Lowes: Pumping, Friends, Lack of working full-time, and my opinion in general...

Question: when you have some time would you mind talking a bit about your part time job. Maybe touch on how you like it so far, how pumping fits into your schedule, how coworkers react to pumping, if you've made any friends, etc.

Do you ever "miss" working full time?

Answer:

A. The job is going fine. To this point I've had a nice mix of training and "hands on". I'm a cashier and so it's not exactly the most difficult job in the world. It's nice getting out of the house a little, but I still miss little man. However, it's nice that Ryan and Jude get a little bonding time. Perhaps the worst part is that I don't have a set schedule. Now when I plan anything for the evenings or the weekends I have to put in a request off. If I get invited some where last minute i have to check my schedule to see if I can go. I really haven't missed this since I start working full time on a set schedule how ever many years ago.

However, for the most part it's not a bad job. The pay is actually pretty good considering what I'm doing and for the most part the customers haven't been too bad. Oh - it was a little "embarrassing" (not the right word) when I ran into one of my high school teachers the other day. I felt like I needed to explain why I was working as a cashier... when really, I don't need to. It's my business. But what can you do?

Now for the long part:

B. Pumping. When I brought up the issue of pumping at work I was not at all nervous, embarrassed or hesitant. I told them I would be pumping, it was no big deal and I left it at that - people know and we all made jokes about it. However, for some reason it wasn't so easy when I brought it up to Lowe's. It honestly had slipped my mind during my interviews and so I arrived the day of orientation with my pump in hand, not sure how to go about saying "I need somewhere to plug this in". Jude was at home with Meghan. I didn't expect her to bring him up and I wasn't planning on going home.

Lunch time rolled around and I still hadn't brought up pumping. So, I hoped in my car (meghan's car actually), hooked up to the machine (thank goodness for my car adapter) and took care of business in the back of the parking lot with a blanket covering my chest. It was uncomfortable and I think my nerves affected my milk, because I hardly got anything. Really, I didn't need much since I have 200+ ounces in the freezer anyway so it was just to keep my body on schedule.

Shortly after heading back in after lunch I couldn't get time 100% alone with HR, so took my first semi-opportunity and threw it out while in the training room (we were all breaking for a quick tour of the building so I thought I'd grab him while I could (there were people around, but it was semi-private) that I nurse my baby and was wondering if it's something they've dealt with before as I'd need a "pump" room. The HR manager looked at me with a confused look that confirmed they had never had this situation and he wanted to know what a pump room was. I gave it a minute to sink in and once it did he had a very "oh god, how am i going to handle this" look on his face. I quickly added that I really wouldn't mind doing it in my car (my car has tinted windows and is a little higher off the round than meghan's), but once it gets cold out I'll need something indoors. He said he would work on it and get back to me. To this point I haven't heard anything (he probably forgot), but Ryan informed me there's a family style bathroom that would probably suit my needs just fine for my random pumping. I was after all, using the restroom at my previous job which had a chair set up for me and everything.

When getting my schedule for the week following orientation, I was grateful that I only had 4 hour shifts. Ryan and I discussed it and he would drive me to work. By having Ryan take me to work it allowed me to feed Jude RIGHT before going in to work. I had a break in the middle of my shift, so Ryan brought Jude up for my break and I fed him in the car. Then (keeping Jude out JUST past his bed time) Ryan would bring him with him to pick me up. I would get off at 9 and he'd eat one more time before going to sleep for the night. Jude typically eats every 2-3 hours (heading more towards the 3 hour mark) and even though you're not supposed to put a breast fed baby on a schedule, that's kind of what we were doing for the sake of not having to pump.

Friday is my first day working a 5 hour shift. From experience with Ryan's Lowe's time I know that working the closing shift often means you're not done on time and so I am not going to work Jude's eating schedule around work. Ryan and I discussed that I'd still try to feed Jude as close to going to work as possible and if he happens to have not eaten around the time I go on my break then Ryan will bring him up and I'll feed him. If not, I'll have my pump on hand and I'll just pump instead. Also, his last feeding of the night I'll do the same thing - but since I'm getting off at 10, I'll probably be pumping when I get home - he will with out a doubt be asleep by then.

So, the pumping issue will be resolved on an "as needed" basis. I will try to avoid pumping as much as possible as I didn't really enjoy it at all while I was working full time. But I'm more than willing to pump as needed and use the freezer stash while I'm working if our schedules don't jive. Since my schedule will be so irregular, to say "Jude will get a bottle at X time" is unrealistic - so we'll have to make it work based on my fluctuating schedule.

C. No, I have not made any friends at this point. I've talked to a handful of people who seem pretty nice. The biggest downfall is a lot of people are really hardcore about working there and I'm just there for the sake of being home with my son... so I can't seem to relate to their excited-ness about work... I wouldn't say I'm really there to make friends anyway. I'm not trying to be antisocial, just get in and get out.

D. I miss working full time from time to time. I don't miss work, I think I miss being "in the loop". Before, Ryan and I could have work conversations and I knew what was going on, but now I don't. So, as lame as it sounds, I miss it a little. Also, even though I had my moments, I feel like I was pretty good at what I did. I liked having people who kind of relied on me.. but I'm getting over it.