Perfect Timing

Today was one of those days that was jam packed with meetings and it was hard to find the time to pump. I still make time - pumping is the most important thing I do besides spending time with my little guy! But - today it was hard. I mentioned to one of the girls who was running the meeting that I would miss the first 20 minutes or so to pump, and she asked if I couldn't do it the last 30 minutes because she thought it would end early. I could - but this pushed my pumping to 11:40... not the best! But she was right - the meeting was over at 11:35 so I was able to avoid missing anything.

My afternoon session was then only 2.5 hours later... it's ironic that when I'm home, my chunky monkey eats that often or even more frequently, but for pumping sessions when they are that close I get next to nothing! I sat down and got started at about 2:40 and after 15 minutes had pumped less than an ounce!! I am recovering from a cold so my production is a little low in general - but it was heartbreaking. I then hunched over (for the gravity assist) and started messaging* - eeking out a couple more drops. At 3:00 coworkers would start gathering for our office ritual of birthday cake - for my birthday... and at 2:57 still not enough milk for one feeding even if I combined bottles... then just as I went to turn off the pump at 3:00 there was my letdown!! And in just three minutes I was up to about 4 ounces combined. What relief and horror! I got my milk - but now I'd be almost 10 minutes late for my own birthday cake!

Luckily - it seems like most people had forgot - there were only 3 people hanging around the cube for my birthday cake! And after I arrived, one of them gathered the rest of the bunch - and no one even noticed I was missing. So far - I havn't had one instance where I thought "man, I wish I'd stopped pumping earlier and showed up on time."

* For those that don't know - Messaging your breasts while pumping has been proven to increase milk letdown and reduce the time it takes to pump. Also, hunching forward and letting gravity help is supposed to work too!