Milky

Ah, all the pumping stuff is all coming back to me. At some point, I will write out for posterity all of my good tips for efficient pumping and storage of breastmilk. Today, I just want to ruminate (fitting, of someone hooked up to a milking machine like a cow!) on the effect on me of pumping four times a day.

I reek of milk. Maybe only I can smell it — I hope so! — but my bra/clothes seem to get milky no matter what I do. Thankfully, it is a sweet baby smell and not an unpleasant smell. But still.

By the end of the day, no matter how neat I try to be, there is inevitably milk splatter on my shoes. And probably my clothes. And certainly my desk.

My nipples are at constant attention. Seriously. Yours would be too, I guess, if you had a machine apply strong suction to them for 20 minutes or more at a time, several times a day. But it is a little embarassing.

The paraphenalia has taken over. I have a bottle drying rack on the kitchen counter, and use the bulky but effective microwave sterilizer every night. At the office, the pump parts are on my desk for most of the day.