Dear Medela In Style® Advanced,
Thank you for your service over the past four and a half years. I have been breastfeeding for 44 months. This means that for 44 months I have fed my babies with my body. This feat is none other than magical, and, I sincerely acknowledge, a privilege. I was fortunate enough to be able to breastfeed my babies, but I am in no way endorsing this as the only way to nourish your children.
Thanks to my trusty Medela pump, I have been able to continue breastfeeding my boys, even when I am not present. I am able to extract milk, hidden away in public restrooms, behind the wheel of my minivan, and next to outlets in strange rooms. Thanks to my Medela pump, my babies all met the doctor’s 12 month recommendations for feeding, and then some. Breastfeeding and pumping means saving time and money from formula costs, not to mention health benefits galore.
Thanks to my Medela pump, I was able to keep my supply flowing, and rarely worry about there being enough milk. At certain points along the way, my freezer held more milk than food.
Thanks to you, I have been able to be quite the bad-A.
However, your functionality does not implicate love. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. I have despised you. For needing to find non-existent time in my day where I transform into a cow-like, milk-making machine. For needing to maneuver my traffic position while multitasking pumping and driving, so that I never stopped directly adjacent to another car. For needing to leave meetings early, arrive late to appointments, and begin or end my day with you. It has truly been, without a doubt, the worst part of being a working mother.
Like motherhood, breastfeeding is full of unique complexities. The journey has not been easy. It is, in the beginning, extraordinarily painful. From engorgement, oversupply, undersupply, mastitis, and biting, there is no comparable suffering. I have spent countless hours researching concerns, speaking to lactation consultants, and modifying my diet.
However, breastfeeding my boys has been one of the most incredible feats my body has endured. Nursing is intimate, rewarding, and full of oxytocin induced bliss. Watching my boys twirl their hair, grasp my shirt, or play with their ears, all while satisfying their needs for comfort and hunger, has been truly remarkable. But as much as I have enjoyed these moments, I am ready to close this chapter.
I’ve appreciated your ability to promote and encourage my ongoing breastfeeding journey. But alas, our time together has come to a close. I am pulling the plug, literally. I know that you will find a new home, in the clutch of another new mother’s arms, ready to begin her journey.
So long, sucker!
Sincerely,
A working mom
