Just found your site.  Soooo wish I would have had this kind of resource three years ago.  Things are going different for me this time, but I still remember so vividly how much of a failure I felt like when I couldn't nurse and had to EP and everyone made me feel like it was a stupid thing to do.  I will answer based on my thoughts and feelings for EPing for my son.  I now ebf my daughter and pump at work.

Decided to exclusively pump for my son when our numerous failed attempts and getting him to latch left both of us in fits of tears each feeding session, but I really believed breastmilk was best and knew I could make pumping work.  Not to mention the cost of formula!!  It was physically and mentally draining to keep up with everything.  But my dh helped.  He often fed our son while I pumped (even in the middle of the night).  I believe they are closer to this day from that wonderful bonding time.  I sometimes resented having to fiddle with the pump while he cuddled our son close.  But I knew it was the least I could do for him.  I hated it when a mixture of job stress and probably some post-partum depression made me feel like I wasn't coping with my life and my dh pushed me to quit EPing as it was "one thing I could let slide".  I am sad to this day that I didn't fight harder for my son's best nutrition.  Oh, he's healthy enough, but I just had it in my head that I would bf him and I felt like such a failure.

Getting help is the #1 thing to do to make your life easier.  You don't have to do it all.  That bottle can be held by others!  Of course, I am assuming that you have already done the smart thing and invested in a good quality (and probably a little expensive) double electric pump.  Had a crappy $40 one that I got as a gift and almost lost my supply from it!  Luckily, my PIS came to the rescue, but I fought supply issues for a couple months.

Didn't have any other children in the house when I EPed.  I pump in front of my son once in a while now and include him by letting him turn it on and off, help carry bottles to the kitchen, etc.  Had a friend that EP'd because she had her sons 14 mo apart and she said every time she got the baby latched her toddler was jumping off the back off the couch or getting into something he wasn't supposed to.  She said pumping was much easier to start and stop if she had to chase son #1 out of something.

I pumped with a newborn by either doing it when they were sleeping or being held by someone else or just laying there on the floor next to me (loved to pump while watching him smile at me! - milk would come aflowing!).  

Sanity and sense of humor ...hmmmm....hard to say.  Guess I reach out to other pumping moms on the BC board.  Sometimes I talk to friends that also believe in bf/ep.  Sometimes I just remember how short this time will be in my life in the grand scheme.  Also also stay sane by remembering that this is something I can do for my child when I am away from him/her.  Relieves some guilt from working.

Humorous experiences - wierdest places I have pumped:  Kansas City airport bathroom on the changing shelf (out in the open as that is where the outlet was); back of a construction site in a rental car; airport parking lot (with the shuttle bus that kept circling waiting for me to get out!); small room in the basement of the conference center in Milwaukee that I kept having to locate a janitor to let me into during a five-day conference.  Heck, if you can't laugh at it, you will just cry!  Traveling always has funnies - last time through an airport security wanted to know what was in the black bag - ummm, my breast pump and that red cooler is full of frozen milk if you were wondering! :)

If you want to provide breastmilk for your baby - it is doable!  Anything you set your mind to is DOABLE!  Seek help, seek support and know that this too shall pass and before you know it you will feel the weight of that pump lifted from your shoulder, but it will be replaced with a longing in your heart for that baby that used to smile so contently from his/her milk.  They grow up SOOO fast.  Can't believe my son is already 3.5 years old and my daughter is already 7 mo!  

Already mentioned some of the crazy things I have done when traveling.  The biggest advice if you are going to a hotel is to call ahead and see if there is a mini-fridge and/or microwave.  I stayed at a couple hotels that I could freeze my milk and take it home in the cooler compartment of my pump or in a separate cooler (the microwave was handy for sterilizing with the Medela steam bags).  If you are going to a conference or seminar in a hotel, call and see if they can let you check in early so you can pump on breaks.  I did that this summer and they checked me in at 8 AM and I pumped at the 10:30 break in the privacy of the room!  They let me check out at 1:30 instead of 11:00 for the same reason.  I talked to the guy in charge of the seminar and he let me use a small conference room in the EPA building (where he worked across the street from the hotel) before I drove home (3 hour drive).  I took all the milk in a cooler home so none was wasted!  I made arrangements at a five day conference in October to use a small room in the catacombs of the conference center to pump 2x/day.  I have pumped in cars (both mine and rentals).  I have pumped at airports.  If you are creative and not all that shy, you can manage.  I also make sure to drink tons of water (bottled is convenient).   Was I a little embarrassed to tell this engineer from the EPA that I needed to pump while at the training?  Sure, a little.  But he smiled big and said, no problem - my wife is nursing our 8 mo old and we have 3 older ones that she bf too!  LOL  Most people understand and commend you for it.

I didn't really say much of anything to my friends and family about my EPing.  I just did it.  Most didn't really question it as it was my decision.  Overall, it worked great when dh was supportive and not so much when he wasn't.  I should not have let him talk me into quitting.  I still regret it.  Had a few friends that were like "wow, can't believe you do that" and I was always like "why not - cheaper than formula and BEST for baby!"  

My favorite thing that one friend sent me when I needed a little support was a blinky that you could post on a bb that said "I make milk.  What's your superpower?"  That's just it - being able to provide my dd and my ds the milk they needed made me feel like a supermom.  :)

Christina
Henry (May 2001)
Beth (March 2003)