Production line at work

I do this twice a day in the office - close the door, swivel the chair around, assemble, partially undress, attach, switch on the power, and sng! Sng! Sng! Sng! And 20 minutes later, two bottles of warm milk in my hands!!!!

We call that "printing" in office cos a guy once commented to a mummy one day some years ago, "Your printer was very loud; could hear it through closed door!" Well, we don't close our doors for nothing...

During Sito's enforced leave in December, which I hope to write about real soon, I had to bring my pump out to relieve me of milk while we were out. We joked that I could pump while watching a movie...

"Fix-it *sng* Felix Junior *sng* to the rescue!" *sng*

"My *sng* precious!" *sng*

"Animals *sng* have *sng* souls." *sng*

Anyway, some time in December, I discovered that I could get a lot more milk when pumping both sides at the same time. So for a while, I supported the left bottle with my left forearm and the right bottle with my left hand so that I had a free hand to fiddle with my phone and do compressions towards the end of each session. I ended up with ring marks on my arm and a very sore right shoulder for some strange reason.

So I went in search of something to help me pump hands-free. The common solution of hooking a rubber band to the nursing bra doesn't work as I don't intend to wear my nursing bras to work, which is when I'll need to double pump and be hands-free so that I can do some work. Then I found a kit that holds up the bottles - at $32!! $32 for a bit of string, really??!

So I bought 3m of string from Daiso and made these!



The short one in the centre is made from leftover string - for holding up my blouse so it doesn't fall over baby's face when nursing - works for pumping too!

Materials:

2m of string
2 clips - I use old hair clips
Lighter or glue

Directions:

1) Take one end of the string, use the lighter or glue to keep it from fraying, and tie a knot around the other end of it.

2) Repeat for the other end. Now the hoop length is adjustable.

3) Put the hoop around your neck. Don't put your head through the hoop, no no... Just loop it around your neck.

4) Adjust the length such that the two ends hover around your nipples.

5) Put the pump flanges through the hoop and use the hair clips to secure the string - I prefer to secure it just above the flanges.

6) Hold on to the setup and turn on the pump! After a short while, the suction should keep the collection bottles attached. It may take a few tries for you to get there though.. And I must push my bra in a particular way or the suction won't keep the bottles there..

7) Enjoy doing whatever you were doing before the pumping session! :)

I usually fiddle with my phone or read emails or news on the laptop - just turn a little to reach the mouse. And the other day, I even had a discussion with TT on the other side of my desk while pumping!

Breastmilk production is so amazing. I can pump until I'm sore and nothing comes out, but when ZK wants food after that, there is still food! His sucking power beats any pump.. A few nights ago, I had a blocked duct on the right - massaging and pumping couldn't get it out. Having ZK suck at it also didn't work, probably cos he wasn't hungry at night and didn't suck much. I had to wait until the next morning when he was hungry enough to suck out everything!

Anyway, I'm getting quite tired of pumping. I need to pump four times a day to make up for the milk he has at infant care - once in the morning on one side while he takes the other, twice on both at the office, and once on both before I sleep. But pumping at work takes so much time. And I'm usually very tired at night to pump. So I'm seriously thinking about reducing pumping. That will mean having to supplement with formula. I'm just glad I could manage total breastfeeding so far. Eventually, I want to just breastfeed twice a day - once in the morning and once at night. He can take formula in the day. I'll continue my four sessions at least until after LNY... Wish us luck! :)