Guest Mom - Nursing

Like most moms, I believe I have an incredible daughter but have found juggling motherhood and working full-time to be very challenging. With my chatty 15 month old and a career I love, it’s hard to find a balance.

I recently stopped breastfeeding so I’ve decided to commemorate by sharing my most memorable moment. You may think it would be the time a male VP said hello to me in the hall while I held my pump parts, or maybe you’d think it was the time someone asked me what I was having for lunch when I pulled a steam bag filled with pump parts out of the microwave. Sadly neither of those stories top as my most memorable…

I had an offsite meeting at a hotel and planned to sneak out midday to pump in a coworkers hotel room. However, when I arrived at her room I couldn’t get the key to work. Determined not to interrupt my male boss’s presentation and ask her for help, I opted to turn to the front desk. Unfortunately, it was strict hotel policy not to share room information even though I gave the male clerk the room key, the guests name, and what I believed was the room number. Putting aside my dignity, I explained to the man that I needed a place to pump. He didn’t know how to handle my request so he explained he would get the manager, who, as it turns out, was also a man. After explaining that I simply needed a room to pump, he proceeded to tell me in his gentle Irish accent that he really couldn’t help me out.

Horrified, I asked if he expected me to pump in the lobby or even in my car in the parking lot. He didn’t seem to like either idea and so like a bright light going off, escorted me to a conference room. Once in the room with large windows, I looked at the doors and said “these doors don’t lock.” He looked at me as if I had just made an odd comment and said “no, they don’t.” I calmly explained that I needed a room with doors that locked. He said “Oh, well I don’t think we have anything like that.”

In a hotel full of locked rooms, I decided I needed to be blunt, “I’m not sure if you understand, as I said, I’m going to be pumping… with my shirt off.” “Ohhhh”, he said, “well, I do have one more option, it is a small room but should work.” As I breathed a sigh of relief, I followed him out of the conference room and…into a closet. Ironically, it only locked from the outside, so I found myself barricading the doors with boxes filled with staff uniforms. I sat on a round stool with wheels which reminded me of the one in my grade school library. My heart rate raced the whole time just waiting for someone to open the door. I sat there wondering why my request seemed like such a difficult one in a hotel and peered in the corners fearing a camera was somewhere in the closet.

That night, as I recapped the story to my husband, his response was “It’s funny, I actually saw the video on You Tube earlier today.” Ironically, I didn’t find that too funny.