Goal

I have a new goal in mind - produce and store enough breastmilk enough to justify a chest freezer. When I first realized that I was making so much breastmilk, I was horrified with thoughts of being permanently (well, almost) hooked up to a pump, it was only later that I realized how much of a blessing it is to be able to provide healthy breastmilk for my baby.

Hubby and I had invested in a nice Medela Pump-In-Style (PIS) breast pump. I figured that with the savings we will have from not buying formula, we'll recoup the cost in no time. Up until last week, I have not been pumping both breasts at the same time because I was making tipid the breast pumps (the flanges / breast shields) and bottles because we didn't have enough for 4 or 5 pumping sessions throughout the day and I didn't have the time to keep on washing, sterilizing and drying them all day long (hubby sterilizes all the parts & milk bottles once every night). If you're a breastfeeding mom, you know how long the pumping session lasts.

Last week, I gave up and decided to buy extra parts and I've been pumping both breasts at the same time ever since. It's been such a time-saver! My pumping sessions have been cut in half now, it's a definite improvement during early morning sessions when I want to rush back to sleep and during the day when the little boy gets fussy and demands my attention. And since the sessions are so much quicker nowadays - 15 to 20 minutes instead of the usual 30 min to 1 hr - I find the extra time to squeeze in extra sessions. I now pump up to 5 times a day instead of the 3 or 4.

Current stash:

30 4 oz bottles half of which has 3 oz and the other half has 4oz (this is approximate)

15 6oz milk storage bags

So far, milk is only occupying a third of our freezer so it's not really that much yet.