The Drive-Thru Breast Pump Incident

So I went through a drive-thru today with my breast pump on. I try not to do that too often, but sometimes the timing just works out that I have to be pumping right then and I also need food. It happens.

To be clear, I was not sitting there with everything out in the open. I had my T-shirt over everything. My nursing bra was on, the pump parts were attached, and the tubes were tucked under my shirt. From the outside it probably looked like I had two small, slightly lumpy robots hiding underneath my clothes, but still covered.

The first window was a woman, and I thought, perfect, this will be easy. I handed her my card and moved along.

Then I got to the second window where a very young man handed me my food. He was probably 23 or 24. Probably has no kids. Probably has never in his life seen someone wearing a breast pump. And even though there was nothing to see except a T-shirt, my chest definitely looked… altered. Breast pumps do that. They suction. They reshape. They make everything look slightly alien.

And this poor guy was trying so hard not to look. He kept sneaking these tiny glances and then instantly looking away. At one point he made a confused little face, the kind you see for a fraction of a second before someone recovers, but I caught it because I was watching him. I wanted to laugh right there in the window.

Because I can only imagine what he was thinking. Probably something like, “What is this lady doing to her chest? Is she inflating them? Deflating them? Are those… gadgets? Is this medical? Cosmetic? Mechanical?” Who knows.

Meanwhile I am just sitting there producing milk for my baby. Making myself slightly smaller and squishier, not bigger. Nothing glamorous about it.

After I drove away, I pulled into a parking spot to take the pump off, and I finally let myself laugh. I was covered the whole time, but that poor man had no clue what he was witnessing. All he knew for sure was that something under my shirt did not look the way he expected breasts to look, and he had no idea how to process it.

Honestly, it made my whole day.

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Mama, I know how easy it is to get lost in the swirl of kids, work, and life. That’s why I love creating space for moms to pause, breathe, and be reminded of their beauty. At Kristian Hutchings Portraits, you’ll be cared for from start to finish, and you’ll leave with images that show you the grace and strength your family already sees every day.

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Kristian is a mom of six, Program Manager by day, active Professional Photographer by trade, and a big believer in finding beauty in the everyday chaos.

Life in our house is loud, messy and full of literally everything. Love, noise, laundry, laughter, and definitely could use a bit more grace. I'm happily married to my best friend, grounded in my Catholic faith, and fueled by five to six hours of sleep per night and adrenaline.

I try to find joy in the everyday — even when it's wild, because without the little bit of joy, this life would be unbearable. This space is for the moms in the middle of it all: the ones juggling family, faith, work, and wonder. The ones that need someone else's messy life to make their own seem better or somewhat normal. You're not alone, and you're doing better than you think.

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