Nice Backpack

I've recently received compliments on my cute backpack. Little did they know that inside my bag is a breast pump and everything I need to remove milk from my body without my baby latching on.

@hamerk02 Pumping Essentials @sarahwellsbags @cereschillofficial @ctorganics @gothinkco #pumpingmom #workingmom #breastfeedingmom ♬ original sound - Kayla A. Kaiser

I've recorded a tour of the bag I got complimented on (above). It's a "Marie" bag from Sarah Wells. It's taken me 3 weeks to assemble everything I actually like using and remove everything that I don't like using. The bag I use more frequently (below) was given to me by my good friend. She included a TON of different size flanges, which was so helpful. It seems like only through trial-and-error is it possible to find the most comfortable pumping setup. I am passing on all the ones that didn't work for me. My sister already had a Medela pump and a Spectra pump, but I don't think she has a pumping bag.

@hamerk02 Pumping Pro Tips @medela_official @pumpin.vn @legendairy_milk @ctorganics #motnpump #workingmom #pumpingmom #breastfeedingmom ♬ original sound - Kayla A. Kaiser

I actually scored an "Annie" bag from Sarah Wells on the recent LA Kids Consignment and it had two PumpEase bras in it. I'm so excited to share it with my sister. It should be arriving today.

Sarah Wells is a brand that I found out about on social media. For exclusive pumping moms, it seems like the ONLY brand that is recommended. Of course, yes, you could just use a regular bag but then this one is designed to suit the needs of a pumping mom. I thought it might be damaging for the pump to be transporting it back-and-forth. So much I worried about it, that I never even got the pump out to use it ever until returning to work recently. It was just so intimidating!

I feel like these cushy side pockets will protect the pump so it won't be damaged. I love the sleeves for photos. I love the realness of these pictures too how this mama just took a photo of the bag on her messy desk. Clearly a woman who works!

I love how there are moms out there looking for products that don't exist and then inventing them like Sarah Wells and Lisa Myers, the inventor of Ceres Chill. Anything that eases the stress of returning to work while balancing the desire to continue feeding your child is so valuable.

I love how the bag has different zippered pockets and the whole thing closes. There's a shoulder strap. Of course, for me, I prefer a backpack style. I was super tempted to keep this bag but seriously I bought it for my sister. I would think that after you no longer need a pumping bag, you could take a bag like this to the zoo or a museum. The insulated pockets would work well for bringing your own food. Recently, we went to the Discovery Cube Los Angeles and even though they have a cafe, it's not open. So you do need to bring your own food if you plan to stay longer than 2 hours.

I'm tagging this post sustainability because I want to say how feeding my son pumped breastmilk prevents having to tax the supply chain of dairy cows. It cuts the transportation cost of cow's milk. It's local. It's customized for my son's needs nutritionally. I'm taking a lot of criticism from people around me right now for continuing to feed my kid breastmilk as he approaches his 2nd birthday.

I'm also tagging it sustainability because I snagged two Ceres Chillers used AND I snagged both Sarah Wells bags used. Thereby closing the loop and reusing things that would maybe have ended up in a landfill. Do I love going every 3 hours to pump? No. Do I love coming back to my office and scalding the milk and washing and sterilizing the pump parts? No. Do I love seeing my son not drink the pumped milk I bring home for him? No. But I am committed to continuing to breastfeed until he is 2 years of age. And I'm hoping to make it through the summer (not teaching).

Week 3 of that Pumping Life

 I have learned a few lessons so far...

(1) If you have to poop and you have to pump, poop first. It's very uncomfortable to pump when you need to poop. Locate the nearest restrooms to your lactation space. Not only is it good for handwashing, but it may be vital in an emergency poop situation.

(2) It's nice to pack your pumping bag with something just for you, like a sweet treat. I picked up a mother lode of energy bars at Aldi. Yes, I spent a bunch of cash, but also I have a little reward for myself for keeping up with my pumping schedule.

