How Breastpumping Inspired Me to Quit my Job and Launch my own Business!

Welcome Carnival of Breastfeeding Readers! 

When I found out I was pregnant with my first child at 38, a good friend of mine asked me if I was going to pump.  I looked at her quizzically and asked, “Why would I need to?”  She went on to tell me that she and her husband had chosen to pump primarily so that he could feed the baby and therefore bond with her as she was.

That night, I talked to my husband about it.  My husband, Mike, is one of the most endearingly sensitive men I have ever met.  He cried when he said his vows at our wedding, he cried when our daughters were born and he cried when he kissed my belly for our pregnancy photos.  He said the pumping sounded like a good idea.  (All this and he rides a Harley too!)

After our daughter was born and we waited the recommended 4-6 weeks before introducing a bottle, I sat down at the kitchen table and stuck these plastic funnel doo-hickeys on my breasts and lo and behold, the milk started flowing into the bottles!  Who knew?  And needless to say, Mike cried the first time he fed each of our daughters.

When I started to pump on a daily basis, I experimented with various positions and locations around the house.  I leaned-up against the kitchen table to try to pin the horns between my body and the table so that I could at least turn the pages in a magazine, however it didn’t work too well - I couldn’t turn the pages (even with my elbows) and it was pretty uncomfortable.  I tried to simply hold the horns with my hands, however, my Carpal Tunnel Syndrome caused them to go numb and ache within a few minutes.

So I plunked myself down in front of my computer and Googled “pump hands-free”.  I found a handful of products, all of which were expensive, fiddly and “less than attractive” (insert eye roll here).  Why is it, that when we become a mom, it is assumed that we no longer have any style?

I let the idea stew in the back of my mind for a week or so, and then I decided to try to construct something on my sewing machine that would hold the horns for me.

Three years of research and development later, my website selling PumpEase™ hands-free pumping supports went live!  I now have the freedom to stay at home with my two girls (3-1/2 years and 17 months) and be a WAHM and entrepreneur.  Equally as important to me is knowing that I am helping pumping moms everywhere to pump with style and comfort, to pump pain-free, to extend their nursing relationships with their babies and to make much-needed donations to breast milk banks.

Be sure to check out these great posts from our blogging friends:

• Raising Baby Bee writes about pumping at work (and shares a great ‘do not disturb’ sign).
• Breastfeeding Mums says “electrify me!”
• Breastfeeding 1-2-3 writes about exclusively pumping for a baby with a cleft palate.
• Hobo Mama writes about donating milk for an adopted baby.
• Adventures of a Breastfeeding Mother shares her pumping tips.
• The Attached Mother writes about pumping and becoming a milk donor.
• Mama Knows Breast invites you to enter to win a free Medela Freestyle pump.
• Motherwear - our gracious host - writes about breastfed babies and bottles.

Filed under: About this Blog & Me, Carnival of Breastfeeding, Human Milk Banking, Humour, Pumping by Wendy
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Why is it that we, as humans, are the ONLY mammals that feel the need (or pressure from society) to cover-up while feeding our young?

Last night I exhibited at the DSA (Doulas Services Association) Product Information Night/AGM.  I met many fantastic women and made some great contacts.  There were three of us talking about breastfeeding in public including the Mom (sorry Mom, I don’t remember your name) of Jen Casey - the owner of Dimpleskins Naturals - fantastic product line by the way!  Jen’s Mom proceeded to tell us a story of an incident that she recently witnessed while shopping at Sears.  A mother sat down on a couch in the furniture department to feed her very hungry baby.  A female employee told her that she couldn’t do “that” here and would have to leave.  The mother countered, stating that her baby was hungry and that she had to feed him/her.  The Sears employee told her she would have to go to the bathroom.  Jen’s Mom, overhearing the conversation, piped-up and said to the Sears employee, “Would you like to eat your dinner in the bathroom?”  Brilliant, just brilliant!

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Filed under: Breast is Best, Humour by Wendy
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On January 27th of this year we participated in our very first consumer trade show - Westcoast Moms’ Vancouver’s Largest Baby Shower. It was a ton of fun, we made a lot of great new contacts and PumpEase™ hands-free pumping supports were very well-received.

We interrupt this blog post for a very important message: A big thank you to my hubby for staying up until 3 am with me the night before! Those “little” give-aways take a long time to make! And also to my bff Lorelei for riding shotgun the day of. We now return to our regularly scheduled blog post.

The morning of the show, I woke-up to 2 feet of snow here in Coquitlam (the show was in East Vancouver - about a 30 minute drive west). Now some of you might be thinking, “Two feet of snow….big deal!” However, if you are saying that, I would guess that YOU don’t live here in the lower mainland where a mere dusting of snow causes sheer panic and chaos. We never get snow = people don’t know how to drive in snow = sheer panic and chaos.

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Filed under: Humour, Marketing, Press & Media, Pumping by Wendy
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Here at Snugabell™ we have just gone through the onerous task of re-branding our product.  We thought we had the perfect name:  Mike & Toni’s hands-free pumping supports.  Then we started to get feedback from people indicating that they were confused by the masculine-sounding names for a product that was targeted primarily to women.  Moms of boys also didn’t like the pink colour on the packaging.  I was selling to women, so I thought pink would work.  Apparently I was wrong…. I had girls….. so shoot me!

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Filed under: Inside Snugabell, Marketing by Wendy
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Did you know in the 1970’s there were as many as 23 milk banks in Canada?  In the 80’s however, fears of HIV transmissions led to the closure of all but the Vancouver bank, located at BC Women’s Hospital.

Breast milk banks - there are currently 10 in the United States as well - provide supplies to mothers who cannot produce enough milk or are not able to produce their own due to illness or being on medication.  Banks are also used by parents of adopted and foster children.

Many Canadian communities are pleading for more milk banks to be opened, however few hospitals are willing to supply the required funding and resources and the government isn’t stepping up to the plate to help (surprise, surprise).

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Filed under: Breast is Best, Human Milk Banking, Pumping by Wendy
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