New mother and great friend Ani and I couldn’t help but take this picture of us and our pumping bras. These unusual looking bras with two big holes at the front are one of the many things people just don’t tell you about before you pop out your little hungry angel.

You see, I’m getting ready to head back to work as a new breast feeding mother. This raises a little challenge.. how to feed Siena when she’s at home and her milk lady is 12 miles away at work?

It turns out I’m not the first or the last that will be experiencing this problem and thanks to many wonderful mommies before me there are some wonderful devices to help keep baby milk drunk. It’s time to share those devices with other mommies to be, because really they not only serve a great function of helping get milk to baby but they are pretty dang funny too, and you can never have too many smiles when you’re forced to look like a cow in a milk farm.

The first device is a pump. It’s the thing you stick on your breast and it sucks the milk out for you, bottles it up and wahlah daddy has some food to feed his little angel. It sounds simple but looking at that thing scared the daylights out of me, it looks like a science experiment machine I got a D over trying to explain in a physics exam back in high school.

For all of you that are breastfeeding newbies, the reason you need to pump at work is because your milk jugs keep on producing even when you’re away from baby. If you don’t empty those jugs, then we’re in for a Traffic Anchor that’s spraying milk all over your morning commute (and it’s not the best milk to use in your morning coffee).

There are plenty of pumps out on the market from little ones, to the mega dual action machines. I tried the single pump and it was a little too slow for me, so I upgraded to the mega pump. It’s the Medela Freestyle, a double pump that does both sides at once and seemed a little more forceful than the single pump. It is the most expensive one out there at around $370 but speed is important to me (make sure if you have a flex spending account you use that for your pump). the mega pump also has a clip on the back so you can clip it to your clothes and walk around while pumping (an essential for a mommy on the go).

With my job on TV it’s critical that I can pump quickly and on the go. You see I may need to pump in between my traffic reports and if you’ve ever watch our morning show I’m sure you’ve heard that “Weather and Traffic is every 10 minutes” so if I have an emergency and need to empty my spray guns, I’m going to need to do it quickly.  I know I call my breastfeeding blog “Baring My Breasts” but I’d really prefer not to bare my breasts at work (sorry male viewers) so next thing on my list of essential items for going back to work is the pumping bra.

Pumping Bra?

Yes I’d never heard of one too before popping out my little princess. It’s a bra with two holes at the front to insert your breast pump into. Without the pump it just looks like a scary mask that someone could wear to rob your house, with the pump it looks like something they’d use on a cow at a milk farm.

I’ve got two that I’m testing. The first is a black one from Medela to go with their pump, after kicking and screaming about wearing it because I didn’t want to feel like a cow, I finally tested it out. It’s actually really great. I don’t have to try holding onto two bottles at once, while holding onto the pump. I can even get things done around the house. The bra holds everything up for you.

The 2nd one I’m testing is the one I think will make the cut for work, it’s a Simple Wishes bra. I’ve inserted a picture from their website to the left so you can see it in action (no that’s not me modeling it lol). Instead of a hole that you can see through all the time, it has a flap that you open that you can insert the pump into. It’s made by a bunch of adorable sisters who just wanted to feel pretty while pumping. It’s true, there is something about their bra that does make you feel pretty. I think it’s the pink, and the nice soft feel.

So there you go, the downlow on pumping at work. My big first day back on air is Monday August 9th. If you have any tips for heading back to work after maternity leave, I’d love to hear from you.

I can’t wait to see all of your smiling faces looking back at me and have my baby girl watch me for the first time (while knowing she is getting fed even though I’m not there with her). Cheers to technology!

xoxo