A Bottled Commitment

I never bring packed lunches to work. I loathe the idea of having a lot of boxes, spoons and forks aside from the phone chargers, iPod and other gadgets dangling inside my purse. What’s even worse is the idea of having to wash them after use; snatching up some minutes from my much deserved power-nap at 12. I went on sans a care about the mounting amout of lunch-on-credit at the canteen just to do away with the hassle of bringing lunch boxes.

This had to dramatically change when three months ago, Sam came into my life one week earlier via c-section secondary to uncontrolled pregnancy-induced hypertension ( or at least this is what the operation room medical staff had written on this medical report, hehehhe). Seeing my little boy in my arms paved way for me to commit to one of the difficult challenges modern working-mothers would make these days: give 100% breastmilk for her baby.

So! After just 78 days of honeymoon with my newborn, I dragged my heavy feet back to work. The decision of giving Sam a hundred percent breastmilk (strictly NO FORMULA) swiftly became my Mt Everest. Joggling from handling children aged 9 and 11 in my English class, checking test questions of a handful of teachers, attending Faculty meetings, running my own tutorial center, I express milk from my “generous mammary glands” every two hours for my little one.

Each day I leave home armed with a thermal bag from Lock&Lock. Inside this bag are my “gadgets” that help me be more truly “250% panatag” for my baby’s health. These gadgets include: a very powerful, silent, painless manual pump, 2 feeding bottles, 3 breastmilk storage bottles and 2 ice packs. I express at least 12-15 oz of milk each day to be added to my freezer-ful collection of milk at home. This way, I am in a constant assurance that Sam will never run out of food supply.

So gone are the “ka-artehan” of not bringing lunch boxes because now? Lunch box is not an issue anymore, I BRING A THERMAL BAG to work!Before, I never bring lunch boxes because I don’t like to wash them. Now, I sterilize the pump before every use.

This commitment is different, taxing and energy-draining. But I love every minite of it. I love looking at how my milk powerfully squirts out from my breasts into those sterilized bottles. I am content of an assurance that my baby would be in much better protection from different antibodies he can be exposed to.

But to top that, this is my way of telling him that I love and care for him with much, much great abandon.