Intro...guidance counselor back to work question

srgoldbe

Hi ladies,

I just wanted to introduce myself. It seems like you all provide such great support for each other. I gave birth to my LO on Oct 10th and I have a 8yr old. I go back to work on the 6th as a guidance counselor at a high school. I am really nervous about pumping at work.

I have been EBF and it has been going really well. I just don't know how I am going to find the time to pump at work. My job is so unpredictable and it is very hard to even find a minute to pee. I will be pumping after the first morning feed before I head into work and I will pump after he eats before bed. I figured that I need to be pumping at least 2ce at work in order to make it work. Are there other mamas out there with fast paced jobs that might have suggestions for me? I am so stressed out about returning in the first place, but this pumping thing is pushing me over the edge. TIA

nosoup4u

Have you talked to the administration about this? You should be able to request a designated time for pumping. I would check and see if anything's specific to your district. Do you have a regular lunch break?

srgoldbe

nosoup4u said:

Have you talked to the administration about this? You should be able to request a designated time for pumping. I would check and see if anything's specific to your district. Do you have a regular lunch break?

My administration is very flexible. They won't have an issue with me pumping. My boss is great, she has 2 LOs of her own and we are a department of working moms. I don't have a regular lunch break because of how crazy my job is. I always have good intentions of taking a lunch, but then a student comes to me with a crisis or a meeting gets scheduled unexpectedly and then I don't have time to eat.

nosoup4u

Yeah, set up a system so kids can sign up to talk to you if it's during a scheduled pumping time. Glad your admin is supportive, that'll make a big difference!

daisy662

I tried breast feeding but my milk never came in so I can't speak to specifically that piece. What I can tell you is that I have an extremely fast paced career that was my main life priority. That is, before I had DS. Once he came along things changed and you just make it work because you don't have a choice. Don't stress out, enjoy this last week with your little one and good luck back at work. It will all work out I promise!

Maybride2

Pumping successfully requires that you make pumping a priority. You will need to pump as often as your baby eats, so if your baby is taking a bottle 3 times a day you're going to need to pump 3 times a day (at least in the beginning). So you schedule your pumping times in advance, and when you get close to that time you shut your door and don't open it again until you're done. If someone needs you they can wait 15 minutes for you to be done, they're just going to have to. I would leave meetings to pump in my car when I needed to. You just have to make pumping a priority.

erbear

I teach middle school and I pumped three times a day when I went back to work. You just have to carve out the time. There's no two ways about it. I closed my door, and for 20 minutes I was unavailable. Colleagues covered my classes and my duties for a few weeks until I could cut back to twice a day, which was helpful.