Work. Pump. Repeat. by Jessica Shortall

Author:Jessica Shortall
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Abrams
Published: 2015-07-28T16:00:00+00:00

SECTION 3

ROAD

TRIP!

Just when you’ve got everything figured out, your first business trip, conference, or off-site day with clients rears its head. Business travel breeds a particular type of anxiety because it has so many new variables and unknowns. The first trip is almost always the hardest, and with the tips in this section you can quickly become a battle-hardened road warrior.

CHAPTER 11

Doing Your Business on a Business Trip

At home base, maybe you’ve got the pumping thing down to a science. You know where you pump every day—even if it’s in your car or a supply closet—and you have your gear and your system. Then the dreaded business trip arrives. You now have the pain of leaving your baby, coupled with the joy of a great night’s sleep and the stress of how to pump in a new environment.

This chapter will focus on how to make allies, deal with hotels, and find pumping locations while on the road. Its companions are chapters 10 and 12. Chapter 10 provides details on how to make unusual pumping locations work, since business travel might force you to pump in closets, in trains/planes/automobiles, and sitting on toilets in public restrooms. Chapter 12 covers specifics of air travel and how to transport milk back home.

MaryAnn, a research scientist, recounted the business trip pumping story that still makes her sweat: “I had a last-minute meeting in a hotel. I stepped out to find a place to pump because I was dying, and the young, male concierge just couldn’t figure it out. After a conversation that left us both beet red, he found a room for me: the executive board of directors conference room with floor-to-ceiling windows and wall-to-wall flat-screens. Not at all convinced I wasn’t being observed by all of the security and monitoring equipment I know existed in that room, I hunkered down in a corner and pumped as fast as I could. I told myself that I would never again doubt my dedication as a provider to my son.”

Amy, a railroad employee, pumped on a trip to China, in bathrooms with no running water, pickup trucks next to railroad tracks, and hotels and restaurants.

Cindy, a doctor, talked about “the pain of pump and dump on the road when there is no freezer available.”

Ali, a lawyer, had to explain to Mexican airport security why she needed to fly with milk when she didn’t have her baby with her.

Supply: The Goal of Pumping on a Work Trip

I want you to prepare yourself for the possibility that, when you go on a business trip, your pumped milk may not make it back home with you. It could spill or leak. You could run out of luck finding a fridge or freezer. You might produce less because your schedule is bound to be screwy, from flight or train times to time in the car or in the air to the busyness of being off-site.

So, repeat after me: The first, second, and third reasons to pump on a business trip are to maintain supply, avoid plugged ducts, and avoid engorgement.

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