How we do it: Pumping

Since Lulu was 12 weeks old, I have been pumping all her bottles.  Since she aspirates, she must have thickened bottles and that means that I have to add thickener to her milk therefore she has to drink from a bottle.  I am determined to not have her on formula and plan on pumping until she is weaned to whole milk after she turns one.  There are a few items that I must have in order to make exclusively pumping successful:
1.  A high-grade double pump.  I have a Medela Pump In Style double breast pump and it is wonderful.  I could never do this without this amazing pump.  I can pump fast and efficiently.
2.  A hands-free bra.  I put on the bra over my clothes and viola, I can get things done while pumping!  I have the pump set up in the kitchen (weird, I know!) and it works great because I can clean, unload the dishwasher, eat, or just mess around on my iphone.
3.  Several bottles to pump into.  I have an abundant milk supply and often fill a bottle and have to switch to an empty one before my pumping session is over.
4.  Milk freezer bags.  Again, I have way too much milk so about 25 ounces a day go into the freezer.

The picture below shows my pumping set up in the kitchen:

This picture shows the pumping bra, pump (in the backpack), and two sets of shields with bottles attached.  It has been important to have at least two sets of pumping equipment (shields) so that I only have to wash them every other time.
After I pump, I fill the bottle/bottles that we need for the day and any additional milk goes into the freezer.  I fill Lulu's bottles to 8 oz and store them all lined up in the fridge.  I only store 3-4 bottles at once.  I like to have fresh milk continually rotating in the fridge.
Any milk that goes into the freezer gets put into a storage bag and is laid flat to freeze.

Once it's frozen, I move it into a tupperwear container for storage.

Or into the wall of the freezer.

We have a lot of milk in our freezer!  I pump far more than Lulu can eat so I ship all the extra frozen milk to a friend in California for her baby.  It works out really well and I enjoy helping another baby.  I will go through the shipping of milk in another post.