(3) There's only so much crap you can fit in your pumping bag. It's good to pare down as much as possible. I've weeded out most of what I don't need. But what is also VERY NICE to have is something to drink. I've been obsessed with peach tea. It's lightly sweet, slightly flavored, herbal and warm.

@hamerk02 Scald High Lipase Milk at Work with @cereschillofficial #workingmom #cereschill #mothersinscience ♬ original sound - Kayla A. Kaiser

I tried lots of experiments with my breastmilk, but what seems to help the most is scalding it. I tried scalding in a double boiler at home on my kitchen stove but it was a pain in the butt and didn't work. Researching Ceres Chill, I found that you can use them to scald as well as store and transport and pump your milk. This has been an absolute game-changer.  

@hamerk02 Minimalist pumping setup with @cereschillofficial and @medela_official #medelapump #breastfeedingmom #workingmom #momsoftiktok ♬ original sound - Kayla A. Kaiser

I have amassed a collection of 3 Ceres Chillers. I bought the "Zero dark" black one in the middle first. It came with the holder (handle) which is actually green and sparkly. Then I found the other two on Facebook Marketplace. The limited edition Rose Gold and the Don't Call Me Hon Plum. The newer one is nice because it has a mark on the inside that is a max fill line. The other two don't have that. Also the newer one has a little plug in the connector, I'm guessing this is to break the vacuum in the event that it's sealed too tightly to get it open.

I bought an electric kettle which has made scalding a breeze. And the leftover water I use to make tea which I put in my thinksport insulated bottle so I have something warm and comforting do drink while doing my pumping. I'm very lucky to work in a science building with easy access to ice and thermometers. I fill my outer chamber with ice and a splash of water on my way to the lactation space. I've learned to add the water first then the ice, otherwise the ice can form a chunk that prevents me from putting the inner chamber in correctly.

Here you can see an early iteration. I'm using the pumparoo bag to create a clean surface in the lactation space. The pumpin pals super shields small set came with Adapters for Spectra bottles. It also came with collar ring adapters for the silicone flanges (not pictured here). It turns out I don't like any of the pumpin pals flanges. No hate, they just don't feel comfortable to me.

Here is a later iteration I used with the spectra pump. What I've added is a bottle thread changer so that the adapters for spectra bottles can pump directly into the Ceres Chill. You can see that the medium super shields do not need the collar ring adapter. That is only necessary for the silicone flanges in size XS and S. This is great since my baby doesn't drink out of bottles.

What I do now is leave my other bra on and just pull the layers of shirt up to put on the pumping bra. It's faster than taking the other bra off. You can see here how the Sarah Wells "Marie" bag is on my left with the pump and photo of my cutie on display. The pumparoo bag is on my right. It's machine washable, but I think I am preferring to transport pump parts in a Medela steam bag. Then the bag is cleaned and sterilized when I get back to my office. 

The pumparoo I usually take home and wash with laundry on the weekend. But I imagine it gets pretty gross, or it would if I used it every day. What I do love about the pumparoo is the outer pocket, which is not waterproof but instead breathable. I put the tubing and backflow protectors in there. What I've learned is that you have to disassemble the 3-parts of the backflow protectors and let them air dry if condensation forms in there. Makes sense but totally an extra step I didn't know about until I noticed the moisture.

My tried and true Medela pump is actually my favorite. I feel like I get more milk. I replaced the medela valves and membranes with duckbills. Here you can see the yellow valves and white disc membranes. They're so tiny and a pain to wash because I'm always paranoid I'm going to lose them. The duckbills fit on there just the same and seem to provide ample suction.

The other thing I realized is my preference are the Medela PersonalFit Flex Breast Shields. They're so much more comfortable (for me) than all the other ones I tried. Good news is that I can use them with the Spectra pump no problem. They fit right into the Adapters for Spectra bottles that came with the pumpin pals supershields.

Another thing I've learned that I like is that when you pump directly into the Ceres Chill, you can't see how much milk you've pumped. That way I'm not judging myself for how much I do or don't get. I like pumping in the dark. I would add a battery-powered light to your pumping bag. The spectra pump has its own light, which is cute and very handy. I also like how the spectra pump has a timer. I try to pump for 15 minutes and then stop, regardless of how many let-downs I have had.

