Working Mother

I am now officially a working mother. I knew it would be hard, but the reality is really starting to set in.

Yesterday was my first day back at the office, which means it was Charlotte's first day at day care. Judd drops her off at day care in the mornings because they don't open until 8:30 am, and if I leave that late, I will sit in traffic for an hour. He usually gets to work around 9, so it works out well. Other than the fact that he has to get up an hour earlier in the mornings now. I am glad that I didn't have to drop her off yesterday, as I surely would have shown up to work with black mascara streaks running down my cheeks. I actually made it through the day without tears, until last night when I went to bed. It was then that I realized that I was going to wake up in the morning and do it all over again, that it wasn't a one time thing.

Charlotte did well at day care. She took all of her bottles, and seemed to be a happy baby last night. I was so happy to see her at the end of the day. My arms were so lonely without her yesterday.

My day went well, other than realizing that the "Lactation Room" leaves a lot to be desired. I was envisioning a room with a nice couch, table, sink and refrigerator. However, when I opened the door, I was sorely disappointed. The Lactation Room is a large handicapped bathroom with a small chair and table in one corner with a couple of old "Parenting" magazines. So, basically, you sit in the chair and pump while staring at a toilet. Not very glamorous. This room is also on the other side of the building and 4 stories up, so it takes me about 5 minutes just to get there - then add 15 minutes of pumping time + 5 minutes to clean and put all of the pump parts away.

On my way back to my cube after pumping the first time, I noticed there was another large handicapped bathroom a lot closer to my cube. The floor next to the bathroom is empty, so I don't think it's used very often. So, for my second pumping, I just dragged 2 chairs into that bathroom and pumped in there. I figured if the lactation room is just a bathroom, I might as well use one that is closer to my cube so it takes less time. I was pretty happy with my find. Then for my third and last pumping of the day, I noticed that someone else had used this bathroom before me. I knew they had been in there because the light was on. I think I have discovered someones private bathroom. And for anyone that works in an office, you know how awesome it is to find a private bathroom. I'm sure they were surprised to see 2 chairs had magically shown up in their bathroom. I can only imagine what they think is going on in there when they aren't using it. :)

My assigned lactation consultant called me yesterday for my "Back to Work" consultation. I asked her how often women usually pump during the day. I explained that it takes me about 20-25 minutes between pumping, cleaning, etc. She told me that if I put the pump parts into the fridge after I used them, I didn't have to clean them each time and this would save time. I told her that the only fridge I had access to was a small dorm room sized fridge that was used by my whole department and that I didn't think it was appropriate to put my pump parts in there for all of the men in the department to have to look at. Besides the fact that this fridge usually smells of rotten food because people tend to forget their leftovers. Her response to this was that I should bring in a cooler and fill it with ice and set it under my desk. So, then I could just use this to store my pump parts. I told her that between my laptop bag, my purse, my pump, and my lunch that I carry into the office every day, I look like I am going on a week long excursion. I am not bringing in a cooler as well. Enough is enough.

Ahh, the joys of breastfeeding and going back to work.