Got Milk?

I will be returning to work this upcoming week and in preparation, I have been pumping and freezing my milk so that once I do start to work, I don't have to stress as much about having enough milk for my daughter to drink while I am away - I have enough to stress over just leaving her for a whole morning several times a week!

I started to pump around 4-5 weeks postpartum, and only pumped a few times a week. Now I pump almost every day - once a day. I like to pump in the morning, because that seems to be when I have enough to feed her all she wants & still have milk leftover. It's also a nice quiet time where I can sneak away and get it done. I know if I wait till later on in the day, it just wont happen!

Here's my typical morning:

4:30 - 5am Gracie will start to toss, turn and make little noises while her eyes are still closed. So I will pull her from her co-sleeper and into bed with me where she will 'dream feed' a little till she's back in a deep sleep. 

5-5:30am I will place her back in the co-sleeper and make my way downstairs to get my pump station ready. I usually grab a banana and a bottle of water to eat & drink while I pump. (This is very important - pumping/nursing takes a lot out of you! Stay hydrated and keep those vitamins up!)  I also have my phone on hand and flip through pictures or video of my sweet little Gracie to get things moving along quicker. I only pump on the opposite side of which she just fed unless she ate less that morning, in which case I will start on the opposite side & end on the side she fed. (I rarely tandem pump) On a good morning I can get around 9+ oz and on a slower morning I will get around 4.5 - 6oz. 

5:15 - 5:45 I then pour the milk into a freezer bag, date & time it, then toss it in the freezer on it's side so it freezes flat. I use the Lansinoh Breastmilk Storage Bags and think they work quite well. I haven't had any problems with them spilling or not sealing all the way.

As for my pump, I use the Medela Pump In Style Advance and love it! It pumps so quickly - yet gently. I can get about 1oz per minute on a good morning, which is amazing because the sooner I finish, the sooner I can return to bed before Gracie wakes up for her day.

Now, my freezer is quite small so I needed a way to organize my milk in a way that it would be easy for my mother (she will be watching my Gracie for me) to just reach in and grab a bag to thaw out without having to go through the dates & make sure that the older milk got used first so none would go to waste or have to be thrown out.

So here is what I did (thank you pinterest!) 

I always make sure to freeze my milk on it's side in the bag rather than standing up, it just makes things easier and more condenced! 

I then took a gift bag from my baby shower & cut a slit in the side towards the bottom - lined the edges with some scotch tape & placed my milk storage bags inside, oldest first. 

 

 Once the bag was full, I continued to stack newer milk behind the bag, so as it empties, I can just place that pile inside in the same order it's already it. Easy peasy!

Happy Friday everyone, and as always, thanks for reading! xox