The day We Won the Ameda Elite

My husband always say "What Tyna wants, Tyna gets."  Not being a brat but I know when I set my eyes on something, I move heaven and earth to make sure I get it.  It can be negative at times but most of the time, it works to my advantage. 


Right when I found out what the prize in Babymama's and Chronicles of a Nursing mom's online contest, I knew I want to be a part of it.  No, I want to win it.  


My passion for breastfeeding started when I breastfed my son.  I had such a challenging yet very rewarding experience that I hope moms would get to experience.  What I learned is that any woman can be successful with breastfeeding if armed with the right support.  And I am not just talking about support from your family and friends. You should have the same amount of support from the medical professionals and from your employers. I guess you can say I am one of the lucky ones.


We have a private, well-lighted and well ventilated room where I can express my milk at work while some of the people I know had to use the comfort rooms or conference rooms


We have a refrigerator that is exclusive for breastmilk storage while a friend I know had to bring several ice packs and a cooler to work. 


I have a Senior Manager who understands my needs and lets me skip a few meetings because I need to use the nursing room.  (Thanks Lyndon!)


And for this I want to give back.  I am winning the Ameda Elite. 

Like Brigade at work

My email to our HR department took 5 minutes to compose and I was delighted when our HR AVP found this as exciting as I do.  In the next couple of days a lot of emails were thrown back and forth, everyone suggesting which photo to submit and if the write up was enough.  I was overwhelmed with the kind of support I received from the company that I have been working with for the past 7 years.  And when the entry was finally submitted, the communications team posted notifications of the entry on the pantry PCs. 


The last day of the contest was when I witnessed everyone working together to get the votes.  I had my team on their laptops, me giving the update and everyone checking who's online and convincing everyone to vote for our entry.  I am not a big fan of Facebook contests where they identify the winner by the number of "likes".  Why do I want to do this again? 


Because I believe in breastfeeding
Because I believe that you can go back to work and still provide breastmilk to your baby
Because I want to reach out to other mothers who are breastfeeding or pregnant moms who have plans of breastfeeding their babies. 
And my selfish reason -- Oh yeah. I will get to use a double electric pump and not spend money!!


It all paid off....


WE WON!!!