My pumping scene

I have been on and off with this blog for the last few years and have amassed a lot of draft posts that never got finished. Most of these revolved on what we ate and my breastfeeding journey the past years.

I've decided to finish the breastfeeding posts. Hopefully, my experience helps a mom out there in her breastfeeding journey.

I had a full time corporate job throughout my breastfeeding days. I breastfed my son exclusively for 16 months. We had got sick on his 16th month and we were advised by the doctor to try to give him formula. He took several sips and decided he didn't care for it. We later gave him fresh milk and mixed fed since then.

I wanted to share my pumping area at my previous work. See, we didn't have a Nursing station at that office. We had a clinic that was 3 floors away and I had to get on an elevator to get there. That's time wasted. I did not want to pump at the restrooms so I decided to hijack one of the smaller coaching rooms and make it my very own pumping area. I was lucky that this was free for me to use.

To save time, I just left my pump on a chair in a corner wrapped in cloth. I also have my nursing cover handy since I can't get the shades to close fully. When it's time for me to pump (every 2 hours), I just unwrap my pump and attach new bottles for storage.

For working moms, if you can afford it, better to invest in a good double pump to save time. I got my Ameda Purely Yours from Babymama. It is a good mid range pump and lasted me my whole breastfeeding journey.

It would also be great to have a back up manual pump, in case of emergencies or if you didn't have access to electricity. You can actually put batteries on an APY but there are times when I cannot bring it with me because it was heavy and had this whole lot of attachments that go with it. Whereas, my manual Philips Avent pump plus storage bottle fit in one small convenient bag. This is what I used to pump in the car when I needed to.

My pumping paraphernalia included alcohol for sanitizing my area. I wipe down the table with alcohol every time I pump which takes about 5 seconds. In the beginning, I was pumping 4 times at work so I would bring 8 bottles with me. My sessions lessened as my baby got older and I produced less and less milk too.

By law, we only had 40 minutes additional nursing break, so I maximized my time by using alcohol on most everything instead of washing. I never washed any of my pumping attachments at the office. Everything was washed with soap at home. I only had a pair of flanges that I put in a plastic container. I then put this inside the ref at the pantry along with the milk I pump. I put my stuff in a paper bag so my office mates need not see my things with their food inside the ref.

I was afraid to do this trick I learned from Jenny of Chronicles of a Nursing Mom in the beginning, for fear that I might contaminate the milk. Tried it once and my baby was ok so I continued doing this. I would say that it made my pumping at work much easier and a lot faster. I did the same when I use my manual pump. I will just wipe the handle with alcohol once I am done and put it in my plastic container. I wipe it again before I start on my next session.

Washing each time will add about 10 minutes per session. Say you pump 3X at work, that's 30 minutes. 30 minutes of your time that can be spent with actual work so you can go home to your baby  much earlier.

My sessions could last from 15-20 minutes. I would normally set a timer to remind myself so I can manage my breaks better. If you can pump hands free, you can multi-task too with your emails. I never did work out hands free pumping (I made a DIY bra for this but it didn't work for me) but I did learn to hold up the flanges with one hand while I had my BB on the other. I would then be able to read and respond to emails while I was pumping so Yay for me! I use my nursing break and some of my lunch break to finish all my pumping sessions for the day.

In case you are curious what the picture below is about, I sit behind this door because it does not lock. Everyday, I put that Manila paper behind the blinders (I put it down before I leave) because I was afraid I can be seen from outside. There were times when people who don't know I was pumping would peep below instead of knock when they need something from me. I had my nursing cover but when it becomes too hot in the room, I take it off so I put that paper up for safety measures.

I was a pumping mama for about 19 months but continued to breastfeed at night and whenever I am with my son until he turned 30 months.

If there's a will, there's a way. Good luck on your own breastfeeding journey!