It happened before I knew it, and most certainly, before I was ready… my maternity leave ended. I received 9 weeks of paid leave with my daughter, and while I was grateful for the time, I certainly would have liked to have had more. I remember my coworkers commenting on my maternity leave as a time to “relax” with my baby. The truth was that I spent every minute of the day learning to care for my baby. The frequent feedings, changing of diapers, and getting to know the subtleties of my daughter’s communication was a full-time and rewarding (albeit taxing) affair. Along with the sleep deprivation and general anxiety, there were glorious moments - such as when my baby made a one-of-kind expression or fell asleep in an adorable position - that made every tired minute more than worth it. Nonetheless, my maternity leave came to an end much quicker than I could have imagined. Before I realized it, I was mentally planning my return to work and getting familiar with the balancing act that would soon become my life.
I had feelings of guilt and apprehension when I began preparing for my return to the work force. I felt that I should stay home with my infant, and I was concerned about leaving my daughter with someone new. I also had the added pressure of knowing that my income was/is critical to our livelihood, so abandoning my career was not an option. Plus, I enjoy working inside and outside the home. It was difficult, but careful planning helped alleviate some of my angst.
I remember making a check-list of all the things that I needed for the transition back to work including new clothes that fit my post-maternity body, specific instructions for my childcare provider regarding my baby’s daily routine, and nursing gear that would allow me to pump my breast milk when I was away from my daughter throughout the day. What was absent from my list was a storage solution for preserving my breast milk when I was in the office or traveling for work, as there was simply nothing of this kind on the market. As a result, I had a combination of ineffective carriers/bags that I used to preserve and store my breast milk. When I was in the office, I used the office community refrigerator to store my pumped breast milk, but it required constant back and forth to the kitchen, and it felt glaringly conspicuous. It was a though I had a sign on my shirt that read “I am a nursing mother, and I’m trying desperately to breastfeed my daughter.” I also found that I often left my pumped breast milk in the office refrigerator overnight because of general fatigue and my anxiousness to return home to my baby. That meant that my hard work was for naught, as I was unable to feed my daughter with the breast milk that I pumped earlier in the day.
It was this unproductive practice that led me to design and manufacture the Devyn Bag www.thedevynbag.com. The Devyn Bag provided a solution to preserving and storing my breast milk at the office as well as when I was traveling. Beyond that, it meant that I never had to worry about forgetting my breast milk or having to display my breast milk bags next to Fred’s (from the Accounting Department) bologna sandwich in the community refrigerator, and I didn’t have to waste half of my day walking back and forth to the office kitchen. Plus, it is a discreet carrier so I could eliminate the imagined but flashing “Nursing Mother Here” sign.
Of course, the Devyn Bag didn’t help with my feelings of guilt, worry or other anxieties that returning to work caused, but it did provide wonderful peace of mind because I could feed my baby breast milk for as long as I liked. As a result, the unaccommodating work environment was no longer an issue, traveling on business was no longer an obstacle and an otherwise full schedule was no longer a problem. My advice to other working mothers: return to work with your head held high and achieve all the tremendous things that only a mother can accomplish.
No comments:
Post a Comment