How to save your Breast Milk Supply

How to not lose your milk supply while being a busy mom

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One word. Freemie.  Freemie saved my breast milk supply! And provided an illusion of huge boobs to fellow drivers while I collected liquid gold during my commute.  As an added bonus, the Freemie provided comedic relief when I caught a few dudes staring in my direction. I would guess they were wondering if my rack was really that big.

What is Freemie? Freemie is a completely hands-free pumping system. The cups that collect the milk go in your bra and give you back the freedom of using your hands to do other things.  It’s the best invention since bathroom door locks so you can pee in peace. Well, sort of, you’ll still probably have little fingers waving at you from under the door.

What is the major complaint among nursing career moms? Finding time to pump at work and still be awesome at their job.  You know that little saying, “If you don’t use it, you lose it.” Well, if you don’t pump enough, your body will stop making as much milk as you really need to fill those bottles for the next day.  I learned this the hard way with my first baby.

Where did you get that? (In a Jack Sparrow voice)

How did I discover this miracle called the Freemie? It was actually offered in my choices of “free” breast pumps provided by insurance when I had my second daughter.  Since I research everything, I watched a few videos of how the Freemie works and I was immediately hooked.

Shop Freemie pumps and accessories at AeroflowBreastpumps.com!

As I mentioned above, the Freemie saved my milk supply. Well, that’s not 100% true.  It isn’t a time machine to take me back in time and save the 480oz of liquid gold that thawed when my freezer broke in the hot Texas August. Read about that terrible devastating loss here. But, the Freemie did allow me to pump in my car undetected and stealth like.

Working Momma Morning Routine

Let me paint you a picture… As a working mom, you wake up (hopefully before the babies do) and enjoy your shower. You will hear phantom cries every 5 minutes… turn off shower, poke head out, listen for baby, turn shower back on, etc.  This happens a few more times until either you actually finish your shower or your baby is in fact crying and you try like mad to get that conditioner out of your hair before the other house inhabitants are awakened by the cries of a hungry baby. 

When you step out of the shower, the boobs are spraying milk like a broken garden hose attachment. A stream up, a stream down, a few straight forward, and all the rest sideways.  (as your husband walks by on his way to the toilet, just top off his morning coffee with some extra cream) You put your nursing bra on with the nursing pads from the night before because face it, you forgot to change them before the shower.

You rush to baby and pop a boob in her face. The crying stops. The house is dark and quiet again and you’ve forgotten your phone in the bathroom. Frick! No Candy Crush or Facebook momma group for you.  These days your phone is your lifeline to stay awake and/or take pics of sweet baby on boob.

Baby is happy and hopefully back asleep while you get ready. You wake up toddler, get her ready, and dress the baby. It’s time to fly out the door and when baby decides she wants a 90 second snack. You feed her from the other boob and are super careful to not get milk dribbles or spit up on your work clothes.

You take your sleepy children to people that you trust to watch and love on them while you work.  At about this moment, your boobs start to fill with milk again. With any regular breast pump, you must wait to get to work before pumping.  You log into your computer, check a few emails, answer one or two of them just so boss knows you’re there, and then finally go pump in your designated mother’s room.

Supply and Demand. Must. Empty. Boobs!

What if when you got to work, you could actually start your workday and not need to go straight to the mother’s room?

“Hey, is that Dolly Parton?” – “Nope. Just a chick with BPA free plastic milk catching bowls in her bra!”

While I was physically at work, I only needed 2 pumping sessions, maybe 3. I didn’t need to squeeze in a pump session right when I got there and another right before I left.  I had a 25 minute drive from work to the girl’s school and I pumped every minute of it.

*Sorry to the few parents I probably flashed when I rolled up to our kids’ school and I took my milk-filled cups out from under my shirt.  Y’all have kids and I know you know the drill. This momma ain’t messin’ around with her liquid gold.

I promise you that my breast milk supply would’ve insanely suffered if I didn’t have the opportunity to pump discreetly and hands-free. Not only does it offer the benefit of pumping under your shirt, but the bowl-shaped cups allow you to press them firmly against your chest, move them around without losing suction, and work out any stubborn milk that may be clogged or just backed up.  Traditional pump breastshields pinch the skin when they shift or move.

I had oversupply, overactive letdown, and a tendency to develop mastitis. Read here to heal your mastitis quickly. The Freemie was a lifesaver or “milksaver” during my breastfeeding/pumping chapter.