Think before you hit “send”May 25th, 2006 @ 9:06 am
I didn’t really have any expectations for breastfeeding. My goal was to try it out and see what happened. I wanted to at least breastfeed until I went back to work. The King wasn’t too hip on the idea of me breastfeeding at all. As stated before, he had been turned off on the idea because a few of my girlfriends aren’t shy when they breastfeed their kids, and it just made him totally uncomfortable.
I understand. It made me uncomfortable also.
But then The Baby was born. And he was an excellent latcher. (is that a word?) This boy can suck. And my boobs are amazing producers of milk. Plus, this breast milk is free. So nice when you are paying rent, building a new house, and paying the mortgage on the house you tore down to build said new house.
This all means that I hadn’t really thought about pumping at work. Sure I have a breast pump. It’s some cheap manual one that my Mom bought me. It’s works. But not to the level that I’ll need. (I guess I need to get it together and buy a real live electric one. Or just rent one. Yes, I need to look into this. Soon.)
Now that I’ve decided to give pumping at work a try, I contacted our corporate HR to see what my rights are (I have none) and to find out where I can pump (in the conference room. Walls that are all windows. Hooray!). So basically, I get to pump in my cubicle. Surrounded by my all male coworkers. Remember, I work in the construction field.
This should be fun.
The HR person suggested I e-mail the Head Honcho of my office to let him know of my plans to pump and how it would work out with my schedule, blah, blah, blah.
I was very nervous about sending him an e-mail that mentioned my breast. Because in my world, my coworkers haven’t realized that I even have breasts. Hello, they are still in denial that I had a baby. They don’t want to acknowledge where this baby came from.
I sucked it up and sent an e-mail to the Head Honcho this morning. I decided I’d better carbon copy the HR department. Oh, and I’d better copy my project supervisor also. Heck, maybe I should copy my entire project team. No-we’ll save that for later.
As soon as I hit the “send” button I got sick to my stomach.
There is a new Head Honcho since I went on maternity leave.
Which means there are way too many people reading an e-mail about my boobs right now.
(oh wait, I’m blogging about this. So even more people are reading about my boobs right now. Am I okay with this???)
My Sweet Babboo · Work · Me
Julie
said,
May 25, 2006 at 10:08 am
Do you work for a really small company? I thought there were federal laws about worker rights for breastfeeding. Am lazy, though, and didn’t research for myself as I work for a big company that provides a lactation room.
HollowSquirrel
said,
May 25, 2006 at 10:11 am
That’s three posts in a row about boobs, am I right?
You totally have every right to a private place to pump (ok, I’m just referencing my own private laws). I think my neighbor has an electric pump she is thinking of donating someplace- do you want me to check (then you can just buy new attachments). But some people find that kind of gross; I’ll understand. When do you return to work?
Stuart
said,
May 25, 2006 at 10:33 am
Three posts in a row about boobs. Good work. My Lovely Bride was teaching when we had the first Boy, and had to pump during her planning hour. Sitting at her desk, while 2nd and 3rd graders would often burst into the room. Then she had to take her bounty to the communal fridge in the teacher’s lounge, making sure to carefully label it so Mr. Edison wouldn’t mistake it for creamer for his coffee. Good luck!
Christar
said,
May 25, 2006 at 10:39 am
I had no idea they had laws on breastfeeding rights! That’s is so nifty! That is just another bonus I’ll milk to the max someday(no pun intended).
I also work in a cubicle, and I’d think if someone needed to breast pump there, they’d probably use one of the conference rooms as well. Ours have windows, but have blinds that you can shut. Maybe they can put some blinds up for you?
dee
said,
May 25, 2006 at 11:53 am
I spent 6 months pumping while sitting on a toilet in a bathroom stall. I sit at an open desk, without cubicle walls and there really wasn’t anywhere private for me to go so the bathroom stall it was. It was really funny to listen to the women in the bathroom commenting about that funny noise coming from the stall. One lady even knocked on the door and said, “Are you alright in there?”
