No, it's not at all like being laid off.

I've been on a crazy stretch of travel. My last five weeks have been: 3 days in Seattle, 2 days in Austin, 3 days doing an onsite visit at a local customer site (at least I got to go home every night during that one!), 3 days of training in Atlanta (followed by a few days of visiting with my parents), and then 2 days back in Seattle earlier this week.

I flew from Atlanta directly to Seattle on Sunday night, and got to chatting with my hotel shuttle driver about my traveling. I said, "Thankfully, my husband is home on paternity leave. So he's in a better position to handle all my travel than he would be if he were working at his normal job and had all of that stress on top of taking care of the kids."

The shuttle driver was very confused. "Oh, he's not able to find a job? Is that like being laid off?"

Ummm, no. Paternity leave is not at all like being laid off.

Eventually, I helped him understand what paternity leave was. So then he asked, "Oh. Is that going alright? Your husband taking care of the kids?"

Ummm, yes. Why wouldn't it?

And why do I suspect that no one asked Hubby during my maternity leave, "So, is that going alright? Your wife taking care of the kids?"

Daycare during maternity (and paternity!) leave

After five months back at work, my maternity leave seems like a distant memory. But Noob is still at home with family! When I returned to work in late June, my mother-in-law came out to watch Noob for most of the summer. My mother also watched him for two weeks in there, in late July/early August.

Then, at the beginning of October, Hubby's paternity leave started. We're lucky enough to work for a company that gives up to 12 weeks of leave to new dads, including 4 weeks fully paid. So Hubby will be off work until early January, when Noob will be 11 months old.

We did choose to leave Littles in preschool for this entire time. It wasn't required; she wouldn't have lost her spot if we had pulled her out for all or part of this 11-month period. But we thought that was a long time for her to be out of school. She loves her friends there, she always has fun, and she learns a lot. We didn't want to deprive her of that for nearly a year.

It also gave each of us more time to bond with Noob one-on-one. And I know that in the early weeks, I appreciated having some Littles-free time to catch up on sleep, or to get things done around the house so that I could sleep later!

What we did do was cut back on Littles' preschool hours. Prior to Noob's birth, she went to preschool full time, roughly 9 AM to 6 PM, Monday through Friday. The preschool day itself went from 9 AM to 2 PM, and then in the afternoon, she went to extended care, where she could take a nap and play until pickup time.

As soon as Noob was born, we cut her back to just school days, 9 AM to 2 PM. Then, in the beginning of April, as Noob started sleeping more and I felt like I could take on a little more, we cut her back further to just four days a week. So now, she goes to preschool only 20 hours a week, compared to 40-45 hours previously.

It's a really nice balance. She still gets plenty of preschool time, but she also gets that extra day at home to do something fun or just hang out and play. These days, she's skipping her nap more and more, so it's great to have some extra time with her in the late afternoon, rather than having her stay at school until 5 or 6 PM. It's also a little cheaper, about 75% of the full-time rate, so that works out well, too.

*Truly* full-time pumping

For the most part, during my nursing "career," I've managed to avoid truly full-time pumping -- that is, pumping all day, without nursing at all. Prior to Littles' first birthday (when she cut back to two nursing sessions a day), I only had one day when I did not nurse her at all, during a one-day business trip when she was 9 months old. As recently as early October, it looked like I'd have a similar record with Noob.

But I've ended up traveling a lot over these last few weeks, so I've gotten reacquainted with my pump, big-time!

This week, I'm in Atlanta for some training. My parents live here, so Hubby (who is on paternity leave right now) and the kids flew out with me, and we're staying a few extra days after the training is over to visit with my parents.

We decided that during the 3 days of training, it would make sense for me to stay in the hotel where the training is occurring. This is for a variety of reasons, but certainly one big reason is that it makes pumping a lot easier, because I can run up to my room during the day to get it done.

So I've been pumping full time. Here is what my pumping schedule has looked like for the past few days:

Tuesday
8:00 AM - 30 mins, 12 oz
12:15 PM (lunch break) - 20 mins, 6.5 oz
2:45 PM (break from training) - 10 mins, 3 oz
7:00 PM - 7.5 oz

Total = 29 oz
Noob's consumption = 27 oz

Wednesday
7:30 AM - 20 mins, 10.5 oz
9:55 AM (break from training) - 10 mins, 3 oz

I should have pumped at lunch, but I chose to spend the time doing some networking instead. That is one thing I really hate about pumping during events like this: Since I work primarily from home, I usually seize every opportunity I can get to network with people face-to-face, but having to pump means that I spend practically every free minute during the day "networking" with my pump, not my colleagues. But today, I had a friend who I really wanted to catch up with. Pumping could wait.

2:45 PM (break from training) - 10 mins, 3 oz
4:30 PM (after training) - 20 mins, 7 oz
5:00 PM - Nursing! Hubby brought the kids to my hotel to say hello. The visit was brief, as I had to jump on a conference call, but it was wonderful to see them.
11:30 PM - 20 mins, 3.5 oz

Total = 27 oz
Noob's consumption (not counting the nursing session) = 25 oz

As for milk storage, at home, I store milk in the plastic bottles that came with my pump (in the fridge) or glass bottles (in the freezer). This is an eco-friendly and cheap option at home, but it doesn't work well for extended trips. I can't store milk in the plastic bottles, because I need them emptied so I can pump into them again. And glass bottles take up too much room when you're talking about storing nearly 30 oz of milk per day.

Instead, I've been using Lansinoh milk storage bags. I pour the milk into the bags immediately after pumping. That frees up my plastic bottles for more pumping. And they are much more compact than bottles, which comes in handy when traveling home with my milk. On one trip a few weeks ago, I managed to fit 2+ days of milk (over 60 oz) into the small cooler bag that came with my pump.

Anyway, I'm excited for my training to end tomorrow, so I can spend less time with my pump and more time with my kids!

This could only happen to me... while pumping

This week, I had a (rare) onsite visit with a customer. As always, it was a struggle to figure out how to slip away to pump. Actually, I didn't figure it out: I just waited till the end of the work day to pump. Thankfully, Noob is down to just two 6-ounce bottles during the workday, and my supply seems to be a little more resilient with him compared to what it was with Littles. So I'm actually able to pump enough for both his bottles in one session. At least for a few days -- I'm sure it would kill my supply if I kept that up for too long.

Anyway, I brought along my hands-free pumping bra today so that I could pump on my drive home. I pulled over to the most remote corner of the parking lot that I could find. It faced out towards an empty field, and there was just one car nearby. Perfect! So I took off my regular bra, put on my pumping bra, and got my pump all hooked up. Since there was no one nearby, I didn't bother to put on my nursing cover or be particularly discreet while doing all of this.

I looked over to turn on my pump... and saw something in motion out of the corner of my eye. It was that one nearby car, pulling away.

Whoops.

I don't think the occupant could have seen too much, since my car door and my seat would have blocked most of his/her view, but who knows.

What is it about a pumping mom in a parking lot that seems to attract other people like a moth to a flame? Seems like whenever I pump in a parking lot, even if I pick the quietest corner, someone always decides to wander around nearby. C'mon, I'm already pumping in a car for goodness sakes, can't I get a teeny tiny bit of privacy?