Working women & Taking care of preemie babies

anitha bm is the best gift you can give to rithik so it will be best for u to continue pumping as long as u can so that he can avail all the benefits. I did it for 15 months, starting with 6 pumps per day and at the end was pumping once or twice a day.

 

Here is another worker on contract, who quit because the maternity leave situation was awful (it stung even more for me, because we wrote so many articles on how women in workplace were second grade citizens). It is easy for me to say that's how it should be for everyone, but so much depends on mom's situation, her need to work and her own need for her career. So if you want to go ahead and join, here is what I would look for in your place.
1. a pumping room
2. pumping breaks
3. day-care near your workplace? Or will family provide for care
4. future opportunities to get more leave.

Pooja has more experience in pumping, but it would be ideal if you can pump for at least a year, giving expressed milk during the time of your separation. After the first year, you will be able to transition DS into nursing when you are around. Given that yours is a preemie, you may need to exclusively feed for longer.

To meet your child's need you may have to pump at least three times during your separation. Each pumping session, using a double electric pump for 15 to 20 minutes. I am not a leaker, but I have had people tell me they leaked till the first year - good nursing pads should take care of that.

 

Hi Anitha,

Tough situation, hugs to you!

In order to be available for FMLA, your employer (not the bank that you consult for) should have 50 or more employees. Also you should have been with your employer for at least 1 year - I think this is the federal law. Not sure if states have differences on these.

If you are not eligible due to having less than 1 year tenure or if your employer is exempt then you may not have a choice other than to quit. I know that sucks. Are you on good terms with your emplotyer? Can you negotiate some unpaid leave with them? That seems the best thing to me.

Regarding pumping, a private room, and pumping breaks are key. For my first one, I exclusively pumped for 15 months. I was able to return in 2 months since I had family take care of my LO between parents and in-laws. I started pumping 4 times during the workday immediately after my return 2-3.5 months, then 3 times for a long time (3.5 - 7 months or so) then slowly dropped to 2X a day and finally 1 time.

Leaking depends on each person. I leaked during the first 3 months, after that not much.

For my second baby I had to supplement with formula since I had little help at home and had to take care of the first as well. Added to that I was in a more responsible position at work so could not adhere to the pumping schedule as well as I would have liked to.

Think through everything, and decide what is best.

 

you should seriously ask them about wfh maybe once or twice a week. and let them know that with a premie at home you will stick to a certain time schedule. anitha you cannot have your cake and eat it too... either you can have a rocking career or you can take care of rithik. unless you have a boatload of help at home to do everything for rithik, your career will have to take the backseat for awhile. I learnt this the hard way ;-)

hugs and cheers. I know being a new mom is so much work ... hugs n hugs to u!

pooja

 

1. Some kind of a private room is a must. You can try talking to the HR officer in your bank or some manager to see if you can use an empty, lockable conference room. Really all you need is an electrical outlet and a lock. I used to travel to other offices for meetings and one of our buildings does not have a lactation room. I have used conference rooms to pump. Close all blinds and lock.

2. You do not need a freezer, normal fridge will do for daily pumping. I would put all my bottles in the cooler pack along with ice pack and stick it in the fridge until ready to go home. Most offices in US has a fridge so this should be okay.

3. Again, if your milk is in the fridge all the time it will not get spoilt. I too have 45 mins to 1 hour commute times. I sometimes leave my cooling pack in the freezer until ready to leave.

4. One pump will do. I would carry my pump back and forth every day. I had the Medela PISA backpack and it looks pretty discreet.

5. I would inform your supervisor, not everyone else. Its really nobody else's business other than your supervisor.

6. This could be an issue so think about if you can handle it. You will have to have some flexibility as a new mom. Try to set a schedule and be firm and clear about times you have to leave. I learnt a whole lot about efficient time management after I had my kids