The Best $30 I Ever Spent

Warning: this post is about breast pumping. Should the subject make you uncomfortable, stop reading now.

Jack is almost 1 year old. For the first three months of his life I was a full time student doing 12 hour clinical rotations and for the last five months I've managed to successfully work full time as a nurse and continue to breastfeed him without needing to supplement with formula. My goal was to get to a year, and I've pretty much made it. He eats enough other foods now that I've been able to stop pumping at work, but I do still pump at home from time to time. And I still have a freezer full of milk so I think we'll get to a year just fine without formula (his birthday is February 5th).

Since I've managed to do this, I thought I'd share some tips for my friends who are currently doing the same thing or are considering it. I found a lot of tricks along the way that made it much easier.

The first and most important thing is to bite the bullet and buy a nice pump. I have the Medela Pump in Style, which goes for $280 new.
Sounds expensive, but it pays for itself quickly. I did the math once, and I can't remember the numbers exactly, but I think it pays for itself in about 3 months compared to buying formula. And if you consider that you'll use it for future children, it's definitely worthwhile. Also, I have seen it on sale at Target for $220. So if you plan ahead and watch for it to go on sale you can probably get a good deal.

I've heard the Avent Isis is a good one, too. I also think WIC provides pumps, so if you're on WIC that's an option. The important thing is, if you're going to be working full time, to get a double electric pump that will maintain your supply and make it so you can pump as quickly as possible.

For me, one of the worst parts of pumping was washing bottles. Jack wouldn't take the bottles that came with the pump. So I'd be pumping into those bottles, then transferring it to another bottle that he'd take, then putting the rest in bags to freeze.

It took me until he was 7 months or so before I figured out an easy way around this. (I so wish I had thought of this from the beginning!) I started pumping directly into the bags. Here is the setup:
So simple, that I cant believe I didn't think of it sooner. You just tape the bag onto the pump and you've saved yourself a bunch of hassle. I just pump right into the bags and then throw the bags into the freezer when I get home. No bottle washing! For even less washing, we use the bottles with the liners. All we ever wash is nipples and the actual pump parts, which are all fine to go in the dishwasher. (I also bought myself an extra set of pump parts for a few bucks on ebay so I don't have to wash those as often. That was helpful too.)

And finally the biggest lifesaver of all and the reason for the title of the post: the hands-free pumping bra. I discovered this, thankfully, right before I started my job. As a nurse there really isn't extra time on my shift for pumping, so I have to squeeze it in on my lunch break. Eating and pumping at the same time sounds really difficult, right? Nope. It's too hard to explain so here's a picture (not of me, of course).
Yep. It really works. I can sit and eat my lunch, talk on the phone, read a book or whatever while I pump. This gives me my whole lunch break to pump, which for me is sufficient and I don't have to try to get away any more than that. If you're lucky enough to have a job where you can get away more often, or you could get away with pumping at your desk, then I don't see how it could be any easier. I know it looks like it wouldn't work or that the attachments wouldn't stay in place, but they do. No leakage, no slipping, nothing. Even with the bags completely full. (It might be harder if you happen to really well endowed. I wouldn't know :)) All you need is a room with a door that locks and an electrical outlet, which I'm lucky enough to have at work (I know not every work place can provide this, so best of luck).

I only know for sure that the brand of pumping bra I have works, so I'm not going to recommend any others. It's called Simple Wishes Hands-Free Breastpump Bra.
I honestly can't understand why it doesn't just come with the pump. I can't believe I spent those first three months at clinical holding the blasted things in place! Now that I've been using it for a while I don't know how I ever did without it!

So, there you go. That's how I've managed to work and pump for most of the first year of Jack's life. It's a pain sometimes, but it was really important to me so with a combination of luck and shortcuts I found a way to make it work. And you can too. If anyone out there has any more tricks, please share them with me :)

Why I Love My Job

Yesterday at work I got to be a part of one of the most touching deliveries I've seen so far. Every delivery is emotional, as there is nothing quite like watching new parents meet their baby, but this one was extra special.

The woman delivering the baby was a surrogate. She had 3 children of her own and had volunteered to carry a baby for another couple. I don't know exactly whose egg and sperm were involved, but the ones who would be taking the baby home were present, as was the husband of the pregnant woman. I didn't ask why they were in this situation since it wasn't relevant to my job, but obviously the couple who wanted a baby thought this was never going to happen for them.

As the baby started to crown, the mother watched and tears poured down her face. She repeatedly said that she thought this day would never come. I'll never forget the look on her face when the baby came out and she cut the cord (it was everything I could do not to start crying). The baby (a boy) had a little bit of a difficult delivery and needed to go straight to the warmer for an assessment, and I told the mother to go over and see him. She ran over to see her son and I stayed to take care of the woman who had just delivered.

The woman who delivered the baby laid in bed and watched the new mom bond with her son. I really don't know what the emotional implications of being a surrogate would be, and I don't know what kind of connection she felt with the baby. But she seemed very happy for this new mother. That is obviously a tremendous sacrifice--to give up your body for 9 months and risk possible complications so that someone else can have the opportunity to be a parent. What a special moment to be a part of. And that's why I love my job.

Halloween

Update: the bouncer has not been the magical cure-all we thought it would be. Okay, we didn't really think it would be. It was more of a flimsy little hope. But Jack is starting to like it and he will entertain himself for 20 minutes or so with it. It doesn't seem to make him tired though. I think he spit up on himself so that's why he's not wearing any clothes in the video.


