What's In My Pumping Bag!

Any other working and pumping mothers out there?! One of my biggest "things" is to nurse my babies for their whole first year if at ALL possible.  SO, what that means for me as a working mom is that I have to pump.  A lot.  This time around, I knew I had to have a great pumping bag FULL of everything I needed to make my pumping sessions as comfortable and productive as possible.

I spent just as much time on finding MY bag as I did picking out my baby's diaper bag.  Here's the thing - I am spending a LOT of time with this bag.  I need it to hold everything AND to be totally functional.  Mamas, I found the perfect bag at Ross.  Amazon has one also, but let's be honest - if you can find a deal DON'T PASS IT UP.

Ok, the bag.  It's actually a diaper bag with a wipe container on the front, an insulated pocket, and LOTS of pockets.  Behold:

It also has a nice flat large base which is perfect for holding my pump and the other paraphernalia.  Oh! And I love how it has wire around the opening, so it easily stays open! 

Ok, now for what's inside.  The pump, obviously.  I have the medela pump and I LOVE it.  I mean, as much as you can love a pump.  Did you know that insurance has to pay for your pump?!  Yeah, I didn't either til this baby.  I tried it out and YES! they do.  They JUST send the pump, though.  No bag, which was totally fine with me since I wanted to pick out on that worked for me.  

Also, pump parts.  This is one of the things I love about the medela pump.  You can buy parts that fit YOU.  You don't have to stick with the standard size. 

Ice bag and bottles - super important.  

Milk bags and sharpie.  I have these on hand in case I fill my bottles up.  I just grab whatever my grocery store offers.  

Medela wipes - can be used to quickly clean your pump parts.  

Paper towels: I just always seem to need paper towels no matter what.  

Thieves hand sanitizer: because you're handling some one's food! As a home health speech therapist, I work out of my car, so that is where I pump.  I don't have access to soap and I don't want to use a chemical laden sanitizer on myself OR near my baby's food.  

Water.  I use this to quickly rinse my pump parts after pumping AND for drinking.  We nursing moms need to be drinking a LOT of water.  I got this glass bottle at the grocery store and I have reused it over and over and over.  If you can't find one amazon has one! 

Finally, snacks.  My favorite snacks are quest bars.  FULL of protein and so tasty.  Nursing uses quite a bit of calories. Make sure you are getting enough - that will help boost your milk supply! 

Aaaaand that's all I've got! What's in YOUR bag?!