Freedom!

I can now say I am officially free from my pump! I have not used it in a week so it got put away last night. I can't even begin to describe what it feels like to no longer be a slave to my pump after nearly an entire year! If you know about our breastfeeding journey, you know that we had a rocky beginning. I was very committed to being successful so I pumped A LOT in the beginning. When the boys were about two months old they were finally breastfeeding good, so I cut back my pumping significantly. Then, about a month later, I returned to work for a few weeks and again had to pump during the day. Since returning home I have only pumped at night (which was plenty)! We gave the boys bottles at bed time so Jeff could also take part in some feedings. This meant I would have to pump after we put them to bed. I would then pump again a few hours later before I went to bed. Recently we changed our routine so that Jeff would bottle feed one and I breastfed the other (we switched off each night). This did not work out so great so I just started breastfeeding them both. I continued to pump after they went to bed and before I went to bed. I quickly realized this was pointless. I have over 200 ounces of frozen breastmilk that we are not even using and pumping was just increasing this stash. I think I was still a little caught up in "keeping up my supply" and making sure I had a good "freezer stash". Now that they are approaching a year old there really is no need for all this. So, last night I took the long awaited leap of putting away the pump that has been my side kick, my best friend, my worst enemy, my life-saver, my time-consumer, my.....

AHHHH....freedom is good!