a day in the life of a pumper

Some of you might wonder how long I plan to breastfeed Trent, but you might not want to ask. Some of you probably had no idea I am breastfeeding at all. Others might wonder how working full time and breastfeeding is possible. If you're curious, keep reading. If you really don't care, skip this entry :-)

On breast pumps: Let me start by saying that most working moms require a breast pump if they want to continue breastfeeding. There are many different manufacturers, styles, etc. Most full-time working moms need an electric pump. A manual pump requires more of your time, so its good for SAHM (stay at home moms) and maybe part-timers. Electric pumps are not cheap! This is the breast pump I own. I was able to combine 3 coupons and get the pump for 40% off!!!! What a steal. Anyways, that's what I lug back and forth to work everyday. More on pumping at work later.

On Pumping in general & freezer stashes: When I was on maternity leave I would pump (breast milk) randomly. I'd usually do it before we went out so that I would have a bottle for Trent if he got hungry. Other times I would do it to build a freezer stash. A freezer stash is not something every breastfeeding mother needs, but it comes in handy from time to time. Alot of women build a freezer stash so that they can leave the baby with a sitter for a few hours and not have to rush home to breastfeed. If you have to go on a medication that makes it unsafe to breastfeed, you can dip into your freezer stash and use that milk. Some women have a high milk supply and have to pump just so they are comfortable and pain-free. Rather than dump the milk down the drain, they freeze it. It is also nice to mix thawed breast milk with rice cereal when the time comes. Sometimes I would pump during the day so that Kevin could give Trent a bottle of breast milk in the middle of the night when he woke up (Kevin was a gem!!! He would always let me sleep if I wanted to). Whatever milk I pumped usually got drank, but occasionally I would bag it and put in the freezer. "They" (again, who is they?) also say its good to have a freezer stash for when you return to work...but in reality all you need is 12oz to get through that first day (after that you pump at work and send that milk to daycare the next day).

Towards the end of my maternity leave I hardly pumped at all - I just didn't need to and I didn't want to. At this point I had maybe 50 ounces of frozen breast milk in the freezer. Since I wasn't pumping, if Trent got hungry while we were out and I wasn't comfortable breastfeeding, we'd give him formula. Or if he woke in the middle of the night and I wanted to sleep, Kevin would give him formula. We've never been anti-formula at all (and I hope I'm not coming across as some kind of anti-formula-nipple-nazi). It's much easier to make a quick bottle of formula than to thaw some frozen breast milk under hot water - especially in the middle of the night while holding a screaming baby.

On pumping at work: I pump 3 times a day at work. I pump for 10 minutes during my breaks at 10am & 3pm, and I pump for 20-ish minutes at noon during my lunch break. I thought I'd hate pumping at work and dread it everyday, but it really doesn't bother me much. Sometimes its like a game to see if I can pump more today than I did yesterday. And you have no idea how excited I get what I break my own records (easily amused!). Of course I have those days when I just don't feel like pumping at all, so maybe Ill skip a pump - and that's ok (as mentioned in a in a previous post). At 10:00 I take the pump to my "pump room", connect the bottles to the pump stuff, pump for 10 minutes, clean the pump parts, then put the milk in a cooler and put it in our company fridge. At 12 and 3 I have to get the cooler from the fridge and start the whole process again. After my 3:00 pump I don't bother cleaning the pump parts; I just throw them in a plastic bag and wash them when I get home. I have a few different options when it comes to cleaning my pump parts at work:

- I could wash everything in the lunch room sink with warm soapy water after each pump session (too time consuming and could be embarrassing)
- I could buy 2 more sets of pump parts and just wash all 3 sets at home at night (again, too time consuming)
- I could use special wipes designed for cleaning pump parts (this is what I currently do)
- I could buy a mini fridge and put my pump parts and milk in there after each pump session without having to wash anything during the day (mini fridges are expensive)

The last option would be ideal, as it would save time and money (those wipes aren't cheap), but I really don't want to buy a mini fridge just for breast milk. The wipes method works just fine.


