got home, I was entirely spent and went about the business of unloading all my stuff. Including about 20 ounces of the liquid gold.

As I was transferring from bags to bottles, the entire load of it spilled all over the kitchen counter and onto the floor. And do you think I cried over that milk? You bet I did! If you need some remodeling services, navigate to this website and get some services. 

So What Is A Breastfeeding Mom To Do When Faced With A Busy Work Schedule With Travel?

For one, it’s worth setting boundaries around breast-feeding at work. My colleague is still breast-feeding her child. During a recent two-day meeting stretch, she simply announced that she needed “mommy time”. And no one batted an eye-lash when she left the room just before a presentation.

I believe we limit ourselves when it comes to continuing a breast-feeding practice when we get back to work. We feel pressured to fill up our schedules and work as if we don’t have a hungry infant at home (or daycare). So for you moms who are currently breastfeeding at work or are considering it in your future, keep these ideas in mind:

1. Schedule time throughout your day to pump. You will have a feel for how many times a day you need to do this at work. For me two was enough, and three was ideal. But you need to block the time on your calendar and stick to it.
2. It’s okay to let your boss and your co-workers know you need to take time to pump. They will understand and if they don’t, you can rely on your HR department and the law, which will back you up.
3. Do some research on a pumping system and a storage system that works for you. There are so many types of pumps out there. With my first two, I used a simple hand pump, which worked great. But I could only pump one breast at a time. And if you start pumping on one side, the other just starts to go and you lose all that milk. This was not included in any of the books I read either. With my third, I went with a pretty fancy electrical pump that could handle both breasts at the same time – very efficient but as I mentioned it was loud.

Wrapping It Up

For moms who choose to breastfeed when they get back to work, it can be exhausting. But also entirely worth it. What breast-milk stories do you have to share? Readers would love to hear them.