Keeping up with this is already proving to be more difficult than expected! I worked my first official full weekend. I worked 12 hours Friday, 8 hours Saturday, and 12 hours Sunday. Being away from my baby for that long KILLED me!!! I was able to continue pumping every 2-3 hours without problem. The problem is I missed my baby. 3 hours into my third shift I was already flipping through pictures and videos of KH on my phone. I am going to have a tough time for sure.

I did some experimenting with bras. Tuesday, my first shift back, I wore a nursing sports bra. I'd worn it several times and found it to be comfy. Under the uniform it was atrocious and painful! I decided I couldn't do that again. It was too constrictive to go under the vest. I felt engorged a lot. Friday and Saturday I wore shirts with built in bras. They are similar to the tanks with the elastic around the bottom of the boob holder. The shirts and built in bra are made of a silky material similar to Under Armour heat gear. I had way less feeling of engorgement but my nipples were hurting. I don't wear pads because I haven't had a leaking problem. I wondered if it was the material or if my nipples were just sore from pumping so often. For the record, I was only pumping once a day, MAYBE, before I went to work and that was to build a stockpile for work. Anyway, back to the shirts. Sunday, I wore an Under Armour heat gear shirt with no bra. I figured they're already sagging with weight, I might as well see if braless under the bulletproof vest would help. It very well seemed to! There was never a feeling of engorgement and it made easier access for pumping. Hey, one less thing to take off and put on saves time in the long run. My nipples still hurt, though. I guess I won't know until a few weeks pass for sure if it's from pumping or clothes. I went to see my lactation consultant. She gave me a pair of Bamboobies. They're washable breast pads made of cotton and bamboo. If the nipple pain is from chaffing, the breast pads should help. If not, I'll know it's from the pump. I'll experiment more during my shifts this week. Until then, I'm going to cuddle up to my baby while I can! Next time!