First trip away from Brady

In the midst of all this new fabulous life of figuring out what it means to be a mom I had a work trip to attend - yup, smack dab in the middle of my maternity leave.  You are probably thinking that I am crazy so let me explain.  I work for a non-profit that helps low income women get back to work and on the road to living a life of self-sufficiency - yup that's right ladies! You don't have to depend on the government or an abusive husband to survive. The mission is incredibly important to me and this year we received a $200k grant from Bank of America and as part of the grant they provide three trips for the emerging leader in the organization to develop their leadership skills and share your mind power with the 60 other recipients of the award from around the country.

This is the second of the three trips and I had initially thought I would fly my mom and Brady out to Atlanta to be with me for the conference - that was until the airline sequesters went into place and it would have cost us $900 to get my mom here (not really an option while I'm on unpaid maternity leave). So instead I came out solo and my incredible husband and family stepped up to the plate to make the trip happen. I really can't thank my parents, Brett and Kim for watching Brady for four days so I could make the trip.

So how did mommy do? There were some tears at the airport but I was able to pull myself together before getting on the plane so as not to freak out the other passengers. I also had to figure out how to travel with a pump and coming back with milk through security since I'm a nursing mom now - and boy isn't that fun to have to declare to the 19 year old security guard that you are packing some breast milk only for him to open up your bag and be completely clueless on what to do next - don't worry he finally asked his supervisor and it all got sorted out.  I had thought I had lost all sense of modesty after the labor and delivery but turns out it's still there! I made the mistake of being too self-conscious to pump in the airport or on the plane on the way out to Atlanta on my  non-stop flight. Needless to say I was a hot, leaking mess upon arrival. So on the way back I swallowed my pride and got the job done.

First up - the bathroom at the airport. Such a glamorous place. Nothing like standing there in a stall and pumping for 15 minutes with a symphony of toilets flush around you. Second up? Airplane restroom, I'm pretty sure everyone thought I was a terrorist as I snatched up my black tote and headed to the restrooms only to come out 15 minutes later with a line of 12+ people waiting - whoops!  Sorry world, this nursing stuff doesn't mess around - I learned that the hard way:-)  So the next time you see a mom shyly ducking into the restroom with the all too familiar black tote or hiding a kiddo under a hooter hider in public be nice to her - unfortunately the world doesn't come with nursing rooms.

My very luxurious pumping station in the chic, Atlanta Airport bathroom - life doesn't get much better than this ;-)