This weekend we dressed up Jack in his first Halloween costume. We are die hard Harry Potter fans so we thought it would be fun to dress up as Ron and Hermione and have Jack be an owl. Turns out it's really expensive to get full Harry Potter costumes so we just went with the scarves but I think we did a pretty good job at turning Jack into an owl. Notice the letter tied to his leg :)

In other news, our trusty blue Honda Civic named Steve has officially bitten the dust. It wasn't the car's fault. Derek and Jack got into a wreck. They were fine, but the car was not. It's an old car, so it's not worth that much, but it would have lasted us a long time. We replaced it with another Civic that will hopefully last just as long as Steve would have. It's a little older but has the same number of miles, and it runs great. Here's a picture of Steve after the wreck.

That car was supposed to last all the way through medical school and maybe even residency. Hopefully the new one will.

I love love love Fall. It's definitely my favorite season. I think my favorite part is pumpkin desserts. I've made pumpkin chocolate chip cookies 3 or 4 times already, and I can't wait for Thanksgiving to make pumpkin pie. Fall is really beautiful here because of all the trees. I've been having fun taking pictures of Jack in the leaves. He always tries to eat them.
That's what's new with us. Happy Fall everyone!

Tired tired tired!

Jack is in a new phase where he WILL NOT take a nap for me. If Derek or the babysitter is taking care of him, he'll take 4 (yes 4!) hour naps. For me he will usually only do 2. Except in the last week or so where he will not nap AT ALL for me! He gets so excited and just wants to play or eat all the time. This is a problem today especially because I have to work tonight and I need to get some sleep!

So, even though Derek is supposed to be studying for a big final on Monday, I sent him to Target to buy this:
The hope is that Jack will jump so much that A. he entertains himself and I can sleep and Derek can study, and B. that he gets really tired and will take a super long nap.

Will it work? Probably not. But it's worth the slim chance that it will to me. It's amazing how many ways there are to make suckers out of us parents, isn't it?

Not Dead

Wow, I haven't blogged in forever. I'm not dead, just crazy busy. I always feel like no one really cares what's going on with me anyway, and they probably don't, but I love keeping up with my friends on their blogs so I'd be a hypocrite if I don't at least try to keep mine updated.

My excuse for not blogging: work. Life is pretty crazy right now. Here's how it goes when I work day shift: Up at 5:30. Lightning fast shower. Get dressed. Breakfast. Pump. Wake up Jack. Get him dressed and fed. Derek drives me to work by 7 and the Jack to the babysitter and then himself to school by 8. Derek picks up Jack at 4 or 5, depending on the day. Pick me up from work at 7:30. Go home, eat dinner, and put Jack to bed. Go to bed and do it all again.

Luckily, this is only 3 days a week, and usually only 2 in a row. The good news is that soon we will be getting a new car to ease the driving burden on Derek!

Still, we have found time to do some fun things. I'll post about those soon.

For now, I'm just going to do a little developmental update on Jack. He's a busy little boy and is constantly exploring. He has started to scoot on his tummy but mostly he just rolls to get around. We got him a walker and he loves being upright and feeling like he's a part of everything. Also, he's proving to be a good little eater. He loves peas, sweet potatoes, oatmeal, cheerios, and bananas. Oh, and meatloaf. Yes, meatloaf.

I went crazy taking pictures the other day.

He loves playing with leaves! He kept trying to eat them.
I love this kiddo!
What a handsome boy.

Netflix

Derek is gone from 7:30 am to 6 and 7:30 pm to 10 every day. I am at home with Jack. There are no sidewalks in our neighborhood so we can't go on walks. The only park nearby smells like pot. You can only go grocery shopping and to the library and to playgroups so many times. I haven't started my job yet, and Jack is pretty happy to play with his toys on the floor or nap. This leads to a boring, boring, boring life. There is one thing that has saved me:
I don't know why it never appealed to me before we moved here. Maybe it's because I don't like waiting for movies to come in the mail (I didn't know you could stream them!), maybe it's because I was a student and didn't have much time for movies anyway. But now I've decided it's the best thing ever. We stream movies directly to our Wii. So basically a giant library of movies and TV shows is available to me, while I sit on the couch (and we wonder why our society is unhealthy...lol).

Now I'm going to tell you how lazy I've been, as evidenced by how much I've watched.
1. All of Pushing Daisies. It's a great show, it's a shame it got canceled.
2. Two seasons of Arrested Development, which I've seen before, but I forgot how hilarious it is.
3. Several documentaries--One about Wal-Mart (never shopping there again, BTW. I've always hated it but that documentary was the push I needed to swear it off altogether.) Also lots about food, such as Super Size Me, Food Inc, and some other similar ones.
4. Workouts! I love being able to do a different one every day! See, I'm not totally lazy.

The other thing I do to entertain myself is to dress up Jack and take pictures of him. Here's a recent gem.

Missionaries

I have two pretty awesome siblings. I'm the oldest, Holli is two years younger than me, and Ryan is two years younger than her. They're both doing something pretty remarkable right now. Holli has been serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Fiji for the last 10 months. Ryan left on a mission just this week, and will be serving in North Carolina.

Since I'm the oldest, I'm the one that should be the good example, right? But I'm not. These two have taught me a lot more than I've taught them. It takes an amazing amount of faith to put your life on hold to spread the gospel. I'm so proud of the two of them. I love you guys!