Item	Full Price	What I Paid
Electric water kettle	21	21
Lactation Consult	175	175
Pumparoo bag	30	30
Spectra tubing	8.75	8.75
Silver nursing cups	50	50
Sarah Wells "Marie" Bag	165	120
Pumping Pals Small Flange Set	50	50
Duckbills (set of 2)	12	12
Duckbills (set of 6) & Sticker pack	30	30
Backflow protectors	11	11
Medela Pumping Bra	30	8
Ceres Chill (Zero Dark)	70	70
Ceres Chill (Rose Gold)	70	50
Ceres Chill (Hon Plum)	70	55
Ceres Chill Happily Ever After	19	19
Sarah Wells "Annie" Bag w/ bras	231	20

What I like about my Medela Pump in style (PISA) backpack is the automatic transition from stimulation to expression phase after two minutes. It's a no brainer and has worked well for me so far. Maybe after more trial and error, I will like the Specta more because you can adjust more things. The Medela has a knob adjustment for speed/vacuum control but I think the spectra decoupled those two.

I may have gone a bit crazy and bought some things I didn't like, but in the process I accumulated many things that may be helpful to a mom-to-be (my sister). It takes a lot of energy and experience to gather the necessary items together. It's taken me several weeks of trial and error and just doing it to find my groove and get everything optimized. And now it's time to go pump!

Maybe in the future, I'll do a video of my pumping bags. Yes I have two... Because ya know, weekends, home vs work vs car and backups.

February 2022 thoughts

How will your lifestyle change once your Marchling has been fully vaccinated?

Right now we are unable to attend concerts indoors, due to the rules of the venue. I would like to try taking kiddo to orchestra, ballet or opera. I know it sounds ridiculous. But the campus performance space reserves 5 performances per year for children and right now they are restricted to age 5 or older. I saw a ballet with LO when he was in the womb in Feb 2020. So yeah I guess that's what I have to look forward to.

2/2 - The transition back to campus is underway. I cleaned my office and unboxed a new computer. Forgot a VGA cable so I didn't turn it on yet.

The computer on my desk had stopped communicating with Office 365 so I couldn't open any Word, ppt or xls files. And it was an instrument computer that I commandeered because my other one died mid-semester in Fall 2019 (when we were all pregnant). OMG so long ago, feels like a decade in pandemic years.

It's surreal to be back there after WFH for so long. All printers are out of toner. I had to throw out all food that expired 2020 or 2021. There is no ground coffee and no coffee filters. I put some student work in the "shred" bin which is completely full. I've been afraid to have them come and empty it because I was scared of having a stranger in my office during the pandemic. But I guess I had better put in the work order because I'm about to be seeing ~200 students per week, face-to-face in rooms where 6ft social distancing will be impossible.

We go from virtual to in-person during week 4 of the semester. So that's gonna be rough. Campus daycare offered us a spot, which I had wanted for so long. But now LO is kinda settled off-campus so I don't know what to do. We have to decide by Friday, 2/4.

I don't know whose brilliant idea it was to come back on Valentine's day, like "they're gonna love this." Thanks for listening to my stress ramble.

2/4 - Kiddo hasn't taken his shoes off for 4 days straight. I mean yes to change pants and socks but he wants them right back on. All night. All naps. Wierdo.

My dude is going through a phase with wooden puzzles. He has a linen bag for them and spent 45 minutes filling / dumping the bag over and over. I think he likes disappearing the pieces, hearing them drop in and clink, then scattering them and repeating the process.

2/5 - Lost sleep last night over our decision to pull LO out of his current daycare and switch to an on-campus daycare since DH and I both work on campus. I feel his baby days slipping away (haha maybe they're already gone. maybe they've been gone and I'm just holding on). I held him so tight while he slept. I laid awake and worried about doing 5 full days (40 hour week). Until now, we've only done 3 half days (12 hours).

