thinking of my boy

Today one of the staff members at the law firm asked me about Nathaniel. "What does he do all day? Do you miss him? Are you glad to be back at work?"

"Yes," I said, "I miss him terribly, but I am also glad to be at work."  I started to describe his day, what he did, what he was probably doing at that moment. 

That's when I felt it. A telltale mildly uncomfortable prickliness in my upper chest. Thank you oxytocin for helpfully providing a physical complement to my story about my boy. Rad.

Internally I started to panic.  I was wearing a light pink silk shirt, something that would not absorb liquid without obvious staining. The conversation was going swimmingly, and it would have been rude to walk out in the middle, but I could feel my undergarments getting damper by the moment. I didn't have a sweater or a change of shirt.

I finally managed to disentangle myself from the conversation. I ran to the nursing mother's room, first stopping by the bathroom to discreetly grab some paper towels. Then I locked the nursing room door. Whew. Safe.

After twenty productive minutes with my trusty pump, some toweling and careful rearranging, I was again presentable to the outside world. That was close, though.

Comments

[CM]

Close call! Aren't there absorbent pads you can put in your bra to avoid that situation? I thought I had heard of something like that, that was specifically for nursing mothers.

[TP]

Whoa.

Had no idea that happens. Reminds me of the 'big raincoat' problem many boys experience around the age of puberty.

Also known as the 'stack of books' problem. ;-)

[transmogriflaw]

CM, there are, but I'm not sure I want to add yet another layer to my already, shall we say, substantial nursing presentation. That having been said, I'm going to start bringing some to the office.

TP, crazy, isn't it? Just thinking about babies is sometimes enough to cause the let-down. My mom used to tell me that she had to avoid babies when she was out doing errands because if they started crying, she started leaking.

[christine]

FYI, Lansinoh makes disposable ultra-thin pads that work great and won't add too much extra bulk.

[transmogriflaw]

Christine, thanks for the tip. I'll check them out.

[resipsacrap]

Are you serious?? There's one more reason for me not to have kids!

[transmogriflaw]

Resipsa, I am totally serious. It happens to most (but not all) nursing mothers.

And, to further your resolve, I would say that this is minor on the scale of physical changes that happen to your body after you give birth!

[bt]

Wow...

Well handled, as usual. Thanks for sharing.

[transmogriflaw]

Thanks, BT.

[Rayne of Terror]

I like the Lansinoh pads also, but really the reusable ones are very thin. The only problem is if your bra is not padded you get telltale (to other nursing women) circles on the front of your shirt. No problem when I wear a slightly padded nursing bra.

I'm hoping to get a hand-me-down pump n style this holiday weekend from a good friend. www.crsone.blog-city.com Hopefully it will provide a little more freedom on the horizon. I'm feeling a little mom'd out today after an entire night of teething wakings.

[transmogriflaw]

Thanks for the tip, Rayne. I'll check them out.