Pumping at Work

Not only is it Friday, it's lunchtime! Generally, I eat lunch at my desk and surf the Internet. I figure I might as well do something constructive so I decided to start a blog.

If you've made your way here you're probably either another mom with a little time to spare at work, you're at home and the kids are napping or you're totally confused and wondering what in the hell a breast pump is and why someone would subject themselves to such torture, or at the very least why someone would want to blog about it.

I don't really want to blog about pumping per se, it just seems to really define this part of my life. I'm 34, married to a wonderfully kind/sweet/sexy/silly/cute (and only occasionally annoying) man, I have a gorgeous 7 month old son, I have a career, and all these crazy wonderful things in my life. But, as any new mom will tell you, time is scarce. Sometimes I feel as though the only time I have for myself to think and / or read is in the Pump Room at work.

The confession part??? I think I may have a little touch of post partum depression. *gulp* There. I said it. I've always been a little on the down side. Bono once said, and I'm paraphrasing, that he is happy to be sad. That is sort of how I am, except I would say that I am really a happy person trapped in a sad mind... I’m haunted by sad thoughts and grim realities. I could go into examples and such, but I don't want the blog to be about PPD either. It's just part of my life right now.

My other confession? I didn't care for breast feeding. OMG... SOMEONE CALL THE LACTATION POLICE. That's right. I didn't like it. I bought a pump by week 3 and began to pump because, for some reason, breastfeeding agitated me. Pumping does as well but to a smaller degree. I did BF (breast feed) 2-4 times a day for approximately 6 months despite all of this. The Baby liked it, it was good for him, so I continued. When The Baby got his 8th tooth and took a shine to biting -- no CLAMPING -- down on my breast, I went to exclusive pumping. Ouch.

I feel proud that I was able to BF for so long. It was a horrible challenge for me. The only thing that the LLL and a lactation consultant could figure was that I was having an odd reaction to prolactin (a hormone secreted during BFing). Generally, it relaxes a woman. It makes me feel like kicking the cat. *sigh* I really feel sad that it wasn't a good experience. In fact, it makes me feel like I failed and that something must be "wrong" with me. I hate that I think like that!

Anyway, I hope, in time, to post links that I find helpful, funny and inspiring as a woman and a mom. I hope to make note of products/advice that help me along the way. I hope that my honesty about parenting issues and experiences helps someone else feel a little less alone. We're all under a tremendous amount of pressure - bless us all!

From the Pump Room:
I'll start with the obvious. I have an Ameda Purely Yours breast pump in a black tote bag. I got it for about $170 at Baby Depot. It works great. I use it 3-6 times daily and have for 6.5 months. Note: I also tried to the Isis Manual pump and it didn't work well for me.

What I'm reading: Time to read - Hooray!! Memoirs of a Geisha. This is a great book! I now LOOK FORWARD to pumping. :-)

Anyone else have any good Pump Room books?