Dear Crosby, Though you were not with me, my boobs reminded me of you every 3 hours

I did it – survived enjoyed my first weekend away since adding a +1 to my offspring. Joey and I traveled to Long Island, NY for a friend’s wedding, which was akin to a mini-reunion of his college buddies, who, lucky for me, are all awesome people.

Though we were only 30 minutes from Manhattan and desperately wanted to see the city, the closest we got was a split second glimpse of the skyline as our cab left the airport (“I think I just saw Manhattan out of the corner of my eye!”). However, since I am still nursing Crosby, my breast pump and I did get to tour many of the bathroom stalls in Long Island, specifically in the Plainview and Muttontown areas. Had I been able to think beyond “What am I missing out on while I make like a cow in this grody bathroom for 20 minutes?“, I would have photographed them all for your viewing enjoyment. Including the times I pumped on the interstate while heading to and from the Chicago airport and on our airplane as it sat stuck on the LaGuardia runway for almost 2 hours…after a 6 hour delay. Those were really good times, and all I will need to convince expectant mothers that nursing covers are, indeed, a very smart purchase.

As you can imagine, I spent the days before our trip internally freaking out about it, as I do anytime I travel. Besides leaving the grandparents a 4 page manual on how to care for my kids (keep in mind they watch my children about 16 hours every week and are well acquainted with their routines), I also planned and strategized and visualized every aspect of traveling with and using a breast pump while away and getting a weekends worth of breast milk back home safely. Overall, it was inconvenient, but not a big deal. Except for having to bust out my boobs and milk them while seated on a completely full airplane.

Here’s how I pulled it off: I borrowed my friend Rebecca’s battery-operated pump (Medela Freestyle. Highly recommend it.) so I could use it anywhere, packed a bunch of ice packs, milk storage bags and special pump-cleaning wipes and a collapsible cooler. I called ahead to the hotel to ensure our room had a fridge and stashed everything there until Sunday, at which point I loaded up my cooler and took it and my pump with me as my carry on. Airport security didn’t bat an eye, but they did test all of my milk to make sure it didn’t contain explosives.

I have to admit, I feel proud that I sucked it up and did this. I returned home to Wisconsin with over 70 ounces of well-traveled breastmilk. I should have mailed Crosby a postcard from my boobs saying Wish You Were Here, but again, I was too distracted by all the fun.

It was wonderful to get away, though I thought about my kids often and was thrilled to see them. Now that motherhood is in my face almost 24/7, stepping back from it and remembering that there is so much more to me than that is a very good thing.

Not to mention that it was all very good practice for this weekend, when I depart with my pump again for a girls’ trip to Washington, D.C., where my friend Courtney lives and is just weeks away from welcoming her own son into the world. I’m feeling much less stressed out this time around.

• ← Shutting the mouth on the tongue saga for good
• For Mother’s Day →