I know what you might be thinking how can you put breastfeeding and Burberry in the same sentence. Well, I came across my nursing journal today from the early days when of nursing Charlotte. The journal was my way of remembering the important early days of nursing and this particular entry made me chuckle.
It was a cold and blustery day in February of 2009. Charlotte had been home from the hospital for a few weeks and we were just starting to nurse exclusively. Although I was nursing her at each feeding, I was also pumping at each feeding. I produced enough milk for two babies! I pumped for a month while Charlotte was learning to eat on her own and then learning to nurse and my supply was completely out of whack with her demand. In the first few weeks of February, my beautiful baby girl wanted to nurse she would get a gush of milk thrust in her mouth causing her to choke and cough most of the time. She would scream and her face would turn bright red and I would feel hopeless. One that cold, blustery Saturday in early February, Abbie and Mom came over to take me shopping. It was my first outing without Charlotte and I was excited to get out of the house and not think about nursing for a little bit. I had pumped two bottles full of milk enough for several feedings and left them with John while I enjoyed some girl time.
We lived in the South End at the time and it was a nice walk over to Back Bay where we decided to shop. The cold wind felt great against my face, as it seemed like forever since I had been outside. We strolled up and down Newbury St. admiring the window dressings, popping in and out of shops enjoying the afternoon. I treated myself to a few new shirts as my every expanding chest had seemed to take on a life of its own in the past few months. I was pleased to fit back into my beloved Seven jeans and was surprised when most of my pre-pregnancy tops seemed a little too tight. As we made our way to the Boston Commons we passed by Burberry – a Gilmore Girls favorite. All three of us agreed that we needed to stop in and at least admire the cute baby clothes. I hadn’t been in Burberry since I lived in New York City the year before. I only own a scarf from the store, but I seriously love the clothes. As we walked in from the cold, the aroma and warmth from the store was intoxicating! We walked over to the section for women and perused the racks and shelves. The coats, the dresses the shirts the pants all seemed to call out of me, but my wallet kept me from seriously looking!
After about 20 minutes in the store, I felt this tingle in my chest followed by a burst of wet, warm milk. “Oh dear,” I thought as I my boobs pulled me back to reality. I checked my watch, we had been shopping for almost three hours so yes, it was time to either pump or nurse. I felt like Cinderella at the ball, the clock had struck midnight and her coach was turning back into a pumpkin. My chest was turning back into its new role, feeding my child. As I was walking past a mirror I noticed a wet spot on my chest. Could I have leaked through my clothes – impossible.
I grabbed the nearest coat and headed straight for the dressing room. Inside I pulled off my top and noticed I wasn’t wearing a nursing pad and I had leaked all over my shirt. Of all the day and all the stores! How could I have forgotten a nursing pad! I dove into my purse looking for something to help as I watched my boobs continue to drip milk. I found a bunch of tissues and decided this would be enough to triage the situation. I pumped off some excess milk into a few of the tissues hoping that would buy me a half of hour time before I made it home. I used the remaining tissues as nursing pads, wearing my shirt backwards. I threw on my black goose down jacket and exited the dressing room.
“The jacket is lovely,” I told the sales associate, “ but I won’t be taking it today”
I walked over to mom and Abbie and quietly alerted them of the situation. They smiled and nodded and we exited the store.
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