Breastfeeding

Like all good things in life, breastfeeding is a lot of work! Some days it feels like a part time job with all the prepping, pumping, and cleaning up after wards (all done at least twice a day) and then the additional dishes caused by the bottles used for pumping (that aren't used for feeding) and the pump pieces themselves all of which are hand washed once a day so that I can have everything clean and ready to repeat it all the next day! From start to finish, a pumping session takes me almost 30 minutes (from the time I leave my desk until the time I return to it) which means I eat lunch at my desk so that I don't have to work extra to make up for 3 break times.

In some ways pumping is something to look forward to - 2 mid-day breaks at work when I can sit in a quiet room and read a good book without any interruptions! And in other ways it is a pain in the butt - having to stop what I am doing, stop at the restroom to wash my hands, walk across the office to the health room, setup, pump, clean up and prep for the next session. And then I sit there for 15 minutes wondering if people can hear the pump going from outside the door. But knowing that my daughter is getting the best and most nutritious meals possible makes it all worth it. I feel like super mom every time I send her to daycare with 3 full bottles of breast milk instead of formula.

My only worry now is if my supply will start to decrease. I can't tell you how many horror stories I have heard of working moms supply decreasing once they return to work. Why is it that moms are always so quick to tell you how it didn't work for them when they returned to work? I don't want to hear that, I want to hear encouragement of how it did work. But all my friends and coworkers (with one exception) who started out as breastfeeding mommies ended up with formula-fed babies. I'm not judging - I can't, I don't know all the details - but I also don't want to hear how hard it was for you. It gives me that constant feeling of waiting for the other shoe to drop, like it is just bound to happen to me. And so I have been doing everything I can to make sure it doesn't - drinking lots of fluids, eating lots of protein and oats, staying relaxed while I pump, and not missing a pumping session. So far (3 weeks back to work) and so good.

Now if I can keep this up for the next 9 months, I would be the most proud mommy ever. And I am determined to reach that goal no matter how it effects my social and work life. Lena comes first. So even if I don't always like it or want to do it, or would rather go out and party/drink/whatever, I know that I will always do what is best for her.