Oh the places I've pumped

When I was pregnant with Theo, I knew that, unlike with Sophia, I would be returning to work shortly after having him, thus requiring me to be an active pumper. I have two pumps - one for home and a smaller, more portable one for work.

I have chronicled the amount of my stash of liquid gold in previous posts. Pumping takes dedication and, in talking with fellow working moms, a sort of creativity is required  amazing to keep our supply up.

I found that traveling for work, while not all that frequent, added a whole new level of experience for pumping. As anyone who does so can attest, your schedule is not your own. At least in the confines of my office, I know when and generally, where I can pump.

I thought I'd outline the places I've pumped over the past year, more for my own posterity than for anyone else's. And don't worry, there aren't any pictures.

Top 4 most common:
1) My house (duh)
2) Work - the "Pumping Office." Because I sit in pod-land, this is a room that was to be an office but during a transition and after I made a bit of a fuss of the lack of space for pumping, turned into a "first dibs for pumping moms" room. Has made for some close accidental encounters with co-workers.
3) Work - the 5th floor bathroom - the "office" room isn't always available. I made due with pulling a rolling desk and chair into the bathroom to do what I needed to get done. People always comment on all the "stuff" I seem to lug with me to the bathroom.
4) My former office - my last job was at Marian Court College - a gorgeous mansion overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. My office was a former third floor bedroom with 4 window seats. Sigh...

Top 4 oddest:
1) My car. This was also one of my most frequent when I was commuting to Marian Court. I miss my buddies on Rt. 16. I'm sure they don't miss my draped, multi-tasking self. It's very useful and easy once you have a system.
2) The bathroom at Rue 57 in New York. After a client meeting. Clean, door locking stalls. No complaints.
3) The bathroom in our NJ office. Motion sensor lights. Having to get up and make enough motion hanging half way out of a stall to get them to turn back on. While attached.
4) Airport bathrooms. Not odd in themselves, but just somewhere I'd recommend avoiding if you can. I felt especially bad when I was in a family restroom at Logan and a woman was furiously knocking on the door saying she needed to use it to breastfeed before getting on the plane. She left before I could unhook and pack up.

I'm not going to miss the bulkiness of carrying "Don Ho" around with me or the time suck in my schedule, but I will miss the mental break it gave me for 20 minutes in my day.