It's so difficult because I've been super-stressed and trying to balance everything for 3 semesters of work-from-home with LO at home. I am at my breaking point and very behind on a project that I agreed to do this academic year. I'm only 25% done and I should be over 50% done. There is a tiny shred of my former self that NEEDS to have 40 hours of freedom to get my work done. But there is a huge part of my new identity as a mom that wants to spend all my time with LO and quit my job. He's so little. He shouldn't be going to "work" 40 hours per week. He needs his mom. Or am I just being dramatic?

I could definitely still keep him with me Mondays and Fridays and Wednesdays and only send him Tuesday/Thursday. Financially, we decided to switch him because comparing our old daycare ($390 / week) to this new one ($299/ week) we will save money comparing full-time at both places. We were easing LO into full time. He was just starting to get comfortable and we were planning to let him nap there starting this week. My heart is breaking and my body is saying this is a bad idea, but my rational mind and my work identity is saying we have to do this. Ugh.

By sharing with friends, I was reminded that it's not all-or-nothing. I am guilty of black-and-white thinking and tunnel vision. It's much better to envision our daycare as an adjustable wrench that can be dialed up or down.

2/7 - Dropped off paperwork for new daycare today so now we wait and continue as before until we hear otherwise. New daycare is going to draw up a contract and then I guess we'll get a start date. Change is hard.

I feel like pre-kiddo my life was "2 Fast 2 Furious" and my favorite quote was by Mario Andretti, "If everything seems under control, you're just not going fast enough." I had a 2-seater car and lived right by a freeway ramp. My commute was 40 miles each way and I would drive 80 mph. I worked from 7am to 10pm. Seriously I was so driven.

I still acknowledge that there are many things that are out of my control, but I feel like the fastest I want to go now is walking. I live 1 mile from work and LO's daycare is on the way. I have directed all my Type A energy into mom stuff and with kiddo potentially starting full-time daycare, it's a big identity shift.

Not to mention going back to work in person. Nobody has seen me except on Zoom (neck and head) for 2 years. So freaky. Mom bod on full display!

2/10 -  I'm obsessed with completing LO's baby book. Got it as a baby shower gift. Why? Kind of a blessing and a curse to feel the pressure to document every. single. milestone. The first year was the most intense. There was a page for every month. Now there's just one per year for birthdays.

We're kinda planning a Mickey Mouse Two-dles theme. Just 3 friends and LO's grandparents. Maybe aunt/uncle/cousins. I guess I should order a cake. It's gonna be outdoors, hopefully we have good weather. I'm kinda planning more gifts for the guests and not buying anything for LO.

I've met more cool moms through Buy Nothing on Facebook. It's fun meeting moms with kids just a bit younger (who we gift to) and just a bit older (who we get gifts from). Highly recommend!

A co-op sounds awesome! I always wonder if COVID has made finding daycare harder or easier. The one my kid attended for the past 3 months was never part-time pre-COVID but they were struggling to fill up so they loosened up their rules. It was the only way we could afford it (3-days/week). We couldn't afford their 5-day + early drop off fee.

I had my last WFH day today and it really feels like the end of an era. I was starting to feel the whole F#$% COVID sentiment leaving my body. Like things are actually returning to normal. I'm sure it's not the end of the pandemic, but we shall see whether a daycare situation pieced together may be more resilient and more functional than a rigid full-time setup?

We had our zoom meeting with LO's new campus daycare. He was on the waitlist since he was an embryo. We don't have a start date or drop-off schedule yet but it's affordable full-time care. And we got a spot! I feel like I won a lottery. I mean we did.

I got all excited that my friend from high school moved to my area. I thought we might be able to do kid swaps, but she lives 1 hour away so now we just do playdates every other week.

I totally get parent's frustration and disappointment with our daycare options. I think more people would be able to have kids if employers provided daycare like they provide health insurance. Or if there were public institutions that would care for littles from the moment our maternity leave ends.

