Returning to Work

 By golly, I'm finally returning to work after having a baby. It's been 2 years. I started my maternity leave officially on Valentine's day of 2020 and our campus reopened on Valentine's day 2022. I got the coveted spot at the campus daycare and today was Albert's first day.

I've been on an incredible spending spree to get myself all the pumping supplies I would give my best friend if I had an unlimited budget AND the hindsight for what I would have wanted as a new mom.

Let's begin with the huge tub of random stuff my friend gave me. This pump was in there along with a myriad of ziploc bags. I was totally overwhelmed by it all. There are a few things that are supposed to be bought new for each new baby and those parts are shown below.

Accessory Kit

Legendary Milk Duckbill Valve Set of 6

It's overwhelming because it's fucking overwhelming. Because there are valves and flanges and bottles and caps and tube and backflow protectors and it's all new and then there's a crying newborn and you have all your hormones going crazy.

So after 2 years, I finally got that Spectra out and tried using it. I also tried this wonderful hack that some people just rave about, using a nursing clip down bra as a pumping bra and it was no match for my hooters with these flanges that were digging into my skin. Very uncomfortable. Which led to a few more purchases.

Compatible with Pump In Style

Luckily, I found this on my local Facebook marketplace so I didn't have to buy it new. I didn't really think it through though because with the Spectra, the flanges didn't really fit through the holes provided in this pumping bra. Luckily, I had wanted to try Pumpin Pals flanges anyway and they were softer and wouldn't dig into my skin as much. Comfort = everything!

The basic package of flanges in Target is 24mm but the flanges that I have for my Medela -- that I actually like -- are 21mm. So I am hoping this set in size small will work for me. XS (15-18mm), Small, 18-23mm, Medium (24-27mm), Large (27-30mm) and XL (30-40mm). Only XS and S are in the silicone (flexible) material and the larger sizes are made of hard plastic.

And that brings me back to the pumping bag. I had been seeing bags from Sarah Wells that were really cute and functional for carrying pumping supplies back and forth and around wherever you need to go. I thought it would be a really nice treat to have a pretty bag for this new pump. After testing out the lactation space at my work, I realized that a coordinating Pumparoo bag is actually a must. It has a detachable waterproof mat that you can put down on a surface and a wetbag to transport your used pumping supplies. I am currently using a clear plastic ziploc bag with my Medela Pump In Style, which works okay, but this one is much prettier and matches the bag I got for my pump.

Here's the pumping bag, worn as a backpack with some of the stuff in it. It has a side pocket that you can use for a water bottle, cause you know breastfeeding mamas are thirsty as hell. So once you've pumped out the breastmilk, how do you safely store it and transport it back home to your little nugget? Enter Ceres Chill.

The chiller comes with an adapter and a lid and an inner chamber. It does not come with the three lids pictured here or the flanges or the bottle-top. What you can do is fill the outer chamber with icewater and pump your breastmilk directly into the inner chamber. Then you pop the inner chamber into the outer chamber using the adapter and bam you can keep your milk cold for 15 hours if you put 6 oz water and 7 oz ice in the outer chamber. You can combine milk over a 24 hour period into the inner chamber. You can scald the milk if you have high lipase (like me) in the inner chamber. Heat the milk 3-5 minutes (if you have a second outer chamber filled with boiling water) until it reaches 180º F then plunge the inner chamber back into the cold chiller. So I guess I'll be buying a second (or third) outer chamber and also a hot pot to boil water in my office, as well as a thermometer.

They even make a "Happily Ever After" set that has sippy cup tops for the inner chambers and a flip-top with infuser and straw for the outer chamber (chiller). It comes with a cute linen bag with the goddess logo. I remember when my son turned 1 and I bought a Wildbird double linen sling hoping it would facilitate our breastfeeding journey until age 2 and it definitely did. I can't tell you how many sling naps that kid has done while I've been working from home.

Here's what we were doing when Albert was a week old:

http://bitchonabike.blogspot.com/2020/03/postpartum-part-1.html

This post was written when baby was 1 month old:

http://bitchonabike.blogspot.com/2020/04/300-easter-in-time-of-covid-19-with-1.html

This pumping blog I wrote when my baby was 2 months old:

http://bitchonabike.blogspot.com/2020/05/postpartum-part-6.html

http://bitchonabike.blogspot.com/2020/05/my-boobs-can-tell-time.html 

http://bitchonabike.blogspot.com/2020/05/postpartum-part-4.html

Here were my thoughts when Albert was 4 months old:

http://bitchonabike.blogspot.com/2020/07/breastfeeding-truths.html

This breastfeeding blog I wrote when Albert was 8 months old:

http://bitchonabike.blogspot.com/2020/11/what-i-didnt-know-about-breastfeeding.html 

Here's a cost comparison of how much $ we saved by breastfeeding and what things we bought that we actually used versus what we listed on our registry that we didn't actually need:

http://bitchonabike.blogspot.com/2020/04/postpartum-part-3.html 

http://bitchonabike.blogspot.com/2021/06/home-economics.html