Nursing, Pumping, Working Mom

The Black Bag has emerged.

For almost three years it hid inside an old diaper box, untouched and gladly forgotten. But at 3:30 a.m. a few nights ago, my husband went rummaging through our attic to find it. I needed it...so badly.

I have a love/hate relationship with this Bag. I have spent hours of my life alone with it. Secretly in a bathroom or behind locked doors in a basement.

At first glance, it looks like an oversized purse.

The Black Bag

But upon closer inspection, you'll find that it has a motor, a plug, long and thin clear tubes, and a pair of cone-like contraptions with bottles. What is this Black Bag?

My Medela Breast Pump.

Medela Breast Pump in Judah's nursery

I should have given it a name. Like Bessie or something, but then that's just ridiculous. This week I have been so thankful for it. As a mama with a newborn baby, one of the more painful post delivery experiences is the "milk coming in" and engorged breasts. (I'm just being real here.) If you're a new mom, just be prepared. It's this miraculous gift God gives us, but wowsers can it hurt at first! Don't worry, it lessens in time.

Right now, I'm only using the pump once a day...for relief and to begin to build up my Mommy's Milk supply for when I return to work in July. So far, one week old Baby Judah has not used a bottle, getting all of his nourishment directly from the source. Me!

Happy, healthy 1 week old Judah

But it was a much different story with our firstborn daughter Adria.

Mommy's Milk for Adria

She was born with spina bifida, L4-5 myelomeningocele, which required that she have major surgery at a day old to put her lower spinal cord back in place and close the opening on her back. This meant that she was separated from Mommy just a few hours after her birth and I did not see her again for more than 3 days (I still cry thinking about it...)

Adria at one day old after her spina bifida closure surgery

I had never breastfed, but I was determined to give it my best try even though I knew she likely would not be able to nurse from me for the first week of her life. And so my relationship with the Breast Pump began soon after she was delivered via C-section.

I was so paranoid that it wouldn't work. Some friends had shared difficult stories of how their babies struggled with "latching on" or their milk supply just couldn't keep up with baby's needs. And that was with "normal" healthy babies.

From the start, I began pumping every 3 hours. Religiously. Day and night. My body was confused. I had never labored and there was no baby around me to spur on the milk. For days I literally just got a few drops each time I pumped. So discouraging. But still, my mom or husband would transport those drops from my hospital to the children's hospital where Adria was in the NICU recovering from her surgery. And she would get a few drops of Mommy's liquid gold.

Daddy feeds baby Adria a small bottle with a few drips of Mommy's Milk.

Once I was sitting in the NICU loving on our newborn, my body got the hint and kicked into gear. Big time. Soon the supply flooded in, and I felt like I had two watermelons on my chest!

I was so excited when I could finally try to nurse Adria directly. I had to be so careful not to touch or hurt the wound on her back. It took effort, but she caught on and at just 3 months old she was a 16 pound baby!

Holding and feeding baby Adria for the first time.

Back to Work

With both of my daughters I returned to work full-time after about 9 weeks of maternity leave and continued to breast feed. I plan to do the same with Judah.

I nursed Adria for the first full year of her life and made it to about 9 months with Johanna. I am a firm believer in "breast is best" and the incredible health value of Mommy's milk for her babies. That said, I know it can be so difficult getting started and genuinely does not work for some mothers. I encourage women to try their best, but don't get discouraged or overly stressed out. If it doesn't work, that's okay. There are many healthy formula-fed babies out there!

And continuing to nurse when you go back to work is no joke.

I felt like the bag lady going into the office every day. My laptop bag, my purse, my lunch bag, my small cooler for the milk, and the Black Bag breast pump. Then twice a day, I would try to find 15-20 minutes to go into hiding and "express".

Some days, I would be in long appointments with clients and not have the chance to pump. Those days were awful. I'd be sitting there trying not to double over in pain as I was selling a new home. I mean really, what was I going to say?

"Would you excuse me, please? I need to go pump. My boobs are getting huge and killing me!" Yeah....

But I kept at it as best I could, bringing home fresh bottles of Mommy's milk everyday for Daddy to give our daughters. After a few months of pumping at work, my supply couldn't keep up and he would have to use formula to supplement.

The benefits of breast feeding ultimately outweighed the annoyance of pumping: promotes healthy babies with stronger immune systems, saves money on costly formula, and helps your body get back in shape with the 500 or so calories a day it burns.

But keep in mind, in order to keep milk supply strong, you've got to eat sizable healthy meals and drink lots of water. Just like when you were pregnant, your body is still sustaining another human life. How awesome is that!?

Pumping Advice

If you are new to this and in the market for a breast pump, I highly recommend Medela brand. If you're going to be using it daily, like I do, invest in a great one!

I use the Medela "Pump In Style Advanced", which I purchased about 7 years ago and am still successfully using with our third baby. You can get them at Babies R Us, Walgreens, Target and a few other places. It's about $250, but trust me on this, it's worth every penny.

Also, you need to know how long breast milk lasts in different settings. Here is a good, general guide from the CDC website:

Storage Duration of Fresh Human Milk for Use with Healthy Full Term Infants

Location	Temperature	Duration	Comments
Countertop, table	Room temperature (up to 77°F or 25°C)	6–8 hours	Containers should be covered and kept as cool as possible; covering the container with a cool towel may keep milk cooler.
Insulated cooler bag	5-39°F or -15-4°C	24 hours	Keep ice packs in contact with milk containers at all times, limit opening cooler bag.
Refrigerator	39°F or 4°C	5 days	Store milk in the back of the main body of the refrigerator.
Freezer			Store milk toward the back of the freezer, where temperature is most constant. Milk stored for longer durations in the ranges listed is safe, but some of the lipids in the milk undergo degradation resulting in lower quality.
Freezer compartment of a refrigerator	5°F or -15°C	2 weeks
Freezer compartment of refrigerator with separate doors	0°F or -18°C	3–6 months
Chest or upright deep freezer	-4°F or -20°C	6–12 months
Reference: Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine. (2004) Clinical Protocol Number #8: Human Milk

Now that I've shared way to much personal information, I hope that someone has found this helpful...or at the very least, amusing. Speaking of pumping, my little man better wake up hungry sometime soon or I'm going to have to hang out with the Black Bag again.