An unexpected gift

I have been so grateful that for the past 11 months I have been able to pump enough milk for Aya.  I have to admit though, it has not been my favorite thing to do.  Holding baby Aya and seeing the joy she gets from nursing is worth every effort, but pumping isn't exactly enjoyable.  Despite my efforts to look at the positive aspects, I have grown tired of the routine.  Plus, it still makes me a little sore.  However, I had decided that I would continue to pump twice a day beyond her first year to make sure she continued to receive the best nutrition I could give her.  I kept telling myself it wasn't her decision that I work. 

And so I was okay with continuing my pumping regime.  Over winter break though, an unexpected gift came my way!  While away from work, I was able to nurse Aya as often as she wanted and sometimes she would go an entire daytime without nursing.  She was sleeping well at night and so often I might only be nursing 3-4 times in an entire 24 hour period.  When I returned to work a week and half later, it was very obvious my supply had naturally dropped because suddenly my standard 8 ounces a day had dropped to 6 or even less.  Rather than worry about not getting enough, I decided to just go with this new amount.  I told our sitter to let me know if it didn't seem to be enough for Aya, but after a few days she said Aya was doing great despite the smaller bottle.  This meant I really wasn't going to have to keep pumping as much after all ,and I can now get enough milk from just one pumping session a day.  This small little gift of time that I no longer have to pump has been a nice surprise and reminds me that in the big picture, the time we mothers pump for our babies is really very short and worth more than we can know.