How old was your baby when you went back to work?

A month.

How did you handle that? What, you know, how did you arrange it? What, what did you do?

Ah, it was pretty easy and pretty difficult, and I explained the two things. It was pretty easy because I'd only work five hours a week, that is to say, one Saturday morning, and one Tuesday evening, which wasn't much. So he was on his own for two hours at the very beginning, and, so in that sense it wasn't that difficult because it wasn't extensive periods of time for the two of them doing something he wasn't maybe feeling pretty sure about. And on the other hand, because for me it was very difficult to leave them, I had two hour classes and every time I had a class I phoned three, four times to see if they were doing okay. 'Cause it's a very difficult thing to do, and also because my Mum was here at the time, so when I said in my classes maybe, maybe sooner than a month my Mum was here supporting [husband]. And, so, I think my Mum has played his Mum's role as well, and, and she was a great help for him, and the four of them because they were, the four of them [includes her father] taking care of Luca while I was working giving the security of doing it on his own later when he had to do it on his own, and, and I think that's the way I managed and it was difficult because any time you have to leave your baby, even if it is with his Dad, my God, its like you're just tearing your heart apart, it's not that you don't trust your, your husband or your partner, it's that detaching from them is a difficult job to do. And I don't know who's more dependent, if the baby or you, I still don't know, because I think I'm very, let's say baby dependent [laughs] yes, it's very difficult to leave them but I was confident he was able to do it and it was only two hours.

So did you leave expressed breastmilk?

Yes I did.

How did you express the milk and when?

At the beginning it was very, it was pretty fresh milk, an hour before going to work I expressed.

By hand or by pump?

By pump.

Electric or hand pump?

Manual.

Hand pump?

Hand pump. The first time I did it was quite, quite difficult, you have to, get to know how to manage your pump, but afterwards it was easy and you have to wait for the moment in which your breast is kind of fullish so, you can, you can get the milk easily. But after then I started working more nights so I had to do it in advance, and I barely ever freeze the milk, I know it's possible to do it and I know it's ok but I preferred to do, give the fresh milk, so I leave three or four bottles, I knew they were more than what he needed, for the time he had to be on his own, well I mean without me but, but it was mainly fresh milk.

And how did he feed that to the baby when you were gone?

He was fed with the bottle.

Through a bottle?

Through a bottle yeah.

So he didn't have any trouble taking the bottle?

No and I guess because I had to use the nipple shields, so he was used to the rubber and so, he didn't have a problem, my Mum was actually very surprised yeah, he had the bottle and it was the first attempt and, and he didn't make a fuss or anything, but now it's difficult to give him the bottle he doesn't want it.

So, are you still working?

No I'm not working and that's why it's difficult because I need to have a, well I am working but I work once a month now [laughs] so.