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	<title>WIRL Project &#187; Working Mom</title>
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	<description>What It&#039;s Really Like.</description>
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		<title>Breasfeeding Baby Beyond Maternity Leave &#8211; Pumping in the Workplace</title>
		<link>http://www.wirlproject.com/breasfeeding-baby-beyond-maternity-leave-pumping-in-the-workplace/</link>
		<comments>http://www.wirlproject.com/breasfeeding-baby-beyond-maternity-leave-pumping-in-the-workplace/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 11 Jun 2015 08:30:47 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Mandi Johnson]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Family]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Baby]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Breastfeeding]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pumping]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Work]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Working Mom]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.wirlproject.com/?p=6830</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[As my daughter is quickly approaching her 6 month birthday – it also means I am almost done with my goal of exclusively breastfeeding her for 6 months. I know for some moms this is easy. No problem. For others, it can be a challenge and sometimes it&#8217;s not an option.  Now, I don’t want to say that you have to breastfeed – please, just make sure that your baby is fed! But for me, as long as it was working out, and we had no issues – I wanted to reach that 6 month mark. Putting all of the other breastfeeding issues aside, (poor latch, low supply, mastitis, cracked nipples,) there is one more huge issue. That is the workplace! I work in customer service at a manufacturing facility and I believe that I am the first employee to ever pump at work. Ever! This is how I have made “pumping at work” successful:  1) I pump first thing in the morning. My daughter sleeps through the night most of the time, so I always have enough to pump and then feed in the mornings. While it is not fun getting up at 5:15, it does mean I do not have to pump as soon as I get to work.  I usually get about 6 oz. – which I leave out for her first bottle. Then I clean all of my pump parts and load up my Medela Advanced Pump in Style and head out the door.  2) Once at work, my goal, at first, was to pump three times. However, this just wasn’t working out and two pumping sessions seemed to be doable. I try to pump between 11-11:30 and again around 3:30, yielding 5-6 oz. I store my pumped milk at work in my manager’s small fridge in her private office. This way I don’t have to worry about bringing ice packs or leaving it in the communal fridge. 3) I pump in a small office that is a little away from everyone else. It does not have a lock – but we have affixed a “DO NOT OPEN” sign – that is visible when the door is closed. It has worked so far, I have not received and unsuspecting visitors! Surprise! I usually tell the other ladies in my department that I am “off to the parlor” when I need to pump and have had some fun with it! 4) Second pumping session is usually between 3:30 and 4 pm. Lately, I’ve been skipping the later and pumping when I get home. Between the morning session and the two times at work I would pump enough to feed my daughter the next day. I have not been able to “stockpile”, but I have made enough to feed her day-to-day and that is what is most important!  For anyone having second thoughts or worried about pumping, please know that your employer must be supportive and offer you a place and the time to pump!  For more information visit: http://www.dol.gov/whd/nursingmothers/faqBTNM.htm &#160; Even though it has been a bit of a hassle, pumping at work for me has been successful and completely worth it! A few pumping tips: 1) Start pumping before you need to return to work. By pumping before, you can get used to your pump and know how to assemble, disassemble and clean. This will also allow you to build up a stockpile in case you don’t have enough to feed throughout the day. 2) Try and figure out how many feedings you will miss to figure out how much/how many times you should pump. 3) Know your workplace plan – where will you pump? Where can you store your milk? Discuss with your employer what you plan on doing. 4) Remember that if you have to supplement, it will be ok! &#160; &#160;]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.wirlproject.com/breasfeeding-baby-beyond-maternity-leave-pumping-in-the-workplace/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>By &#8220;Work/Life Balance&#8221; You Must Mean: All Work, Bye Bye Life, and No Balance</title>
		<link>http://www.wirlproject.com/by-worklife-balance-you-must-mean-all-work-bye-bye-life-and-no-balance/</link>
