Reclaiming my lunch breaks
I’ve been a bit emotional this week. Since going back to work after maternity leave, I spent almost a year expressing breast milk for Squeak. I recently decided it was time. He’s over a year old, he’s eating pretty well and I’ve just introduced some Rooibos tea and watered down juice during the day to replace his boob juice.
It just feels so weird to not be running on adrenaline all
day long. Over the past year, I’ve had to squeeze in a huge workload and as
much as three pump sessions a day. In the same breath, I’m so excited to have
my lunch breaks back so I can do things like run an errand and well, have lunch
with a friend.
I think back to all that I went through during a year of
pumping. I mastered pumping – doing it while driving, in my parked car, in
rooms with glass doors or unlocked doors and even during syndicate group
meetings. I had to learn how to hand express milk when my batteries gave up, found
out why lithium batteries are so expensive and figured out the minor
differences in flange vs nipple size with my nipples splashed across Facebook. I went through the disappointment of
producing insufficient milk and the relief of producing more milk than I
needed. I missed all the tasty tea time snacks and lunch during training sessions.
I dealt with judgement from my colleagues and resultant discrimination.
I don’t think I’m going to miss hooking myself up to a
breast pump and milking myself dry. Here’s to feeling like a normal 9 - 5 employee
again!
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