On the flipside, I am torn between my desire to spend all my time with kiddo. That's what my body wants. But financially we need 2 incomes and I have been struggling so hard to WFH with LO here. My mental health is at a breaking point. We hope that we can work enough to keep ourselves engaged in our careers, stay current and make enough money. But also not run ourselves ragged trying to do all. the. things.

It's so hard to be productive with LO around. For example, I wrote a test in 3 hours yesterday while LO was in daycare. When I was trying to do it with kid around it literally took all weekend, like 16 hours because I was exhausted, and getting constantly interrupted.

2/11 - When life gets hard, I make rice Krispy treats. LO has acquired a taste for them. LO normally doesn't go for sweets but DH has a sweet tooth.

LO loves strawberry Jell-O which I started making in December when we were all sick. I am trying to be cool with this junk food.

We filled out an Ages & Stages Questionnaire (ASQ) for our move to the new daycare. Scored low on communication. Scored high in gross and fine motor, problem solving, and personal-social.

I'm always grateful for this group because I feel passively well-informed. I knew by hearing where all your Marchlings are at with language that we are behind, so I'm not surprised. It gives the daycare something that they can focus on helping us with.

So thank you all who share the daily stories and milestones. You helped me go into the meeting with LO's new teachers with a calm and open mind. I know my child's strengths and weaknesses and I don't feel like a failure as a parent. I've been doing the best I can for as long as I could and now I'm so grateful to have more help.

To get kiddo in the carseat when he's having a tantrum or just doesn't wanna, I use all my strength and thankfully our kiddo calms down when we turn the car on. I just remember it's temporary and necessary and do whatever it takes to get him strapped in. DH wanted to turn the carseat around but I'm not sure that would solve the problem.

2/12 - I think the most romantic thing my husband has said to me in awhile: I think LO needs more leisure wear. Haha I was considering getting kiddo some new stuff for his birthday but I love it when it's DH's idea. I hate being the only one managing the kid's inventory. I love it when DH gets involved. I try to keep tight purse strings as much as possible so when my husband gives me the green light to spend, it allows me to feel less guilty about shopping. And there is a consignment sale next weekend.

2/13 - My kid is obsessed with the front door now. He tries to go out multiple times per day. Thank goodness we have a deadbolt but I wish we had one of those screen doors to let the air flow on nice days. How does one childproof them though? So glad to hear your LO is okay. I've been taking LO out there in hopes that he will become familiar enough to find his way home if he ever gets out. Haha can you tell I was a dog-mom for two decades before having an actual human child?

2/17 - New daycare is working out well. It's our 2nd day today. Thanks to all those who encouraged us to make the switch. There was nothing wrong with the other one, but this one is affiliated with our employer and the other one was off-site. It just makes more sense to have kiddo closer if possible. And it's $400 per month cheaper.

We just had a stomach bug rip through our house. Puking Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday. Diarrhea Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday. I did so much laundry. By Monday he was eating and drinking lots of water and we sent him back to daycare on Wednesday. They're strict about "no symptoms for 24 hours." I totally get it.

2/27 - Skipped ny workout yesterday to stay home and organize. Shuffling things from home to work and vice versa. Making piles of stuff to give away. Today we will pick up our purchases from an online consignment sale. We gotta make room for the new items.

I had entered my babylist registry in a spreadsheet. It made it easier to share with my younger sister who is having a 2022 Marchling. I calculated the price we paid for things vs if we had bought at full price. We've saved $1500 on babywearing stuff, $1500 on bicycle stuff, $500 on toys and books, $300 on water stuff, $3000 on clothes and shoes, $700 on strollers, etc. All together, we've spent $8000 but we've saved $10,000. I love buying stuff used. Or getting it through Buy Nothing.

I'm not a big spender and I feel like we've bought so many things for LO to get through this pandemic. Since this kid is our "one and done," I want to try everything since I won't get another chance. So as a data nerd, it was fun to look at the numbers and see how much we have saved.

I filed this under self care because seeing how we have managed makes me feel proud of myself. It makes me feel like I am winning at adulting. It liberates me to buy more things that I want, like a silk ring sling to use at the beach this summer. And a "momper" which is a romper for mom.