Day’s Verse:
Christ has set us free to live a free life. So take your stand! Never again let anyone put a harness of slavery on you.
Galatians 5:1

Hi, my name is Katie. It’s been five days since I last pumped.

And can I just say I’m loving it? I’m not done with the weaning — once started it’s darn hard to stop milk production, even with the somewhat crazy, extreme measures I’m willing to take — but every day I feel a little more comfortable. For now, I’m moderately comfortable and well able to get through my day without pumping. This frees up so much time, I hardly know what to do with myself. On top of the extra hours a day, I find myself much less anxious all the time. Here’s what I did on Saturday, and how it would have gone with pumping:

Without Pumping

6:30: Get up, eat breakfast, gather lots of bike-related stuff together, help with getting Benji up
7:30: Leave to drive to Pacific Raceways for Team Group Health race clinic
8:00 to 1:00: Do Team Group Health race clinic for Cat 4s. Sprints, lead-outs, cornering, three mock races, and TT practice. Loads of fun and extremely valuable instruction. Chat with teammates a little bit before and after clinic.
2:00: Arrive at home, shower, eat
3:00 to 6:30: Watch Benji while Ian does errands, chill while Benji naps, play with Benji with Ian, help with getting Benji down
7:00: Make and eat dinner
7:30: Watch an episode of Star Trek Voyager with Ian
8:30: Bed

Ok, got it? A nice day, with a good long break from the baby with some fun biking in there, but also some quality time with my family. Pretty low stress. Here’s how the same day would have looked if I’d had to worry about pumping.

With Pumping

6:00: Get up and pump
6:30: Deal with milk, eat breakfast, gather lots of bike-related stuff together
7:30: Leave to drive to Pacific Raceways for Team Group Health race clinic
8:30: Potentially bring pump along and try to pump in the car before the clinic starts, deal with keeping milk cold
8:30 to 1:00: Team Group Health race clinic for Cat 4s. Sprints, lead-outs, cornering, three mock races, and TT practice. Loads of fun and extremely valuable instruction, but always watching the clock and worrying about how long it’s taking and how long it’s been since I last pumped. Potentially bring pump along and try to squeeze pumping into our one 10-minute break (unlikely). Leave immediately after the clinic finishes.
2:00: Arrive at home, immediately pump
2:30: Deal with milk, shower, eat
3:00 to 5:00: Watch Benji while Ian does errands, pump while Benji naps and/or anxiously wait for Ian to get home in case Benji wakes while I’m pumping
5:00: Pump while Ian watches Benji
5:30: Deal with milk
6:00: Make and eat dinner while Ian gets Benji down; trade off baby duties during dinner, if necessary
8:00: Pump and deal with the milk
8:30: Bed

Notice all the anxiety there? All the watching the clock, worrying about when I last pumped and when I’ll next pump? I would have had to plan very carefully to attend that clinic if I still had to pump three or four times a day. Maybe I’d have pumped twice in close proximity before leaving and not tried to bring it with me… but frankly, whatever I did, I know I would have been stressed out, constantly keeping one eye on the time, and mentally bemoaning how long everything was taking. I would have come home and felt really upset about the pumping thing, worrying that it had been too long and was I going to get mastitis again?, and certainly wouldn’t have gotten a good benefit from the clinic. I probably would have ended the day feeling frustrated and uncertain that I’d used my limited time wisely.

As it was, I focused and enjoyed myself, I worked hard, I learned as much as I could, and I came away feeling excited, eagerly anticipating the race season. This is one small illustration of how much happier I find myself on a regular basis when I don’t have to schedule around my boobs as well as Benji. No longer a slave to the pump, I revel in and actively appreciate the small additional freedom granted me. It’s a beautiful thing.