working mama
I knew from the very start that I would be returning to work and that I would need to make sure pumping was a priority, no matter what. I purchased a second bottle of pumping spray that I could keep at my office, extra cotton rounds and breastmilk storage bags, a cold bag for the fridge, and a bag to tote everything back and forth in.
To help make the process a little easier, my husband surprised me with a second breast pump! I was ready to unplug and replug my pump in every day, but his thoughtful gift allowed me to keep everything plugged in with my preferred pump settings intact. I am so fortunate that he wanted to make my transition back to work a little easier than it would have been otherwise!
I am also very fortunate that my boss wanted me to make sure that pumping was a priority at work. At her suggestion, I purchased an inexpensive, temporary peel-and-stick window shade for my office door that I could drop whenever it was time to pump. I also created a “pumping schedule” for my door to let everyone know when I would be pumping during the day.
With this high level of support, I was able to keep my milk production fairly normal—I did notice a slight drop in volume, which I expected from being away from our daughter during work hours—and bring home a full bag of milk for our girl.
the suck stops here…
At around five months, our daughter started refusing the boob. We were hoping that it was just a phase and that she would come around, but after two full weeks of trying to work with her to get her latching again, we decided to admit defeat. It was disheartening, but we wanted to follow her lead—if she was ready to wean from the breast and turn me into an exclusive pumping (EP) mama, then bottles were the way we were going to move forward.
Are you pumping occassionally or exclusively pumping? When is the last time you replaced your duckbill valves, mama?
Depending on how frequently you pump, you should be throwing out your old valves and using new ones every one to three months. For me, pumping six times a day, I am replacing our valves every two months. After I had exhausted the duckbill valves that insurance provided us, I started using Legendairy Milk's valves instead, and—actually—I prefer them because of the pull tabs (not affiliated nor sponsored, just a huge fan)!