I need to get organized

Ran late this am. Took a train I don't normally take. Headphones in, fumbling for makeup, putting makeup on. I see a good looking guy sit next to me. Day looking up. Out of the corner of my eye I see the guy give me a semi-smile and starts to say something. How awkward. I am a married woman after all. I turn to look at him and momentarily wonder why he is holding a breast shield. The horror sets in.

Thank Goodness for breast friends

I work in a predominantly female company so at any given time someone is pregnant or breastfeeding. The shower room in the ladies' bathroom is the designated pumping room. There's no ventilation and it's not particularly clean but it has a chair*, an outlet and magazines. Mostly, it's not a bathroom stall and has a lock so that's nice. I'm lucky enough to have an office so I usually pump here with a sign on the door saying, "Conference call" and a chair in front of it in case someone loses their mind and wants to come in.

This rotation of breastfeeding friends is a good one. There are 4 of us, well, 3 now since K weened but she's still so helpful. The other 2 are second-time mommas so I am really fortunate to have them in my circle of friends. And they are all very open about their experiences. One of them is an exclusive pumper like me so I am especially fortunate.

The nice thing about being so close is that when you forget your supplies, when I forget my supplies I should say, I can always count on them for help. I forgot a set of bottles last week and J had a spare. What a good idea! I was able to borrow hers and not have to buy $10 bottles at the pharmacy. Also, I'd like to thank the makers of microwave sterilization bags.

*The room had a bench that was secured to the floor on the other side of the room from the outlet so our cords don't reach. For some reason, years of pumping mommas have been bringing extension cords, using batteries, sitting on the floor or standing. Why no one thought to ask the office manager for a chair I'm not sure. The week I starting pumping I thought to myself, "This is stupid. We need a chair." I requested a chair and the materials manager said no one had ever requested one. Which brings me to a subject I could go on and on about called, "Mommas' Rights." or "I'm the Sole Provider of Nutrition for a Human Being, Give Me Some Respect!"

Pulling my hair out.

Kinda tired of being the textbook case for pregnancy and postpartum. I would say that I'm pulling my hair out but I don't need to. When will it stop falling out?! Seriously, this is becoming alarming. Every shower leaves a handful of hair in the tub. A week's worth I'd say. I have less than 1/2 the hair I used to have. I can't even wind it in a bun anymore. And what's left isn't attractive. It's coarse, sticking out everywhere and just shabby. I keep thinking bugs are crawling on me but it's just hair randomly falling out and floating onto my arm. My husband doesn't notice these things but I've been telling him about it. I don't think he understood until we had a family shower the other day (Yes, it was super cute and fun) and he saw all the hair sticking to me and gathering in the drain screen. "Oh my God!" he exclaimed. "There's a chunk of your hair on your back!" Thanks Hon. :/ Meh.

Snoozed the booby alarm

So, I slept through the 3am pumping last night. Why, do you ask, do I still have a 3 am pumping? Because I didn't know I could change that until it occurred to me last week when a friend said the same thing, "Why do you still have a 3am pumping?"

In trying to add a pump at night and take away the sleep disrupting one, I missed a pump completely and woke up with rock hard (not in a good way), sore, boobs. Plugged ducts and all, dammit! And I'd love to drain them both until they are empty but I certainly don't want then to feel like we need more milk. We don't need more milk!

I remember the good ole days of setting my kitchen timer for every 3 hours to pump. I also remember my hubby and I counting the droplets until my milk came in. sigh. Good times. NOT!

Who is it?

