Hello Dear Boobjuicers and Friends!
I apologize for the hiatus. Moving up the coast and starting a new job appear to be a bit time consuming! But we are squarely in week three of my new gig, and I am in heaven. Well, to the degree that strapping on a small vacuum cleaner four times during the work day can be described as heaven. My new commute is a ten minute walk, and soon it will be a five minute bike ride. I believe I mentioned that, while interviewing, I used this company's dedicated lactation room. They also reimbursed Kiddo's airplane ticket for that interview trip, even though they didn't have to (and most reasonable companies would not). My new boss is very nice, and totally respectful of the whole boobjuicing ritual. We coined the phrase "mama breaks," which is cuter and less "in your face" than "boobjuicing" or "pumping" or even "gotta go see Bessie." (Work is pretty much the one place where I opt for subtle over in your face, on the theory that if someone is uncomfortable, whether that is reasonable or not, they're stuck there if they want to keep their job - they can't really get up and walk out just because I'm all lactivist-happy, like they could in a restaurant or a park.) Anyway, I'm working a longer day, but actually leaving home and returning home about the same time I did before, because my commute is 35-40 minutes shorter. Ahhhh. I've even come home for lunch a couple times.
And... the advantage of working for a larger company... I've got a boobjuicing buddy at work! No, not literally, like in the same room at the same time. Although I have heard of really big companies where effectively that is the case, if one has a cube in a large lactation room... no, we found each other because we each recognized the other one's little Medela freezer bag in the fridge during the day. It's fun to have someone to chat with! Her little girl is four months, so *I'm* the fancy experienced mama who "has been there." Which is an amusing concept... She also gave me a great tip. I asked where she's washing her pump parts during the day, and she said she has (at her sister's suggestion) enough sets of pump parts to make it through the day without washing. They she takes them all home and puts them in one of those dishwasher baskets and washes them all. I mentioned that I am still boiling the parts (sigh), and it seemed daunting to do twice as many parts twice as often (I have two sets of parts at the moment and use one per day so I can boil them all every other day). She wondered if I couldn't try those micro-steam bags. Brilliant! So we have ordered some of the bags, and will try those, and if we like them, proceed to the multi-parts option. Truth be told, I've gotten pretty darn quick at rinsing my parts out, but I'm doing it in the bathroom, and I don't really love that - both too public and too grody. I think I keep them pretty isolated from other people's cooties, but still.
I still haven't bought a second pump. Kiddo is over 13 months old now, and I keep telling myself that "any day now" we'll have him on cow's milk and the boobjuice will be a morning and bedtime ritual and I won't have to pump during the work day. (Of course for that to happen we'll have to get over our gun-shyness at the previous pukisodes and give him some yogurt...) And then I can buy a second pump for the next kiddo, when the time comes and should we be so blessed, and won't it be nice to have a brand new one at that time. Walking to and from work with Bessie in hubby's huge backpack on my tired shoulders is the best argument so far for a second pump. But, soon my bike will be reassembled (stinking movers), tuned up, and all decked out with a rack, panniers, a basket, lights, and (of course!) a bell. Then Bessie can ride in a pannier, and my shoulders will catch a break.
Talking to the guy in the bike shop was funny, and very Portland. I told him all the things I wanted, one at a time, and he very patiently walked me through the store discussing product. When we got to the panniers, he showed me the most popular models, and I said, "Those aren't big enough for my breastpump." No problem, almost totally unfazed he walked me over to the big orange ones (so cool! But too long for my bike it turns out) and said, "Now, these will fit an entire paper grocery bag, full of groceries. But I can tell you from personal experience, if you put 80 pounds of ceramic tile in them, the stitching will pull out." "Ah, Bessie will fit in there." "Cool." Pause. "That's probably more than you ever wanted to know about breastpumps." Shrug. "Nah, it's cool." This was followed shortly afterwards by me nursing Kiddo in their comfy seating area while reading "The Day the Babies Ran Away."
Happy pumping ladies!
Love,
Suzi
