Feeling conflicted with working and nursing....I'd rather nurse
It looks like I haven't written since a few weeks before my daughter was born. She was born on September 15, 2008. Labor went fairly quickly. I ended up needing a c-section. She had problems nursing. So that first month really sucked.
But now she is a healthy, happy, breastfed four-and-a-half-month-old baby.
I've gone back to work. I'm happy getting away from my daughter for some time everyday. And I'm lucky because my mom teaches preschool at a daycare. She picks the baby up and takes her to work with her and then watches her after she's come home until we get home from work. My mom has also decided she is retiring at the end of the school year. So no more daycare payments after May! At least until my mom gets sick of watching her granddaughter everyday.
So, luckily, I've been able to express milk while I'm at work. I just worked it out that I come in a little earlier to make up for the time it takes to pump. I'm a good little worker...but the company is also lucky that it doesn't have any smokers. I would be pissed off doing that when smokers take smoke breaks for ten minutes at a time every hour or so. I only need 15 minutes three times a day...and one of those times is during my lunch break.
It's still frustrating, though. No one here really understands how breastfeeding works. It's a small office. Two are men. Two of the women never had children. Two others did but formula fed. The last tried breastfeeding her first daughter and quit after two weeks. So she is the only one who even slightly understands.
They just don't understand that I really shouldn't skip a pumping session. They don't understand the bond I have with my daughter when I nurse. They don't understand why I'm so worried when my daughter has to have a bottle when she doesn't normally get one.
Case in point: I've been asked to cover for an evening meeting. To do this would be a logistical nightmare for a nursing mom. I would only get to nurse my daughter once the entire day (in the morning). Then I would have to pump the rest of the day, requiring at least seven or eight bottles for storage. Plus, a cooler to store them in. The one I normally used only has space for four bottles. That gets me through a regular workday. I've tried to explain this, but the person who handles the schedule just doesn't get it. She's very flippant. Almost like she is saying, "So what!"
I think there should be more education about breastfeeding and how important it is for a working mom who nurses to nurse as often as she can. I love nursing my daughter and it breaks my heart that I won't be able to nurse her that day. And for no good reason but to babysit a group who will be using our meeting room. I actually want to cry about it! So I'm stuck doing it...all I can do now is to pray that the meeting ends up being canceled.
I already have issues with the fact that my boss thought that I wouldn't come back to work after my maternity leave. He is very conservative and old-fashioned. He thought I would end up being a stay-at-home mom. I think until recently he thought I would quit at any moment to do so. I love my daughter, but I really need the time away from her. I really would like to leave this job, but the job market is so bad right now. I want to be at a more family-centric company!
Anyhow, that is what is going on. Thanks for listening.
But now she is a healthy, happy, breastfed four-and-a-half-month-old baby.
I've gone back to work. I'm happy getting away from my daughter for some time everyday. And I'm lucky because my mom teaches preschool at a daycare. She picks the baby up and takes her to work with her and then watches her after she's come home until we get home from work. My mom has also decided she is retiring at the end of the school year. So no more daycare payments after May! At least until my mom gets sick of watching her granddaughter everyday.
So, luckily, I've been able to express milk while I'm at work. I just worked it out that I come in a little earlier to make up for the time it takes to pump. I'm a good little worker...but the company is also lucky that it doesn't have any smokers. I would be pissed off doing that when smokers take smoke breaks for ten minutes at a time every hour or so. I only need 15 minutes three times a day...and one of those times is during my lunch break.
It's still frustrating, though. No one here really understands how breastfeeding works. It's a small office. Two are men. Two of the women never had children. Two others did but formula fed. The last tried breastfeeding her first daughter and quit after two weeks. So she is the only one who even slightly understands.
They just don't understand that I really shouldn't skip a pumping session. They don't understand the bond I have with my daughter when I nurse. They don't understand why I'm so worried when my daughter has to have a bottle when she doesn't normally get one.
Case in point: I've been asked to cover for an evening meeting. To do this would be a logistical nightmare for a nursing mom. I would only get to nurse my daughter once the entire day (in the morning). Then I would have to pump the rest of the day, requiring at least seven or eight bottles for storage. Plus, a cooler to store them in. The one I normally used only has space for four bottles. That gets me through a regular workday. I've tried to explain this, but the person who handles the schedule just doesn't get it. She's very flippant. Almost like she is saying, "So what!"
I think there should be more education about breastfeeding and how important it is for a working mom who nurses to nurse as often as she can. I love nursing my daughter and it breaks my heart that I won't be able to nurse her that day. And for no good reason but to babysit a group who will be using our meeting room. I actually want to cry about it! So I'm stuck doing it...all I can do now is to pray that the meeting ends up being canceled.
I already have issues with the fact that my boss thought that I wouldn't come back to work after my maternity leave. He is very conservative and old-fashioned. He thought I would end up being a stay-at-home mom. I think until recently he thought I would quit at any moment to do so. I love my daughter, but I really need the time away from her. I really would like to leave this job, but the job market is so bad right now. I want to be at a more family-centric company!
Anyhow, that is what is going on. Thanks for listening.
Labels: breastfeeding, expressing breast milk, nursing, pumping breast milk, smoking, working mom
posted by Beth @ 1:40 PM
