I was bummed with the thought of having to return to work after I had my baby. Due to the circumstances, I was unable to stay at home with my baby after my maternity leave was over. I remember counting down the days until I returned and I felt a deepening sadness overwhelm me. Once, I returned to work and settled into a routine, things were much easier than I expected.
With my older children, I didn’t use a breast pump except on a few occasions. I was a stay at home mom after I had them. So after I had my youngest son I was a bit nervous because I wasn’t sure if I would be able to pump enough breast milk for his feedings while I was at work. I didn’t want to give my son any formula and I was afraid that I wouldn’t produce enough milk. I knew that if I wanted to be successful and provide my son breastmilk while I was away that I was going to have to relax while I pumped so that I could produce enough milk. When I returned back to work, I set up a regular pumping schedule that was similar to my baby’s feeding schedule and pumped several times during the day.