Today, when I went to pump for the second time, the "lounge" where I usually get my privacy was being occupied. Inside of this room is a table as well as a "bed" where employees are supposed to be able to go if they need a nap or aren't feeling well. I think its used more as a nap room because this is the third time since I've begun pumping that it's been occupied when I needed it.
Frustrated, I went to go sit in the chair that is kept in the handicapped stale in our bathroom. The bathroom has very little light, is cold, has no table for me to set the pump and is generally not the most sanitary place for me to be pumping the life-sustaining fluid that I feed to the most precious thing in my life right now. Since this is the third time, I decided to make some calls to see what my other options are when the lounge is being occupied for napping.
After talking to three different people I found two different rooms that are not often used but are technically conference rooms, and I was also offered my department directors office. I'm happy to know I have options, but I still put it to our Ambassador's Group (a group of reps from each department that meet monthly with management to discuss employee concerns) to see if we could find a permanent solution. I may be the only pumping mother at my work now, but who's to say it'll stay that way? One other woman gave birth during April, another gave birth this month and a third is due any day.
Well see that happens.
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I miss Evy. This is my 4th week back at work and I'm really beginning to feel it. Last week, I chose to move my day off - which is usually Wednesday - to Friday because we were so short staffed. Then I ended up cleaning most of the day until meeting my sister, and then catching a movie. By the time I saw her again she was asleep for the rest of the night. Then, this week I decided to treat Paul to a trip to Disneyland as a surprise for Father's Day and while we had a BLAST I still didn't get my "Evy Day". I feel much better today, about 100% - just a froggy throat every now and again but no coughing! I've been taking my vitamins every day and also taking the fenugreek as I was told (in fact, I upped the dosage after reading on a mothering forum about how much is safe and that if I'm not "reeking of maple syrup" I wasn't taking enough) and I've seen some really good results. I generally pump three times in a day and I strive for 8 ounces as it seems that's Evy's demand during the day. I'm sick. In my last post, I spoke about the fact that I needed to drink more water. Well, it seems that even that isn't working anymore. Yesterday I was only able to get 7oz when the norm had been eight. Then this morning, I only pumped 3oz when I usually pump four. I know it might seem like that's not a big difference, but it is when you start putting the bags into bottle sized amounts. Evy's apparently been finishing 4oz bottles each feeding so I need to get at least 8oz a day - which I don't think I am. I'm going to look online to see what kinds of foods/liquids I can add to my diet that might help my milk production. With last week being my first week back to work - I was hard pressed to get a schedule into place for breast pumping. I found that my breast feeding book was right, I did produce less by Friday than I did on Monday (due to stress, they say). However, when I started pumping this week I thought that my production would have been back up considering I had a good weekend. But that was not the case. In fact, on Tuesday I struggled to get 3 oz in the afternoon! This worried me, and when I told my sister she asked if I was drinking enough water. The truth was, no. After I was done with pregnancy I found that my thirst level dropped and I sometimes didn't drink a glass of water all day. Last week was a bit of a flop - we survived - but it was hard. She's just too cute when she's enjoying it!!! I started work yesterday, and Evy stayed with my sister. I'm so glad that my sister is watching her because I didn't worry at all. I knew that Rebekah had everything under control, and I only called once to ask her to keep an eye on Evy's milk intake so I knew how much to give her every day. Today was the last day of my maternity leave - and it was the first day of Paul's working from home schedule. I decided I was going to hang back and leave Evy up to him so I knew he'd be okay by himself on Friday and every day after that. He did pretty good, but stressed out a bit when Evy was crying because he was worried he'd get a phone call or something. I showed him how to use the Snugi Carrier for when he needed his hands but Evy was insisting to be held, and we also decided to replace his Bluetooth headset so he could use his mobile phone hands-free if Evy needed him. |