So, I'm sitting at my desk with one leg propping one bottle, holding the other with my hand. This is incredibly annoying.
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Ugh, I remember that has happened to me before, and I somehow maneuvered for my shirt(s) to kind of hold them up but I could not even take a deep breath lol!
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I found the other day I could adjust my chair and set the bottles on my keyboard tray. But I have small boobs so not sure that would work for everyone lol.
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I could never pump both at the same time. I would hold the bottle in one hand, and holding/massaging my breast in the other. It was much faster for me to do it this way, than trying to do both at the same time!
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@mediagirl: I detest owning multiples of items I don’t even want in the first place, but I bought a second simple wishes this time around that I keep in my desk drawer, along with my pump and parts that live at work. Bought a bottle brush a mrs meyers dish soap that I also keep in my desk drawer, and it’s been nice to have fewer things to deal with lugging. Is that a possibility for you?
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@LCTBQE: totally. I have a spare at home and should keep it at work just in case! I only took mine home because it badly needed a wash. I didn't get to laundry this weekend. Ooops.
Do you wash your parts in the bathroom at work and just leave them there? -
@mediagirl: I've been there! you can do it!
I accumulated so many extra parts since I kept forgetting them. Having a drive up target option just a few blocks from my work helped out a lot. I'm done pumping as of 2 weeks.. I'm a little sad, but really don't miss it!
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@mediagirl: ah, the one time I didn’t have the work bra I did the same. To be a man and not have to deal with this shit... I have a big desk drawer that I cleared out half of my work stuff from. I keep in it my Medela freestyle and charger, my bottle brush and small bottle of dish soap, a couple spare bottles/caps, a few spare lansinoh freezer bags (backup in case I forget bottles), the bra, and one full set of pump parts. I pump twice and keep the parts in my cooler in the company fridge between pumps, which btw I think is completely sanitary, and then after my second session I wash everything with hot water in the company kitchen sink (like, I don’t let anything actually touch the sink) and let it all air dry in my desk drawer on a bed of paper towels that I change out frequently. With my first I only had one pump and used to lug everything, it was such a pita! Now I just take home my milk in the cooler.
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@jennlin821: Same! It's actually what I am doing right now at my desk.
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@LCTBQE: you know, I do the fridge thing with my flanges and bottles attached to them. I leave them in there all day - use them 3x/day. Probably super unhygenic but what can you do...I'm busy for that! I have a pump at work and a backup at home, just in case I need to express at home (I stink at hand expressing). I have tried lots of different tricks but the thing I found works best is having my storage bottles in the cooler and separate pumping bottles. I bring 3 sets of pumping bottles to work on Monday, wash them on Wednesday and refill for Thurs/Fri. I wash my storage bottles nightly with the feeding bottles.
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@agold: @agold: I have my extra bra at work now! Ha. It's the one I hate because my flanges don't fit well through it but it's better than not having one if i forget the bra again. The last time I pumped at work, I would forget all the time (I was extremely sleep deprived, that baby did.not.sleep) so Target was my friend then, as well.
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@mediagirl: I'm glad you have a backup now! Hopefully you don't accumulate more backups of things like I did! As for cleaning the parts, I never cleaned the parts at work during the day.
I kept everything in the soft cooler I toted to work every day. If I forgot my cooler (thank god for the million extra pump parts I kept at work), then I stored everything in a zip lock bag in the office fridge in between pumping. By the grace of god, I made it a year of pumping with each girl! -
@LCTBQE: Holy moly, I'm 38w and trying to picture doing all this when I go back to work.
Do you have to carry all the parts across your office to put them in your desk?! I have a small room where I can pump and a mini fridge to keep things in, so I was planning to wash at the end of every day and sterilize at the end of every week (someone PLEASE correct me if this plan is wrong!), but it hadn't occurred to me to let everything air dry every night. We have an open office environment, and I'm just picturing lugging all this crap across the room to my desk and my clumsy self dropping it all on the floor...ETA Sorry @mediagirl, totally not meaning to hijack your thread!
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@mediagirl: AHHHHH that is so smart re dedicated storage bottles and dedicated pumping bottles! I've sort of got a rotating cast of 2-3 medela bottles hanging around my desk but sometimes I take them home and forget them and then have to pump into lansinoh bags that I physically hold onto the flanges which is not chic. I'm sort of starting to wind down with pumping at work (got super busy and am doing 1x/day more often than not
) but am adopting this method today, great tip. @mediagirl: @foodiebee: I can look for it, but there was a thread here a few months ago when the CDC issued the thing saying not to put pump parts in the fridge, and one of the HB members wrote in and was like "I live in Atlanta and I work at the CDC, and literally the women who work here put their pump parts in the fridge for multiple uses between pumping sessions". I'll look for it, but I don't think it's unsanitary. Now, if I had a preemie or a baby with any health complications I would certainly be much more careful, but if we're talking healthy 4-month-old and mom who practices good basic hygiene and uses a very clean storage bag, I don't see what the big deal is ??
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@foodiebee: I work in an open office too (hate) but have a big huge desk drawer at my space. I pump in our sample closet and keep a tote bag at my desk in which I keep my Freestyle, charger, bra, spare bottles/freezer bags, and little medela milk cooler pouch. I just take the tote across the office to my pumping closet, unpack there, pump, put milk and parts into the cooler, zip it closed and put it in the fridge. Tote bag minus that stuff goes back at my desk, ideally I pump again in the afternoon, THEN I wash all my parts in the sink in hot hot water with my own dish soap and brush, and when they're clean and dripping wet I wrap them in a big paper towel and carry them into my desk drawer where I dump them out on my makeshift paper towels drying rack and they dry overnight IN my desk drawer, completely clean and out of sight. the carrying them part is helped by the fact that I happen to sit annoyingly close to the kitchen, and it takes two trips to also put my soap and brush back in my drawer but it's literally 3 steps. if I sat further I'd put them in the tote bag in their big paper towel for cross-office transport. this sounds like a PITA but actually takes all of 2 minutes. also I believe that you no longer have to sterilize, I *think* they updated that guideline so you only have to do it once before first use.
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@foodiebee: I am in a cubicle, but work has a really nice pumping room. I leave all of my pumping equipment in the room, either on the counter (washed parts to air dry) or on the shelves (pumping bra, tubing). I usually rinse in hot water after each session and wash with soap at the end of the day. The only thing I bring in is the bottles for storage of my milk.
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@LCTBQE: @Mrs. Toad: @LCTBQE: Thank you all for your comments! Mrs Toad, I don't think I should leave my equipment in the room out in the open, in my case, because this room is also the room that's used when kiddos come into the office (there are toys and such in there, along with a big chair and mini fridge). I know I'll find a rhythm that works for me, I'm just really nervous about it!
I accumulated so many extra parts since I kept forgetting them. Having a drive up target option just a few blocks from my work helped out a lot. I'm done pumping as of 2 weeks.. I'm a little sad, but really don't miss it!
I kept everything in the soft cooler I toted to work every day. If I forgot my cooler (thank god for the million extra pump parts I kept at work), then I stored everything in a zip lock bag in the office fridge in between pumping. By the grace of god, I made it a year of pumping with each girl! 
) but am adopting this method today, great tip. Reply
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