		<comments>http://www.wirlproject.com/by-worklife-balance-you-must-mean-all-work-bye-bye-life-and-no-balance/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 30 Apr 2015 09:00:25 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Sara Brennan]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Family]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Life/Leisure]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Alone]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Balance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Career]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Life]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lonely]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mom]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Motherhood]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[new mom]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Stay At Home Mom]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Work]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Work/Life Balance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Working Mom]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.wirlproject.com/?p=5675</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Since becoming a mom, I&#8217;ve learned that there are NOT enough hours in a day. Many people often wish for &#8220;super powers&#8221; and mine would be the ability to survive without sleep! I actually hate going up to bed at night. Why do we NEED to do this!? There are so many more &#8220;productive&#8221; things I could be doing instead of laying down in a bed for 7-8 hours doing NOTHING resting! Before becoming a mom, I used to be a middle school science teacher and my day was filled with talking/socializing/teaching all day long, followed by the freedom to do whatever I wanted. I loved a good shopping marathon or DIY home project; I was very independent. When I decided to transition to the &#8220;glamorous&#8221; lifestyle of a stay-at-home mom, nobody prepared me for the difficult transition I was about to face. Everyone KNEW I&#8217;d made the decision to stay at home once I had the baby and not one person warned or prepared me for the emotions and changes I was about to face. I would hear comments such as, You will never regret staying at home with your kids or It&#8217;s such a great experience, I wouldn&#8217;t have traded it for the world.  I understand they probably didn&#8217;t want to &#8220;rain on my parade&#8221;, but seriously, I wish someone would have been honest with me and talked about how difficult it can be! So, I left my job, had my son (who I love and adore more than anything), and knew I &#8220;should&#8221; feel bliss, but after a few weeks and months I started to feel alone and trapped in my own home with this baby who couldn&#8217;t tell me what he wanted or needed&#8230; I started to lose it. My work &#8220;friends&#8221; got busy and didn&#8217;t care too much about me anymore. I take that back, in my crazy, emotional, tired, and slightly lonely head, that&#8217;s probably a lot more of what it felt like than the truth. To their credit, I wasn&#8217;t exactly contacting them regularly either. I just felt like nobody could relate to me anymore and that I was very uncool. I couldn&#8217;t go on shopping marathons, mani and pedi outings, or to cocktail hour anymore (unless I brought my baby!) because I was breastfeeding/pumping&#8230;I sometimes felt like a prisoner. I&#8217;d always been a very driven and &#8220;Type-A&#8221; person, so I decided to bottle this strange and unexpected negative energy and put it towards something more positive. I dreamt up an idea, built a website, started my own internet business, and became an entrepreneur! I created a website where real people could share real stories about life and what it&#8217;s really like (WIRL) and I called it WIRL Project. I knew I wasn&#8217;t the only one who had been slapped in the face with this reality that nobody wanted to talk about, so I created an online place where people could cut the crap, be real, and share their stories about life. Since it&#8217;s taken off, I am super busy doing work that I LOVE, but I also have a 19 month old toddler. Sure, I get out of the house several days a week and do something for myself, but now I am faced with GUILT beyond explanation. When I voluntarily leave the house to &#8220;work&#8221;, it means being away from my son. When I&#8217;m with my son and not working, I am constantly thinking about my business; it&#8217;s the epitome of a catch 22. Who knew motherhood could cause such drama (lol)! To avoid the guilt, I try to work as much as I can while my son is sleeping. But, often times this leaves very little time for my husband and I to hang out. Oh, and date nights? Few and far between. I am used to be really fit, I don&#8217;t hardly work out at all anymore, there just isn&#8217;t time for it! I know, I know, everything I&#8217;ve talked about so far comes with the territory of being a (new) mom&#8230; the sleepless nights, the guilt, the exhaustion, the multitasking, all of that, and I don&#8217;t really know how it would have changed things if I&#8217;d known this in advance, but I still wish people would be more realistic about this transition and stop making it out to be so &#8220;beautiful&#8221;. So, back to my super power&#8230;if I had an extra 8 hours per day to accomplish &#8220;life&#8221;, I&#8217;d be much better off! Sleeping just doesn&#8217;t fit into my schedule anymore and I wish that could be the thing I &#8220;quit&#8221; doing! But, unfortunately, my son doesn&#8217;t know (or care) that I&#8217;ve stayed up late, so he wakes up at his regular time every morning, ecstatic to see me, and I go through everything all over again the next day! Don&#8217;t get me wrong, I absolutely love my son and being his mom is awesome. But, if you were to ask me about a work/life balance&#8230; I&#8217;d say there really isn&#8217;t one, not for me anyway, each day is different, yet the same, and crazy! But, I&#8217;m not going to cover it up and make my life seem something it&#8217;s not. I work, I have a life, I balance it as best as I can and I&#8217;m honest about it. That&#8217;s the best I can do right now, take it for what it&#8217;s worth.]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>My Life Right Now: The Real Story</title>
		<link>http://www.wirlproject.com/my-life-right-now-the-real-story/</link>