On Storing Breast milk: Breast milk can be stored in a refrigerator for up to a week. Above I mentioned I could put my pump parts in refrigerator between pumping sessions without having to wash them - and that's why. The milk drops that would be left on my pump parts would still be fresh refrigerated milk, so it wouldn't matter if it got mixed in with milk from a few hours later. Am I making sense? I'm not sure how to explain it better.

Breast milk that is frozen in a standard freezer is good for 3-4 months.
I had frozen milk dated back to December - from when I was on maternity leave. Since that milk had to be used by March/April, when I returned to work I would thaw 4 or 8 ounces every night and send 1 or 2 bottles of thawed breast milk to daycare, along with 1 bottle of fresh breast milk. In the beginning, Trent was only eating 12 ounces of milk at daycare....but at work I was pumping double that. There were nights where Id be adding 16 or more ounces to my freezer stash. Not because I wanted to necessarily, but because I certainly wasn't going to pour it down the drain(!!!) so freezing it was my only other option. I ended up putting much more in than I was taking out, so my freezer stash began to grow quickly. By April Trent was eating more at daycare (18 oz) so things have really slowed down...now there are nights where I dont put any milk in the freezer at all. Last night, out of curiosity, I counted how much I have in the freezer. I have just over 238 ounces of frozen breast milk!! The kicker is that I have to use most of it by August at the very latest, or else its trash. One of my biggest fears right now is that we'll have a power outage and all that milk will get ruined!! Once its thawed it can not be refrozen.

To many women, 238 ounces is alot and they would kill for that much - but 238 is nothing compared to some other pumpers. I know mothers who have 500+ ounces in their freezer....I even read about a couple moms who have thousands!!

I should probably mention something else...Before you freeze breast milk you typically pour the milk into a bag that is designed for the freezing of breast milk. Each bag has a spot for you to write the date and the amount of milk in the bag. That's how I know when to use certain bags by - and that's what made it easy to add up all the ounces.

for more on breast milk storage click here

On Breastfeeding Trent: Initially, I planned to breastfeed for 6 months, making my stop-date mid-May. I had no reason for choosing 6 months, I just got that time frame in my head and stuck with it.

When I decide to stop, I won't do it cold-turkey - I'll want to wean. I will start by eliminating one pump session each week. After 3 weeks I will only be breastfeeding in the mornings and in the evenings....I'll eliminate one of those feedings and in place of the breast, Trent will get a bottle (of thawed breast milk until its gone, then formula). Eventually he will been weaned 100% from the breast.

Right now I really don't know when I will stop breastfeeding. I am open to the idea of going past 6 months, and I really cant think of any reason to stop at the 6 month mark, so who knows how long I'll go. The AAFP recommends breastfeeding well beyond a child's first birthday but I don't know that I will. I like the idea of possibly doing it until Trent turns 1, that way I can switch him right over to cows milk (hopefully in a sippy cup) and not have to worry about bottles much (if at all??). But who knows, I might decide before his first birthday that its time to quit...maybe he will bite me and scar me (psychologically and physically) for life. Maybe I will get sick of pumping at work and decide to quit. I don't want to set too high an expectation for myself. Right now I'm just hoping to make to the 6 month mark, then take it day by day. I currently enjoy the convenience of breastfeeding, as well as the bonding time & the health benefits it provides for Trent and myself, so I see no reason to stop right now.

The decision to breastfeed or not is one every mother has to make. There is no right or wrong answer. The decision to stop breastfeeding should be based on whats best for mother and baby. When will I stop? Stay tuned....I'll blog about it.



What am I looking forward to the most about NOT breastfeeding: wearing a normal bra again (with underwire). Not these wire-less things with cups that fold down in the front and offer very little support. Don't even get me started on the woman they chose to model this bra....she's obviously not a mother (haha).