Pumping at Work
So I returned to work on November 8 so that meant my responsibility of feeding my child continued. You are supposed to pump at work as often as your child eats while you are separated. I looked at my schedule to see what would be possible. The best I could do is pump three times at school. I nurse him around 6:00am at the house and then take him to school. After breakfast duty, I pump at 7:45. During my lunch break, I pump at 11:00 and then after school is over at 2:30pm. I leave school around 3:30pm to get him from school. He has usually already eaten by the time I get there so I do not get to nurse him. I have had the opportunity once to take him upstairs to feed him myself.
I usually pump about 12 ounces at work which is enough for four 3 oz. bottles to feed him the following day. I prefer feeding him freshly pumped milk in case there are antibodies in the milk that need to fight off sickness. If I do not get 12 ounces at work, I have opportunities to pump at home that evening or take some out of the freezer that has been stored. I have recently really been able to build up milk storage for when Joe is home with him or shortages.
It is tough using all my "breaks" at school to pump milk because it makes me feel like I can never get caught up on my school tasks. It has gotten easier though. It is relaxing to just shut the door and pump. The teachers I work with know that I am pumping milk and they have told me not to worry if I am running late. Thankfully, I do not feel rushed which is good because my milk wouldn't 'let down' if I were. I usually watch videos and photographs of Lincoln on my iPhone.
The most stressful part was keeping all the pump parts and bottles clean and dry for the next use. I was spending so much time washing and drying that it would consume most of my breaks. We were at Allie's Attic in Beaufort, SC and I found Medela Quick Clean Micro-steam bags. They disinfect the parts in the microwave in 1.5 minutes! You can use each bag up to 20 times before it has to be discarded. Now after each expression, I steam clean the parts and place them in a drawer on a towel to air dry. Then they are clean (and dry) for the next use! What a great time-saving invention!
Breastfeeding in general is much easier. I enjoy it and it isn't as time consuming as I once thought it was. Plus, he is older so he doesn't feed as long or frequent. He only eats once throughout the night, somewhere between 1:00-3:00am usually. He sleeps about 10 hours total (8:00pm-6:00am) with that one feeding somewhere in between.
I usually pump about 12 ounces at work which is enough for four 3 oz. bottles to feed him the following day. I prefer feeding him freshly pumped milk in case there are antibodies in the milk that need to fight off sickness. If I do not get 12 ounces at work, I have opportunities to pump at home that evening or take some out of the freezer that has been stored. I have recently really been able to build up milk storage for when Joe is home with him or shortages.
It is tough using all my "breaks" at school to pump milk because it makes me feel like I can never get caught up on my school tasks. It has gotten easier though. It is relaxing to just shut the door and pump. The teachers I work with know that I am pumping milk and they have told me not to worry if I am running late. Thankfully, I do not feel rushed which is good because my milk wouldn't 'let down' if I were. I usually watch videos and photographs of Lincoln on my iPhone.
The most stressful part was keeping all the pump parts and bottles clean and dry for the next use. I was spending so much time washing and drying that it would consume most of my breaks. We were at Allie's Attic in Beaufort, SC and I found Medela Quick Clean Micro-steam bags. They disinfect the parts in the microwave in 1.5 minutes! You can use each bag up to 20 times before it has to be discarded. Now after each expression, I steam clean the parts and place them in a drawer on a towel to air dry. Then they are clean (and dry) for the next use! What a great time-saving invention!
Breastfeeding in general is much easier. I enjoy it and it isn't as time consuming as I once thought it was. Plus, he is older so he doesn't feed as long or frequent. He only eats once throughout the night, somewhere between 1:00-3:00am usually. He sleeps about 10 hours total (8:00pm-6:00am) with that one feeding somewhere in between.
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