		<comments>http://www.wirlproject.com/my-life-right-now-the-real-story/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 10 Mar 2015 10:00:40 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Sara Brennan]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Life/Leisure]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Entrepreneur]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Guilt]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mom]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[My Life]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Parent]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Schedule]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Stay At Home Mom]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[What It's Really Like]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[WIRL Challenge]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Working Mom]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.wirlproject.com/?p=3959</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[What is it really like to be me? Often times I wonder, does anybody care? But then, just as I&#8217;m feeling insecure, something or someone comes along and makes me feel really special and important. For example, when I shared last week that I had created and announced WIRL Project &#8211; the flood of emotions totally outweighed any doubt I&#8217;ve ever had in how much people love and support me &#8211; last Tuesday was one of the most awesome days to date! But even in the ordinary times, like every morning when I see my son for the first time, he smiles at me and there is truly no way to describe that level of happiness. But, as we all know, life isn&#8217;t always happy&#8230;it&#8217;s not always rainbows and butterflies (which social media likes to make people think). And actually, to be honest and &#8220;real&#8221;, before WIRL Project, my day-to-day life was kind of a mess. I struggled with feelings that I NEVER anticipated as a new mom&#8230;I sometimes felt &#8220;trapped&#8221; in a playroom with a toddler watching The Wiggles, feeling sad that I&#8217;d &#8220;lost&#8221; my independent, outgoing life that I once had. Then it would smack me in the face because I was sitting and playing with the most beautiful little human being on this earth (yes, I&#8217;m biased), and I felt shitty about it. Damn &#8211; that reality sucks when you feel something but know you shouldn&#8217;t. My day-to-day life became so focused around the baby, that I was really losing my sense of who I was as a person and I didn&#8217;t know what to do about it. Throughout all of these arguments I would have with myself, I didn&#8217;t really want to admit to my husband, friends, or family that I wanted to escape in some way, shape, or form. I felt guilty for wanting to get a babysitter or put my son in school because I was perfectly capable of taking care of him&#8230;but didn&#8217;t always want to? Wow &#8211; that was even hard to write&#8230;but it was true. So, for a long time, I didn&#8217;t say anything and then, one day, after having breakfast with my son, watching Wiggles or Pooh, and having snack time for the 1,000th time, I realized that I needed to face reality and stop living a life that was &#8220;perfect&#8221; for most, but not for me. So, I talked with my husband and we decided it was time for me to take a leap of faith and pursue something I&#8217;d had brewing in my head for such a long time. We decided that it was time that we enroll Mason into a &#8220;Mom&#8217;s Morning Out&#8221; program on Tuesday mornings, and that I get a sitter another morning (or two) of the week so I can venture into something of my own. Did I feel guilty, yes. Was I afraid, yes. Was it hard to say goodbye to the every-day-is-the-same kind of life we were living, yes! But, as I got into the groove of things, I started to get a pep in my step again and I started to feel a confidence that I&#8217;ve never felt before. I learned that I was not choosing to walk away from my son, or my &#8220;life&#8221;, but that I was choosing to do something for myself&#8230;which is what was missing all along. And, crazy as it sounds, it has made me a better mom, wife, and overall person. I can&#8217;t sit here and tell you that walking away from my sweet boy three mornings of the week, as he cries and yells out &#8220;Mama&#8221; as I&#8217;m walking away is easy, but what I can say is that I am 100% a better person for being strong and allowing myself to face the reality of what I was feeling and actually do something about it. So, what is it really like to be a full-time mom, wife, and entrepreneur? Well, it&#8217;s hard, crazy, frustrating, rewarding, and tiring, but most of all&#8230;it&#8217;s perfect for me. I can&#8217;t wait to share with you my journey as I continue down this new, awesome road; I can promise you there will be ups and downs and things are going to get crazy, but I can also assure you that with me, you will always get the REAL story, because in the end, when you&#8217;re real and honest with yourself and how you feel about your emotions, life, etc. then, I believe, you will be better equipped to love and be passionate about the people in your life and the things you do. From all this, I&#8217;ve learned to take a break if you need one, in fact, take several if you&#8217;d like; they don&#8217;t make you look weak and people will admire your courage and strength. Listen to the &#8220;whispers&#8221; in life, and if they sound crazy, talk to someone, act when you&#8217;re ready, and don&#8217;t be afraid to take chances. Life is too short to be anything but happy; it&#8217;s cliche, but so, so, so true!]]></description>
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