I breastfeed, however I had to pump the first few weeks due to latch issues and I own a pump and use it on occasion(Because every time we take a long car ride I am convinced he is somehow going to starve to death… like we wouldn’t pull over eventually when we found an place.  But I am like that).  However Disco-Baby has never taken a bottle of breastmilk because I have yet to leave him… pretty much ever.

However, I have learned from experience that if we go out somewhere exciting Disco-Baby may not be that interested in eating; leaving me with a bit of a problem.  Those of you who breastfeed know that painful oh-my-god-I’m-going-to-burst feeling; those of you who don’t may go through something similar after birth I just do not know.  I have learned to take the pump with me when we go out.  Even though I do not really like pumping and the manual pump I have really sucks (it really meant for an electric pump the hand pumping is more of an after thought)

When I went to a family BBQ not to long ago I ended up just hand expressing a bit in the sink because I didn’t really want to go find the car and bring the pump in.  However this still left me with two non-bouncing boobies for most of the party.  But I managed to avoid excruciating pain at least.

Yesterday we went to The Ex with my mom, my sister, my sister’s best friend, and the hubs for the whole day.  We left the house at 9am and got home at 10pm; and as predicted Disco-Baby wouldn’t eat.  At around 3 I couldn’t take it anymore so I went off to look for the Hubs who was guarding the stroller to get the pump.  However he had been waiting in line for the Super Dogs but they had started letting people in so we went to save seats.  I thought the rest of the gang would be there in a minute and then I could sneak off and pump.  Nope!  They got there 3 minutes before show time, so I sat through the show repeatedly putting Disco-Baby to breast, but he was only interested in the lights, music, dogs, clapping and people.

If the pump had of been in the diaper bag beside us I would have been tempted to pump surrounded by a million people.  After the show I went to pump in the bathroom, but there was a line and it was dirty.  So I went looking for another washroom I thought was nearby.  I was wrong.  I passed the first aid centre while looking for a place to pump and almost begged to use their curtained area.  However, there was only one curtained off area and I didn’t want to take over the whole place.  I finally found the bathroom and started pumping.

I still felt awkward though, is it just me or is there something dirty about pumping?  It was only make worse by being locked in a bathroom stall.  I wouldn’t take my shirt off (which makes it easier) and ended up drenched in milk because it is a single pump.  I turned my shirt around so it was just my back that was soaked.  Because *that* wouldn’t look weird/gross, of course I then changed shirts out in the middle of the games part of the midway, luckily I had just bought a new shirt.  And the real reason I didn’t pump in the first aid station was because they would not only know what I was doing but HEAR what I was doing.

I don’t know why I find pumping in public so awkward and dirty.  I breastfeed everywhere; and when Disco-Baby would not eat with anything touching his face and I didn’t know what I was doing I would practically have my whole boob out, in the Chapters, in front of the window.  But I find pumping icky.  Anyone else feel like that?  Anyone have pumping in public stories to share?