I had two separate trips to Manila just last week and this week, respectively. I could have opted to stay overnight and at least see my family, wake up the next day for the planning seminar/forum at a normal hour. But I couldn't bear to leave Maddy for that long yet. That would require some transitioning.
So I chose to take an early morning flight at an ungodly hour of 5:30am for my first trip, and 4:50am on my second. My return tickets were for the 10pm flight, although on both occasions we luckily got into the earlier 8pm flight.
Waking up at 3am or so and preparing to leave your baby at that hour needed serious planning and operational management shizz.
For one, I had to figure out how to feed her before leaving, at the same time pump, and then to make sure she doesn't sense me leaving or gone.
For the first trip, I thought, why not have the yaya wake up at 3:30am to take Maddy from me? I was up at 3am, managed to wash up, brush my teeth and change without waking either Hanley or Maddy. Yaya was ready to take Maddy from me at 3:30am. The plan was to let her sleep in the nursery, because hubby could not be trusted to not roll over Maddy or even wake up when she cries. I managed to feed her, change her diaper and have her fall asleep right before I left... only to be told that she woke up a few minutes later and crying. Which was different, because she usually sleeps throughout the night til around 7:30-8am the next day. She definitely sniffed that mommy was not around. Hubby had to be woken up to help calm Maddy down. They fed her a bottle and rocked her to sleep in our bedroom, which is her familiar sleeping environment, and then moved her to the nursery when she was sound asleep.
For my second trip to Manila, I fully briefed hubby on what to do and took him through all of the steps. Maddy was not going to be moved to the nursery. She'll stay asleep in her usual spot between hubby and I (more like hubby, a body pillow and I). I fed Maddy and changed her diaper before I left. I manually pumped in the room, watching over her, in the dark. I woke hubby up when it was time to go, so he could move to my spot in the bed and serve as the warm body beside Maddy.
Hubby was mommy for the day. I left a bottle of my freshly pumped milk with him, which he fed to Maddy when she was stirring up to feed. He changed her diaper, talked to her, tried to rock her back to sleep, all sans yaya! And in the evening, he took over from the yaya come bedtime and managed to feed her and put her to sleep by the time I got home. Hurray!
As for me, I was pumping wherever I could - from the airport, to the car service, to the conference room, the hotel function room, back at the airport, and on the plane. Kahit saan nalang.
(manual pumping at an empty row on the plane, with my light gray Seve's Mom nursing scarf)
(milk bags of milk collected from the entire day. I cannot imagine how many I'd then have to bring back home if it was an overnight trip O_o)
When I was at MCIAA, a lady sat down next to me and was clearly wondering what in the world was I doing under my nursing scarf. I was about to apologize and ask if it was okay that I was pumping, when she said, "Are you pumping? That's amazing! Good for you!" Believe it or not, I was so relieved and touched I started tearing up. Kakahiya!
(NAIA 2's nursing/breastfeeding room. Could be better. But at least it's there. Hard to complain when the alternative is the open public area by the boarding gate.)
I had to hand over my cooler's ice panels to the banquet waiters so they could put it in the pantry freezer. This is to ensure my milk will remain cold after I leave the conference room/hotel, throughout the flight and until I get back home. This meant I needed to still find a way to cool my milk during the forum. And......this is where coffee mugs filled to the brim with ice come into the picture. Every couple of hours or so I requested a refill of ice to keep my milk inside the cooler cool. Since I was 2 hours early at the hotel, given my ridiculous dawn flight, I managed to find a seat/table right next to a socket. WIN! So I was pumping every 2 hours during the forum. Other than my officemates/tablemates, if anyone else noticed - who cares anymore. As long as I could keep my baby fed, all propriety (maybe not all, just a significant portion thereof) is thrown out of the window.
(I swear the waiters probably thought I was going to steal the mugs. Hashtag para-paraan lang.
#kunggustomaramingparaankungayawmaramingdahilan)
(with my cooler's ice panels' powers waning towards the end of the day, I had to request for ice on the plane to put inside a ziplock and put on top of my milk to keep them cool until I get home)
Maddy turned 3 months last Sunday. Which means it's been 3 months of exclusive breastfeeding. GAWD.
(Happy 3 Months kiddo!)
It's exhausting. It's logistically challenging. It demands preparation and developing a certain type of skill set, which enables you to pump, answer the phone, type emails and legal memos with one hand, and have conversations with your clients and manage to maintain eye contact notwithstanding that one hand is under your scarf holding your pump against your breast and there is that distinct whirring sound of your breast pump motor at the background.
If you can pretend you don't hear it, maybe the person in front of you won't.
Asa pa noh? Deadma nalang.
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