I went back to work six weeks after having Lily. My job doesn’t currently offer any kind of maternity leave (like many places in America), luckily I have a pretty great boss that helped me out a ton. Although I wish I could’ve spent more time with my little LilyPad I have bills to pay and now a little baby girl to care for. The thought of going back to work and leaving my little girl by herself at only a month old really tore my heart out. There is no dwelling on being gone from her though, I focus more on what our long term goals are like getting her a home with a backyard to play in, paying off my car and credit cards so I can stay home with her in the future. I might have to work now, but it’s not a forever thing, it’s for our own good and it’s going to be worth it. I’m lucky that my amazing mom gets to take care of her and that I was able to shorten my hours to be with her longer, and still be a full-time employee and get benefits.
I knew that I wanted to continue breast feeding LilyPad even while at work. In order to do this, I had to start pumping! I did go through a couple difficulties with milk production, finding the time to breastfeed and storage, but I did it! To help you from this, I made a list of serious must haves starting with:
Electric + Battery Pump
Products are hyperlinked if you’d like to purchase any of them. 😉 Also, I am not getting paid to promote any of these items, they just really worked for me!
My amazing sister gifted me the best pump ever! The Lansinoh Smartpump Double Electric Breast Pump. Long name right? Totally RECOMMEND. This pump includes everything you’ll need and even some that you wont. It’s a double pump, so you can pump both boobies at the same time which saves soooo much time! It also takes batteries which has saved my butt so many times. The battery operated part of it allows me to pump in my car on my drive to work! One of the things I really didn’t use much was the bottles. I also haven’t delved much into the Bluetooth feature of it, but it’s nice to know I have it handy if I ever need it.
Nursing Cover
In order to not lose work hours, I pump on my hour long lunchbreak. For a while I liked to pump in the comfort of my car. My non-tinted window car made it a really awkward experience especially when I would pump on my drive to work. I never knew if someone was looking in and I’d try my best to hide it under my shirt. The nursing cover changed everything! I can pump without feeling awkward or worrying about anyone looking in because now it just looks like I’m a baker lmao (if you know, you know) I got mine at Walmart.
Hands-Free Nursing Bra
Yes. This magical thing exists and makes life so much easier whether it’s at home, pumping in your car or on your lunch break from work. I can eat while pumping, do homework, scroll through social media, even feed LilyPad one boob while I pump the other. It’s extremely helpful and if you’re a busy bee do yourself a favor and get at least one! I got my first one off of Amazon and another from Walmart. They both work pretty much the same, but the one from Amazon is tighter and I trust it more to not spill milk if I do a quick movement for any reason. If you’re going for cheaper and reliable, Walmart will do just fine.
Lactation Cookies
An excuse to eat delicious cookies guilt free is here. Lily is my little hungry hippo and when I’m not with her to feed her, I like for her to still drink breastmilk. In case you didn’t know, the less baby is attached to you and the less you pump, the less milk you will make because your body thinks it doesn’t need to be supplying as much. I unfortunately can only pump two times when I’m at work, so my boobs think I only need a little bit, BUT I need enough for her to have when I’m not with her. I need it even more now that I’m going to school, so I am relying a lot on these delicious lactation cookies that truly take about a day to kick in. I eat a bag of them when I know I’m going to need it the next day. You don’t need to stock up on these, but it’s definitely useful to have them handy. My favorite are the Oatmeal Raisin! I’m actually eating a bag right now hehe Oh! I get mine at Walmart 🙂
Storage Baggies
One amazing thing about the Lansinoh pump I got is that it came with so many essentials, including an ice pack to keep my milk frozen! Although the bottles are cute and small, I didn’t find them to be the best in storing my milk. (Saying my milk is so weird lmao) Instead I opted for their storage bags that I also get at Walmart 🙂
So there you have it! My list of must haves. These are essential to my everyday life and I more than 100% recommend you have these handy for when you go back to work. It’s definitely going to be extra baggage, so make sure to keep them all close together before leaving the house because painful boobies at work is a huge no go and you can even get an infection in your breasticles. I hope this helped you out as much as this would’ve helped me. Welcome to the mommy world, enjoy every poopy diaper and toothless smile, they are everything. <3
