I'm starting to think about my leave and what life will be like when I go back to work mid-year. The thing that I am most baffled about is pumping. How did this work for you teacher moms? I teach high school, so during my day I have one conference/prep period that is 50 min that I really use to do all of my planning/copies/grading (currently it's 1st per...right at the beginning of the day), I have a 10-min break at around 10 (by the time my students leave my room, this is barely enough time to use the bathroom), and I have a 30-min lunch. I don't have an aide or a helper of any kind who can watch my classes. And I don't even know WHERE this pumping would happen. My campus is very spread out and I am so far away from everything that it's about a 7-ish minute walk to get to the office area.
Were accommodations made for you to pump? How did it work for you? I know teachers have obviously done this in the past, but I'm new on my campus and don't really know anyone well enough to ask yet..I'm trying to mentally prepare.
Re: Q for the teacher moms
I pumped in the union office in the school. Later on I chose to pump in a book room because there was a giant bird in the union office that would come out of its cage (I didn't know it could get out at first) and I was scared it would start flying while I was mid pump. Plus, people would knock on the door looking for the union rep and that would make me nervous and mess with my flow.
I've heard of teachers pumping in their classrooms all spazzed that someone will walk in, so it sounds like sometimes you just have to do what you have to do.
But, teaching is a heavily female profession, there must be teachers in your school who have been in the same predicament. Could you ask the school nurse?
I hope someone can give you a better answer than I did. I found pumping to be tough on its own. Good luck.
K born 8/31/12
C born 1/11/14
BFP #3 Nov 2014: D&C January 2015
BFP #4 Sept 2016: Due May 31 2017
By law they have to provide a private space, our school does not allow us to pump in our cars or the restroom.
We will see how it goes in September!
TTC #1 since 3/2011
DX: anovulatory and severe MFI
DH is a testicular cancer survivor
IVF#1 w/ICSI lupron, gonal f, ovidrel
ER 6/15/12 6R 6M 6F! ET 6/20/12
Beta #1: 154 Beta #2: 509 Beta #3: 7326
Baby Boy born 3/1/2013
TTC#2: 6/2014 all testing came back normal
IVF#2 (#1 for LO#2) 9/2014 - 17R 10M 10F 4 blasts frozen on day 6.
FET #1 10/15/14 - Beta #1: 216 Beta #2: 823
Baby Boy born 7/10/2015
Sometimes I did pump at schools- I would pump in the nurses station or a staff bathroom. I was a pretty efficient pumper so only took about 15 min/time. I typically pumped 2 times a day. I had an oversupply so I pumped minimally to help manage my supply.
@young_love I don't think I have much to add that hasn't been said, but you can definitely find a way to make it work- even if you pump once during your planning (especially if you get that at a slightly better time) and once during lunch and once right after school. Your body will adjust to your pumping schedule.
I pumped an entire school year, but I was in a curriculum position so I didn't have a set class schedule and had an office so I was in a better situation than most. I did have a lot of travel between schools so I would frequently pump while driving with my hands-free bra and a nursing cover over all of it. I also pumped almost every day on the way home from work- and was still able to nurse my baby as soon as I got to daycare. Your body will amaze you! : )
My tips that would be pertinent to you are:
-Definitely get a hands-free bra (I love my simple wishes one from amazon) as others have recommended.
-I liked the suggestion that @bookitup had about making a private pumping area in your room with a folding screen or something. (I had to make a curtain thing that I hung up over the window in my office just during pumping because I couldn't leave a curtain up all the time.) That will save you a lot of time and hassle if there is a long commute to another nursing area.
-After getting tired of having to run to the restroom to rinse out pumping parts after each session (and spending those extra minutes), I realized I could just throw everything back in the bag with the milk still on it because milk can be at room temperature for multiple hours- even longer if I stuck it in my cooler bag. That saved a lot of time each pumping session.
-Be as open as you are comfortable about your situation. Most woman will be sympathetic and most men will be so baffled that they'll be accommodating, lol. I was in middle schools so I didn't plan tell any students (and felt so bizarre shooing them away when they came knocking on my door when I was pumping), but I did give explanations to any staff members who needed to know or seemed curious- and ended up briefly explaining to a some of the girls who I coached. I think normalizing pumping is part of normalizing breastfeeding, so I'm glad that I was able to make it a little more normal at my schools- because it's definitely waaaay outside of the norm in my area.
-And definitely make sure the custodian knows! Because he/she has keys and is used to unlocking doors and barging in. And I can tell you from experience that is super-awkward when the custodian and fire marshall bust into your office and catch you mid-pump. : )