Peace Out Pump

DISCLAIMER: The following blog entry will only be of interest to our female readership, specifically mothers. To all you men out there, you will most likely be completely disinterested in this post, even though the word "breast" is mentioned quite a bit.

When Cameron was born, I knew I wanted to breastfeed as long as I could. I wasn't sure what would happen when I returned to work when he was three months old, but my goal was to continue to breastfeed until he was six months old. Fortunately, my work made it very easy for me to pump during the day - a private room with a couch and bathroom was made available to pump whenever I needed to, and I was able to pump twice a day without question. So six months came and went, and on and on I pumped.

As Cameron got older, he became more easily distracted while breastfeeding, so I had to start nursing him while lying down on our bed. He was fine with this for awhile, but then about six weeks ago, he just would not cooperate anymore and kept getting up whenever I laid him down to nurse. He would suck for a minute and then roll over and get up to play. There were also a few biting incidents - all I can say about that is ouch! I finally got tired of fighting with him, so he became exclusively bottle-fed about a month ago.

I had totally bought into the "Every Ounce Counts" campaign, so I still pumped twice a day at work, and we mixed formula with breastmilk in Cameron's bottles. Since he stopped breastfeeding, my milk supply really started to decrease. It got to the point where I would pump three times a day and get lucky if I could pump 5-6 ounces. So after much thought and consideration, I ultimately decided to stop pumping this weekend.

I feel a little guilty that I'm not breastfeeding Cameron for one full year, like all the experts recommend. But I'm proud that I was able to surpass my initial goal and feed him breastmilk for 10 months. To be honest, it has been great this week to not have to carry my pump and supplies to work every day, and it's been really great not having to interrupt my day to pump at work. My refrigerator is also looking forward to the extra space that's available once the breastmilk has vacated the lower shelf. My checking account, however, is not looking forward to the increased formula usage...

Here are the lessons I learned over the last few months:

1) Breastfeeding is a beautiful bond between mother and child. I will never forget one of the first times Cameron latched on while we were at the hospital, and his little face looked up at mine. Such an indescribable feeling.

2) The human body is amazing. It is incredible that a mother's body knows how much milk to make for her child and what nutrients and antibodies to include in the milk!

3) It's not embarrassing to breastfeed in public. You are doing what's best for you and your baby, and most people just don't even notice.

4) At first, I felt handcuffed by breastfeeding an infant every three hours. But then it got a lot easier once Cameron and I both knew what we were doing, and it was an enjoyable experience. I have such fond memories, and I'm so glad I was able to breastfeed for as long as I could!

A big thank you to my sister-in-law for generously lending me her pump all these months!