I think this is one of those issues where we ae going to see a lot of
variation and it is likely not possible to tell a given mother (especially
with her first babe) how best to proceed.
I've read with interest each person's different experience, and will throw
mine out here as well.
I returned to school or work by 6 weeks at the latest all 4 times.  I have
always had what I heard someone else on this list describe as a "just
enough" milk supply.  My personal theory is that although I'm quite capable
of making enough milk, I have smaller storage capacity and need frequent
feeds to maintain my supply.  Absolutely no problem with a baby around, but
harder to deal with when pumping.  My babies could all just nurse every
hour, but in high school, medical school, and residency (my first 3 pumping
experiences), I could not arrange that kind of frequent pumping schedule. 
As a result, my supply always suffered once I went back to work and required
a lot of work to keep up.  I could never have gotten a 4-6 oz bottle by
pumping one side in the morning as another reply mentioned!  I could pump 4
oz at lunch, but many of my pumping sessions yielded smaller amounts (and I
always let down well to a pump and felt empty after pumping just as I did
when my babies fed.)  It worked well for me, with my last 3 babies to
deliberately encourage some oversupply in the early weeks - to set my
production deliberately higher.  This gave me much more cushion for the
inevitable missed pumping session (in my line of work, they are inevitable;
 one can't ask a laboring mom to quit pushing for a while so you can pump!)
 I started pumping by 1 week the last 3 times, and did stockpile as much as
I could by pumping one side while the baby fed 2-3 times a day.   I also
pumpied every opportunity at work once I returned.  This enabled me to not
supplement at all with my last 2.  I know from experience that I am quite
sensitive to supply drops if I miss pumping sessions and allow myself to get
full, and it would take a couple days to build back up.  Having extra in the
freezer was vital for those days - and also removed a lot of the stress from
my pumping.  
Several other replies mention that most moms easily pump the baby's needs
the day before, but I did not find that to be true for myself, or for some
of the women I council.  (And I did not have a daycare provider overfeeding
my baby to contend with!)  I had a hard time pumping the 8-12 oz my babies
needed a day at their peak if I replied on just my worktime pumping
sessions, but was able to make up the difference by pumping before bed, on
one side first thing in the morning, and keeping a pumping session on
weekend days and days off.  I do think that part of the issue was a capacity
issue, as I could pump about the same amount at 2 hours as I could at 4
hours, but couldn't always arrange to pump every 2 hours.
I realize this method wouldn't be necessary for everyone, and would probably
be downright harmful for moms prone to symptomatic oversupply, but it may
help to know that some women may need to be this aggressive to keep enough
milk on hand.
I am fully aware that this is really an artificial problem, and that if I
were with my babies 24 hours a day as nature designed I'd have no issue with
supply, but a little creative use of oversupply did help me continue to
breastfeed and supply my babies with only my milk despite returning to a
demanding job.

Jennifer Tieman
Family Physician
Mom to 4, including my nursling Caroline Rose (age 32 mos.)

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