Instead of pictures of me pumping, I'm inserting pictures of Sadie. Even though pumping is a hassle, she's worth it (oh and the weight loss benefit is nice too!)
It's not unusual for women to go to exclusively pumping when they return to work. Right now I pump about 5 times a day and typically only nurse 1 time a day. Each session is at least 20 minutes, and when you tack on 5 minutes of prep and clean up, we're looking at about 150 minutes, 2 and a half hours a day dedicated to pumping, really I think it's more like 3 hours!
This time around I have a much better pumping situation with work which makes all of the difference in the world. It's not at all stressful for me to find time in the day to pump, or a private room that locks where I can pump. For this I am incredibly grateful. When I was pumping for Hudson, I was regulated to the strict classroom schedule and short blocks of time, oh and I was in a tiny closet that shared a door with a teacher bathroom, delightful.
That feels so long ago, thankfully. I say it's not stressful, but it does take some careful planning. Since I go on home-visits throughout the day, I need to make sure I leave enough time between appointments for travel and pumping. This was working out great until one fine day, I totally lost track of time and panicked. I had two appointments back to back, needed to leave RIGHT THEN and had not pumped. If I didn't pump it would be about 6 hours between pumpings, which is fine at night, but terribly uncomfortable during the day. There was no way around it, I needed to pump while driving to the appointment. Oh and I also needed to eat my lunch at the same time!
Fortunately I had the car adapter to power the pump, but I did not have my nursing cover, it's amazing what you stop caring about when desperate! I hooked up in my parking lot, and set off, really it was not bad at all! I drove more carefully because I didn't want to get in an accident or get pulled over! My route was mostly highway so I didn't need to worry about truck drivers peering down. That was about a month ago and now I pump while driving almost every day. You know I'm all about being efficient and it is crazy efficient! If I need to be sitting in the car for hours a day, and I need to be sitting pumping for hours a day, why not do them simultaneously?! I am thoughtful about which houses I will set up and clean up in front of. Sometimes families leave the door open for me, or are looking out the window, and that would be terribly awkward. If it's convenient, I'll stop at a large parking lot and stick to the back of the lot or I pull over in a neighborhood and park beside a house when possible to set up or clean up.
If you're in the market to embark on this kind of adventure, here's what I recommend you have:
It's not unusual for women to go to exclusively pumping when they return to work. Right now I pump about 5 times a day and typically only nurse 1 time a day. Each session is at least 20 minutes, and when you tack on 5 minutes of prep and clean up, we're looking at about 150 minutes, 2 and a half hours a day dedicated to pumping, really I think it's more like 3 hours!
This time around I have a much better pumping situation with work which makes all of the difference in the world. It's not at all stressful for me to find time in the day to pump, or a private room that locks where I can pump. For this I am incredibly grateful. When I was pumping for Hudson, I was regulated to the strict classroom schedule and short blocks of time, oh and I was in a tiny closet that shared a door with a teacher bathroom, delightful.
That feels so long ago, thankfully. I say it's not stressful, but it does take some careful planning. Since I go on home-visits throughout the day, I need to make sure I leave enough time between appointments for travel and pumping. This was working out great until one fine day, I totally lost track of time and panicked. I had two appointments back to back, needed to leave RIGHT THEN and had not pumped. If I didn't pump it would be about 6 hours between pumpings, which is fine at night, but terribly uncomfortable during the day. There was no way around it, I needed to pump while driving to the appointment. Oh and I also needed to eat my lunch at the same time!
Fortunately I had the car adapter to power the pump, but I did not have my nursing cover, it's amazing what you stop caring about when desperate! I hooked up in my parking lot, and set off, really it was not bad at all! I drove more carefully because I didn't want to get in an accident or get pulled over! My route was mostly highway so I didn't need to worry about truck drivers peering down. That was about a month ago and now I pump while driving almost every day. You know I'm all about being efficient and it is crazy efficient! If I need to be sitting in the car for hours a day, and I need to be sitting pumping for hours a day, why not do them simultaneously?! I am thoughtful about which houses I will set up and clean up in front of. Sometimes families leave the door open for me, or are looking out the window, and that would be terribly awkward. If it's convenient, I'll stop at a large parking lot and stick to the back of the lot or I pull over in a neighborhood and park beside a house when possible to set up or clean up.
If you're in the market to embark on this kind of adventure, here's what I recommend you have:
- I try to wear a button-down shirt when I know I'll be pumping while driving. It makes looking down and checking things much easier. Although now that we're in less bulky spring and summer clothes, this is hardly relevant.
- Car adapter for your pump (There's nothing worse than needing to pump and your battery pack is fading!)
- Nursing cover to hide them.
- Hand Free bra--obviously, this one is essential.
- Cooler pack to store the liquid gold.
That's it beyond the normal stuff that you need to pump anyway; pump parts, bottles, caps, etc.
How do you make pumping more convenient? Any tricks or supplies that help?
How do you make pumping more convenient? Any tricks or supplies that help?
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