DragonflyWing
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I had an incredibly stressful business trip last week, and my supply has dropped severely. I went from pumping 50 ounces to barely making 30 ounces 
First, my 6am flight got cancelled and I was stuck in the airport for 12 hours. It's SO hard to find somewhere to pump in airports- at the first airport, they made me pump out in the open at one of the business area work stations...there was nowhere I could go that had both privacy and an electrical outlet. Luckily, I found a spot that was pretty out of the way, so there weren't TOO many people around, but it was still humiliating.
At the second airport (Atlanta), there was literally nowhere to pump. I asked at the information desk as well as the airline help desk, and they all told me to use one of the family bathrooms (although neither of them could tell me where to find one...I had to take the plane train back and forth and trek up and down 3 different concourses before I found one).
However, when I finally found it, there was no electrical outlet and the door lock was broken. I had gone 9 hours without pumping by that time (I had been at a business conference that also had no private area before getting to the airport), and I had to sit on the toilet and use my manual pump to relieve the pressure. Thank goodness I had it, or I would have been unable to pump at all. I couldn't fully empty with the hand pump, unfortunately, and had to go another 5 hours after that before I got home. That last flight was the most uncomfortable experience of my life...not only was I engorged and in pain, but the seats were the smallest I've ever seen on a plane, and I was crammed in like a sardine.
On top of all that, TSA had confiscated my ice pack when I went through security, so I couldn't even bring any of my milk home. They told me that if the ice pack had still been frozen (it had thawed after 12 hours stuck in the airport), OR if I had full bottles of milk with me (I had dumped my first bottles because even with the ice pack, it wouldn't make it the 36 hours before I got home), they would have let it through...but because it was liquid and I had no milk with me, they took it. The agent asked her supervisor, who at first said I could take it through, but when she learned my bottles were empty, she said I could not. I was so stressed out and upset that I started sobbing as I went through the scanner. I was crying uncontrollably as the agent patted me down, and as they handed me back my pump, and not a single person asked me if I was ok or even looked me in the eye.
Now I'm going to have to supplement with formula, and it's killing me. I'm trying to get my supply back up, but so far no luck. I am so upset.
First, my 6am flight got cancelled and I was stuck in the airport for 12 hours. It's SO hard to find somewhere to pump in airports- at the first airport, they made me pump out in the open at one of the business area work stations...there was nowhere I could go that had both privacy and an electrical outlet. Luckily, I found a spot that was pretty out of the way, so there weren't TOO many people around, but it was still humiliating.
At the second airport (Atlanta), there was literally nowhere to pump. I asked at the information desk as well as the airline help desk, and they all told me to use one of the family bathrooms (although neither of them could tell me where to find one...I had to take the plane train back and forth and trek up and down 3 different concourses before I found one).
However, when I finally found it, there was no electrical outlet and the door lock was broken. I had gone 9 hours without pumping by that time (I had been at a business conference that also had no private area before getting to the airport), and I had to sit on the toilet and use my manual pump to relieve the pressure. Thank goodness I had it, or I would have been unable to pump at all. I couldn't fully empty with the hand pump, unfortunately, and had to go another 5 hours after that before I got home. That last flight was the most uncomfortable experience of my life...not only was I engorged and in pain, but the seats were the smallest I've ever seen on a plane, and I was crammed in like a sardine.
On top of all that, TSA had confiscated my ice pack when I went through security, so I couldn't even bring any of my milk home. They told me that if the ice pack had still been frozen (it had thawed after 12 hours stuck in the airport), OR if I had full bottles of milk with me (I had dumped my first bottles because even with the ice pack, it wouldn't make it the 36 hours before I got home), they would have let it through...but because it was liquid and I had no milk with me, they took it. The agent asked her supervisor, who at first said I could take it through, but when she learned my bottles were empty, she said I could not. I was so stressed out and upset that I started sobbing as I went through the scanner. I was crying uncontrollably as the agent patted me down, and as they handed me back my pump, and not a single person asked me if I was ok or even looked me in the eye.
Now I'm going to have to supplement with formula, and it's killing me. I'm trying to get my supply back up, but so far no luck. I am so upset.