Frema
said,
May 25, 2006 at 1:07 pm
Random thought: I’m terrified of breastfeeding, and it’s only been recently that I’ve started to consider the idea. (Not that I’m pregnant, but I like to plan ahead.) My mother bottlefed all five of us and said she gave up on breastfeeding three days after I was born because she found out that eating Raisin Bran gave me horrible diapers and she wasn’t willing to give up her Raisin Bran.
Not-so-random thought: They can’t prevent you from breastfeeding, can they? Isn’t there a storage closet or set of curtains or SOMETHING that can make you more comfortable? That is, unless they want to lay the groundwork for potential sexual harassment.
goldmoon
said,
May 25, 2006 at 1:18 pm
Ack, that is embarrassing!!! I hope they accommodate you. They should have to, right?
Anth
said,
May 25, 2006 at 3:07 pm
Third post about boobs. Are you like obsessed with your own cha-chis? Ha ha
My co-worker pumped in her cubicle until one of the partners walked in on her (no doors on the cubicles). Then she just dragged an extra chair into the bathroom and pumped in there (obviously she locked the batroom door each time).
And renting a pump is only like $40 a month, so the lady during my hospital tour told me.
AnnieM
said,
May 25, 2006 at 5:16 pm
There are a bunch of laws now about pumping, so you should be fine.
About the pump, if you are not sure pumping is going to work out for you, rent one. They are the super heavy duty ones. Or, check with your insurance. Mine actually covered the cost of my pump, I never expected it. And…hooray for all this boobie talk!
Chas
said,
May 25, 2006 at 6:01 pm
You like this topic lately
.
I am also wondering about when I’m going to pump at work. I have a break during the day, but I’ll probably have to end up in the janitor’s closet b/c our school is so overcrowded. I can just imagine an 8th grade boy walking in on that…it’d probably scar him for life.
K.
said,
May 25, 2006 at 6:45 pm
I do believe there are laws to protect your rights on this subject. In fact, I think that they have to provide a private place for you, but I could wrong? Anyway, I hope that it works out for you and that you are not forced to pump in your cube. That would be, um, awkward. Even more awkward that having so many people read about it.
HollowSquirrel
said,
May 26, 2006 at 4:13 am
Also, that’s three posts sans pics of the baby. Boobs and Bob don’t go in the same post?
lizziep901
said,
May 26, 2006 at 7:04 am
I’m the anti-boob lady so I got nothin on this one except I hope you get to pump without your co-workers watching. lol
Lisa
said,
May 26, 2006 at 11:44 am
All of this boob talk.
Before you know it, you’ll be talking lots about poop too! heehee
Allison
said,
May 26, 2006 at 8:14 pm
Kudos to you for wanting to pump. I actually liked breastfeeding my first baby, which surprised me, but never got comfortable pumping.
When I went back to work 6 wks postpartum, my husband was a student, so he’d bring me baby girl at lunchtime and I’d nurse in the car or an empty office room while I ate lunch. Then he’d pick me up at 5 and I’d nurse again before we drove home. I only missed about two feedings a day that way, and didn’t feel guilty about her having two bottles of formula a day. And my milk supply adjusted just fine after the first week or so, even with me nursing exclusively on weekends. I ended up nursing her past a year and it was great. And that baby became an office fixture — coworkers cried when I stopped working because they wouldn’t see her every day anymore.
Obviously, not everybody can have their baby brought to their workplace twice a day, but I guess my point is it’ll all work out. Do what you feel comfortable with and don’t worry too much about what other people think you should do.
Liza
said,
May 30, 2006 at 1:20 pm
I would also blab around your real life friends about how you’re looking for a pump and wow are they expensive.
The next thing I knew, a friend with kids age 4 & 6 gave me hers. New plastic parts were maybe $40.
Good luck finding a good place to do the pumping.
PS I did use the hospital grade pump once at the lactation consultant’s office, and if you can rent one of those and leave it where you’re going to be pumping, it was MUCH more comfortable than the kind you can buy.
hola, isabel » Blog Archive » Is their a mathematical equation for this?
said,
December 14, 2007 at 5:19 pm
[…] The hard part is trying to decide that we’re ready to deal with no sleep. Or waking up every few hours to breastfeed. Or taking away our precious time with Babboo. Or pumping in the closet at work. And let’s not even talk about daycare. Because dude, that alone may convince us to never have another child. […]