"Pump up the volume, pump up the Jam!"
"Pump, pump, pump it up, P-U-M-P."
"I'm going to pump, you up."
These are all things I would say or signs I would hang in those early months of pumping at work. It's a little bit awkward to say "hey I'm going to go hook these things up to my breasts that attach to a motorized pump that will suck milk out into bottles." So instead I would deflect with humor.
I went back to work 8 weeks to the day after my son was born. It was a Friday, which I chose on purpose so that I would have one day back at work, then two days off, before starting my first full week back. I will tell you this, I was not ready to go back at 8 weeks. No, I'm not talking physically. Many women aren't physically ready to go back after their maternity leave, regardless of the length. I felt relatively normal, physically speaking, within a handful of days of the birth of my son.
I wasn't ready not to be near him. I wasn't ready to spend 10 hours away from him 5 days a week. Nearly 16 months later, this is still something I struggle with. But that's not what this post is about. This post is about the expression of milk via pump.
I pumped part time and latched/nursed the rest of the time. Our schedule in those early days of returning to work typically was 5 a.m. feed, get ready for work, 7 a.m. feed, 7:30 drop baby off 8:30 arrive at work, 9:30-9:50/10 a.m. pump. 11:30 pump, 1:30 pump, 3:30 pump, 5:35 nurse, 7:30 nurse, 10 p.m. 1 a.m. 3 a.m. You get the picture.
Rinse and repeat. Monday through Friday. Sometimes I would pump at 11 p.m or 5:30 a.m.
On the weekends those pumping sessions were replaced by latch feeds. Occasionally I would pump once or twice on the weekend as my little boobie monster allowed.
As I said in my last blog post, I had it in my head that in six months time I would pump enough excess milk to have another six month supply and I would be able to stop latch feeding my son at 6 months old. For more on how and why that didn't happen, check out that post.
Long story short I had to pump all the way to his first birthday. Plus a few weeks to slowly wean down pump sessions. What started as 4 sessions during work turned to 3 during work plus 1 on the drive home to 2 at work and one while driving, to one at work and one while driving. To one at work. To none at work. To none. I haven't pumped in 3.5 months. He's been weaned from the bottle for 3.5 months as well.
I selected my first pump by literally going with the only brand I had ever heard of. My first, insurance-provided, pump was the Medela Pump In Style Advanced. Commonly known as the Medela PISA. I not-so-lovingly referred to it as the PISA shit.
It's a fine pump. It's not awful...I guess. It was loud, bulky, not a closed system, moisture got into the tubes. But it did its job...for a while.
I struggled with pump output. I say pump output and not supply because my supply was adequate. I made enough to feed my baby but responded to the pump less well than if my baby had latched for those sessions. If I needed enough for four feeds I had to pump 5-6 times.
I was sick of not being able to take work calls while pumping (I typically preferred to work during my pump sessions for a variety of reasons). The sound of the PISA was not pleasant and I found that the tubing would come off the pump or I would lose suction.
Overall I was underwhelmed by my pump.
On all the breastfeeding support and mom groups on Facebook women raved about their haaka pumps and how they built a snazzy little stash in their freezer using just this silicone pump. They are worth the investment since they are very low cost…but they didn't do anything for me. Haaka style pumps are silicone "pumps" that use passive suction to catch the let down on your opposite breast while you nurse your baby. For moms who leak or have stronger let downs they catch milk that would have soaked your bra or nursing pads.
But I never leaked. I used a nursing pads exactly once because I just thought you needed to. That all women leaked. That I would have ounces going to waste.
Even when I forgot my pump parts and went 8 hours without relief, I never leaked. So the haaka would get .5 oz to an ounce sometimes for me, and I would use that to rub on ouchies (both baby's and mine) but I never collected enough for feeds. Still, it cost me maybe $20 for both silicone pumps and accessories so it was not a wasted investment.
Then I bought the Medela Harmony hand pump to have at work for days I forgot the parts I needed or if power was out, etc. I actually responded quite well to it, but you can only do one side at a time, you can't work while doing it and boy did my hands get tired. I broke this hand pump so I also bought a Lansinoh manual pump and I definitely plan to have a hand pump for the next baby because I found it mimicked my son's suckling quite accurately.
I also purchased the Baby Buddah pump. It's nice because it's small, chargeable, quiet(er) and powerful. I didn't notice an increase in pump output but my pumping time went down by a third and I could pump while driving or walking around the house, so it was worth the investment for me.
The point of this information is this: women who pump at work are badass (I'm not saying you aren't a badass if you don't pump at work). They are giving up time, and often pay, to provide nutrition at its best to their child. They are dealing with flanges that don't fit right, swelling, chaffing and discomfort (heads up, while common, this isn't normal and you should get sized by a professional). They smell like milk. All. The. Effing. Time. They have milk stains on their clothes. They have dried milk on their car seats and their steering wheel. Their desks. Their phones. They lug pump bags and purses and coolers and lunch boxes and diaper bags and bottle bags in and out of the car every freaking day.
This is a pro tip to all you employers out there: you want a pumping mama on your team because she does something that's challenging, and difficult, often without seeing the positive outcome daily, for the long haul. She doesn't give up on those long projects. She works hard. She's dedicated.
It might seem like an inconvenience that her door is closed a few times a day, or that her meetings are scheduled around what her breasts are telling her.
But women who pump have kids who are sick less frequently. Women who pump are also meeting their breastfeeding goals, so postpartum depression risks are decreased. A woman who pumps is also at a reduced risk for breast cancer.
Babies who are breastfed (this includes babies drinking expressed milk) enjoy health benefits for years, even decades, after breastfeeding ends, even if they weren't breastfed for a long period of time. The longer the baby breastfeeds, the more long term those benefits are. Meaning the future workforce will be one with lower healthcare costs and fewer sick days.
Pumping at work means not getting to eat lunch with friends or run errands on your break. At least it did for me. I wanted to give up probably once or twice a month for the entirety of that year-ish that I pumped at work. And if I'm being honest, I do not miss pumping.
But it was worth it in every single way. Andrew has never thrown up. He's spit up maybe six times in his life. Maybe we are lucky but I like to think his tummy was, and is, a happy one. He's had a few, short-lived colds. One ear infection and a couple low grade fevers. But on days he didn't want to eat and getting him to drink was a challenge, I knew he was getting fluids, calories and nutrients from his "mik" as he so loving calls it.
Pumping at work is HARD, but with the right support, knowledge and education you can do it. I promise.
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