To Pump or Not to Pump

I start back to work on January 15th and I'm a little concerned about needing to express milk during the work day. I was thinking that I would start weaning her to avoid the hassle at work. I'm not excited to go back to work full time and it might be less difficult if I don't have to worry about pumping. The bank is currently under construction and I'm not sure there's a peaceful place to do it. Also, I was told that if pumping took longer than 15 minutes (a 15 minute break the bank is NOT required to give me at all), I would have personal time deducted to account over any overages. Anyone who has done this before knows that it takes longer than 15 minutes to set up, let down, express, store, and clean up. I do not fear bending the rules, but one must know the rules to do that effectively. What I do fear is the anxiety it might cause me should there be issues. Anxiety and breastfeeding do not go together.

Out of curiosity while writing this post I just now researched the statutes put forth by state legislators for government employees.

http://www.ncsl.org/issuesresearch/health/breastfeedinglaws/tabid/14389/default.aspx , the National Conference of State Legislatures website. It appears the legislature agrees with me. That web page has the statues for each state if you're curious.

Here are the statutes for Montana:
Mont. Code Ann. § 39-2-215 et seq. specifies that employers must not discriminate against breastfeeding mothers and must encourage and accommodate breastfeeding. Requires employers to provide daily unpaid break time for a mother to express breast milk for her infant child. Employers are also required to make a reasonable effort to provide a private location, other than a toilet stall, in close proximity to the work place for this activity.

On a humorous note...
On New Year's Eve we invited some friends over to celebrate. Ben and Meredith, Keith, who was in The Foreigner, and his girlfriend Kelly, and Peter, also in The Foreigner, came over for food and games. I was telling them about my woes and how I was thinking it was time to wean her. My exact words were, "I need to wean her," but in southern speak it sounded like, "I needa weiner." Robbie immediately offered a solution. I now say, "I may start weaning her." Hmmm...Or not. We will see how this develops.