Attachment and Pumping

Thanks, V, for this interesting article about pumping (breastmilk).

When Zosia was a brand new baby, I was lucky enough to score a free breastpump via our amazing insurance and a midwife that was willing to tell a white lie on our behalf. I was super excited about the prospect of pumping-- this was when Zosia was nursing every couple of hours, and every time I tried to leave the house for more than 5 minutes, I would get a panicked call from Ben saying that I needed to come home to feed her. In my mind, breastpump=freedom.
In the following weeks, I became very proficient at pumping, and our freezer looked like the storage for a local dairy. However, although I was great at producing the extra milk (a blessing that was later a curse as I had to deal with overproduction), Zosia never took to accepting a bottle. She actually vehemently hated it. So, since we never really had to leave her for long periods of time, we never did.

Ben and I have promised that we're going to try a little harder to get this next baby to accept a bottle-- including introducing a bottle earlier than we did with Zosia. But, in all honesty, as I look back on that first year when Zosia and I were very attached to one another, I view it as a beautiful time. There were a few sacrifices we had to make, but all in all, I think that it was amazing to be that interconnected with anther person, and as she got older and fed less frequently, it's as if we were gradually transitioned into a more independent relationship. And now that she's weaned, I miss the closeness that we shared and am really looking forward to having a newborn around again. So who knows, maybe that beautiful breastpump is going to spend another infanthood lying around collecting dust.