Sometimes I pump in my office. The door doesn't have a lock so I put out a sign that says "Conference call" and jam a chair in front of the door. I forgot the sign the other day when a co-worker knocked on my door. I almost yelled out, "Who is it?" but realized that no matter the reply I could not act upon it. So, I sat very still and as quietly as the pump would allow until they went away. :)

Splashy splashy

I usually get up around 3:30am to pump. My hubby and I have a system worked out that if the baby gets up before 3:00 he tends to her and anything after 3:00 I do so. One night last week the baby woke up at 3:02. My watch by 2 minutes. So I prepped and fed her. We both fell asleep in our chair when I woke up to the booby alarm around 4:00am. I put the babe down, walked myself over to the bed, eyes closed strapped on the bustier, connected the cones and tubing and turned on the pump. I then slumped into a rhythmic sway. After a few minutes I felt something wet on my robe. Damn. I reached for the bottles to see if they were tightened or perhaps I'd already filled them up when I realized the sound was a splash splash instead of a squish squish. I had forgotten to attached bottles to the cones! There was milk all over my robe, my bed, the floor, the night stand. What a sticky mess. Plus, the boobs don't shut off when you shut down the machine. You must finish the job!

Now, I always attach the bottles to the cones before I go to bed. :)

Aquafina

Just realized that I forgot a set of bottles today. Dang. This means for my second pumping, pouring the milk I pumped earlier into a water bottle so I can re-use the baby bottles. Awesomeness.

Edit: I had to store the milk in the company fridge because the bottle wouldn't fit in my cooler. On the way back from the kitchen the young, single, HR guy asks, "Hey. Watcha got there?" My reply must have been in an appropriately discouraging tone because no follow up question proceeded: "You do not want to know."

Hands free pumping bra

If you have the Medela Pump in Style or another one of these pumps that you have to hold the horns to your boobs, buy a hands free bra. It changed my life! I used to be so crabby and bitter about having to pump now I just strap it on and do my thing. Like post to my blog.

I recommend this one. I'm going to buy another one so I don't have to lug it back and forth to work:

Simple Wishes Hands Free Breast Pump Bustier

You can buy it at some stores but Amazon has it cheapest. Enjoy your free hands.

Business casual

Upon realizing that I didn't put a sign on my office door saying "conference call", I opened the door to my office shirtless. No one was around thank goodness, but still. Although it's not in the hand book, pretty sure that's not what they meant by business casual.

Best places to pump

I've been pumping exclusively now for 4 months now. In that time, I've pumped in the car, highway rest stop bathrooms, people's homes, restaurant bathrooms, mall bathrooms, store bathrooms, ice cream shop bathroom, in my office, hotel bathroom, among a few. I have to say the best place to pump has been in the mall bathroom in Northbrook Court. Very nice. Has everything a pumping Momma needs: a shelf, a hook, clean facilities, toilet seat covers and many stalls. Second place was the ice cream shop that had a few single seaters but all the amenities including an electrical socket. The worst part of pumping in a bathroom is that you're taking up a stall for 15 minutes. I really liked pumping at Starbucks (kills two bird with one stone) but they typically have single seaters so the poor lady who has just had a grande, non-fat, half-caf, mocha, with no whip is dancing outside the door.

On the road

What do you do when you've fallen asleep past your pump time at 70 mph with no rest stop in sight? You use your baby's blanket as a cover up and pump in car!

Like little alarm clocks

I don't even have to look at the clock to tell you that it's 11:00am. Just checked- 11:03. It's like have my very own alarm clocks in my bra. Brrrring Brrrrring. Time to pump!

March 30, 2010 the beginning

I wanted to start a record of my experiences since giving birth. So I don't write all the history for the last 4 months in one post, I'm going to try to recall some of them.

Baby Girl came earlier than expected- 1 month early. It was me, not her. Preeclampsia is a bitch. We were signed up for the breastfeeding class the Saturday after she was delivered, so needless to say, we didn't make it.

The delivery was more complicated than I had hoped for and neither of us was ready for breastfeeding when she was delivered. She was put to breast and nothing happened. Before I knew it, she was whisked away to the NICU for jaundice and some oxygen. I was in recovery being told that she needed some formula due to her blood sugar level dropping. And so it began.

Just thinking

I was just thinking today about how much I enjoy sharing experiences of pregnancy, post-pregnancy and such but how people on FB must hate reading about it. So, By the Light of the Blackberry was born. The name refers to pumping in the middle of the night while trying not to wake anyone, yet keeping myself awake.