2.5 years and still counting

15 months + 11 months + 4 months = 30 months = 2 and a ½ years (and counting….)

My friend Stephany wrote a comment on FB yesterday “thanks for the pump.”

I read it twice before I figured out she wasn’t talking “insulin.”

I laughed and thought to myself… my life has been nothing but pumps since the day Harper entered this world.

I always knew I would breastfeed. All the women in my life did it… women I worked with and worked for... I always wanted to do it… for me… for the kids…

And, I also knew, that as a working Mom, pumping would become part of my daily routine.

-          The daily 4 am alarm. Locking myself in the wiring closet at work. Hiding in bathroom stalls at conferences. Pumping and dumping. The special car adaptor that could possibly have been the greatest purchase of my life. Having to get up and leave in the middle of dinners-movies-conversations. The never-ever-ever-ending “EerrKk”  “EerrKk” “EerrKk” “EerrKk.”

I’ve learned a lot of lessons about life, myself, sacrifice, heartache, and joy in the 2 and ½ years I’ve dealt with pumps –breast and now insulin.

Possibly… the most poignant is that both are life-saving devices… which assist/ed in accuracy, efficiency and delivery…  yet… they are still just devices.

It takes commitment, time, sacrifice and experience… It takes an operator. A button-pusher. A controller. A human. It takes someone who is willing to step up to the plate and do the job… day in… and day out... even when you don't really want too...  

It takes love.

I include a disclosure.

I would never say breast is better than bottle or injections are better than pumps.  I know… because I’ve experienced it all. We each face different obstacles and challenges and in the end we all must find peace and happiness in the choices we make – what works for us – what’s best for us. All of us-mothers (and fathers) out there who love our children more than ourselves sacrifice in some way in the name of love.