Don't get me wrong, I'm glad that I chose to breastfeed and have done so for as long as I have. And mind you, I've exclusively breastfed this entire time. It zaps up lots of time, lots of energy, and I had to limit or omit many foods that I ate so that it wouldn't affect her (more so in the first 6 months). I had to increase my calorie intake which I found very difficult (I am a light eater and I get full easily since I eat slow). I haven't been the most active in terms of real exercise since I'm busy working and busy being a mom (and then sleeping when I can), so trying to eat more foods and not exercising has been interesting. I bounced back quickly to a pre-pregnancy weight after I had Abby - breastfeeding sure does help with that... but then things do slow down, I'd say 6 months and after. I want to run now though and shape up!
Pumping twice at work had its own issues and awkward moments, I'd have to save that for a whole separate blog. Let me just say that I had to be a pain at work in order to get a proper (or, as proper as it can currently be) mother's room set up, and had to be a pain to get a second room set up since there were definitely more people than just me who needed it. One room is a little "quiet room" with brown paper covering the glass (all the rooms in our buildings have glass), and the secondary room is a cleared out facilities closet. Hm, cozy. For a large company, I guess my expectations were bit higher.
Once (at our previous building), I was pumping and got a knock on the door from a male teammember asking, "When are you going to be done? I have a meeting saved for this room." Boy did that just screw up my milk flow right then and there. Another time, I was putting my milk away in the bistro fridge and these guys hanging around asked, "Hey do you know where I can get some milk?" I about died. Turns out they were making coffee and were just referring to the freakin' creamers. My face was probably the color of Elmo. Another time, when I was trying to request a second room to be set up, the mail guy took me downstairs to the women's restroom and women's shower areas and asked if that was a possibility for a place. Umm, NO. So weird. A bathroom of any kind is not acceptable for a place to produce your baby's food - would you eat your food in a bathroom?!
Well I said I'd save that for another blog but I guess I just lied. So Abby started taking Nutramigen formula for a little while now but it always had to be mixed with my breastmilk, otherwise she wouldn't take it. And we had tried numerous formulas before that but either a) it was milk-based and she'd throw up a LOT, or b) it was soy and she just refused it all the time when we tried. Nutramigen is one of the most expensive kinds of formula of course, but I'm just glad it works for her. She has now gotten to the point where she will take the full bottle of formula without breastmilk. So we figured that weaning is finally possible and currently she'll get 3-4 feedings a day and I will still breastfeed the 1st and last feeding of the day, cutting out the pumping at work (happy dance, happy dance!). Eventually I'll take one breastfeeding away each week, so that she gradually takes all formula and I don't get any pain or discomfort either. Whew!
Oh and I won't have to clean those pump parts anymore either (more happy dance!). 24 less pieces to wash (although now there will be more bottles).
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