Back to work and still breastfeeding

For the last 9 years I have gathered here mostly information that has been anything but practical but when you become a mom you really start to appreciate practical things. Constantly optimising daily routine to get a bit more time for the new member of the family, for the baby daddy, or to catch up on all those missed hours of sleep.

The most important piece of advice I got during our first days of breastfeeding was that if it feels in anyway painful or difficult you will not do it for long so you have to try hard to make it as smooth and pleasant as possible. Not very obvious when somebody is pulling in all directions on a sensitive part of your body or when you are stuck in a position for hours night and day, or when the baby is not putting on weight fast enough. But the baby gets bigger, skin gets tough, muscles get stronger, and you learn how to sleep even standing up. So soon enough you are gazing in each other's eyes or rather chopping veggies or folding laundry simultaneously.

And then you blink twice and it is already time to go back to work. In France we were able to rent the best pump on the market, a Medela double pump, as soon as we left the hospital. So I had a bit of time to get use to it and learn to relax during the process without getting Mad Max flashbacks every time. Pumping has every appearance of a strictly mechanical affair but you have to fake the same loving connection you have with your little one, otherwise the milk might not flow. Feelings move the world not brain or muscle. Watching pictures or videos of him does the trick for me so I usually take the time to organise, share, or comment our collection of precious moments. You can forget about reading the news to achieve that calm, self satisfied inner peace. I started pumping the month before starting crèche to have a backup in case I would not be able to extract milk or if there was a spill accident. He was only about two months old when I started pumping so the only time that worked for me was during the night feedings because it was the only time he had his full after eating just from one side.

What kept me up at night before starting work was that I was not sure how people would react because it was a new workplace. I waited until the first day to ask about their nursing facilities and I simply showed up with my pump and an ice bag with reusable bottles. Fortunately there were no raised eyebrows, so there was actually no reason for concern. When pumping at work you ideally need a private room with a chair and a sink so you can clean the pump. For now I just have a key to a meeting room that has to be booked in advance but there are plans to get something more appropriate in place by September. At home I was pumping three times a day but at work I usually do it only twice at lunchtime and before leaving. I guess it could also work pumping just once at lunch time but I take a bus to go home so I prefer to leave the pump at work.

At the moment I am still figuring out how to get dressed to make pumping easier and I am considering to bring a spare outfit just in case.