So, our set up looks something like this:
1. Medela Advanced Personal Breastpump with On the Go Tote--I have no complaints about this pump. The bag is kind of large but with everything in there that I need, there's not much left over space.
2. Dr. Brown's 8 oz Bottles--We have 8 Dr. Brown's bottles that we send to daycare with Allison. Yes, there are a lot of parts but Allison eats from them with no problems. We had such a hard time getting her to eat from a bottle in the first place...maybe later down the road we'll try to transition her to a bottle with less pieces, but these work great for now.
3. Parmolive Baby Dish Wash--I like this soap MUCH better than the Medela brand bottle soap. There is no residue left in the bottles when we wash them and the price is a million times better. I got 3 very large bottles for the price of 1 small Medela bottle.
4. Insulated lunch bag--I use a very plain insulated lunch bag from Target to carry her bottles to daycare. If I know I'll be out longer with her bottles, I'll stick a freezer pack in it.
5. Bottle Brush--We keep a bottle brush stuck on our kitchen sink pretty much all the time. I like the ones that are able to stand up--either with a suction cup or holder like the one in the picture. If we have guests over, we stand it up in our baby cabinet.
I filled our freezer with milk while I was on maternity leave. At first, I was really confused about when to pump and there were a few times that I burned myself because I pumped both sides and then had an awake, hungry baby earlier than expected. Then, out of the blue, Allison began to sleep through the night. For a few weeks, I was able to pump every morning and get at least 6 ounces and still have plenty left over to feed Allison when she woke up. That's all well and good but now I have bags upon bags of 6 ounces in the freezer and I often only need 2 or 3 ounces to supplement what I was able to pump at work. I'm kicking myself for not splitting it up now.
I pump 3 times every day at work--9:30 am, 12:30 pm, and 3:30 pm for 10-30 minutes. I can get anywhere between 2-6 ounces each time. I'm currently only pumping one side at a time--that may change when she gets a little older. I'm lucky enough to have a private office that I am able to pump in at work. Before I get started, I make sure I have water and don't have to pee. I bring an extra sandwich bag for my pump parts so I can keep them refrigerated in between pumping sessions.
Every night, Carson washes all of Allison's bottles and my pump parts. We use a giant pot but if we had a sink stopper, we would use that instead. We also have a very simple bottle rack that I picked up at Target for $6. If for whatever reason bottles don't get washed at night, I have a few Medela sterilizer bags and I just toss everything in the microwave before I leave for work.
There have been a few times that I became pretty concerned with my supply and I did some research and decided that I HAD to have lactation cookies to boost my production. The only ingredient that I was missing in my cabinets was brewer's yeast. When Carson couldn't find brewer's yeast in the store, I turned to plan B--drinking beer. Maybe it was the placebo effect or maybe it actually worked, but I do notice a slight different in my supply when I have a beer a few nights in a row.
If you asked me for my advise, I would say:
-Take advantage of your baby sleeping longer increments to build up your freezer stash
-Freeze your milk in 2 ounce increments always
-Don't waste money on the hands-free pumping bra
-Set a reminder on your phone or computer to pump
-Sit up straight
-Ask for help
I was never able to find much online about pumping at work so hopefully this helps at least a few people!
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