'til Next Time

We'd been putting together a pile of items to be stowed away in the attic that we were no longer using. These were all Harper's things of course and it's so weird to see items we've used countless times being put away because we no longer have use for them. It's a big reality check with how quickly she's growing! Included in the pile were her 2 walkers, 2 car seat bases, her infant carrier, and 3 boxes of clothes.

One of the last items to be added to the pile is my trusty breast pump. Over the past year, I felt like that pump and I had become 1 and that it was literally an extension of myself. Carried countless times with me to and from work, I'd been complimented more than once and asked where I'd gotten my "purse". Thinking it was just too funny to pass up, I had to tell them they could go to Babies R Us and pick one up themselves - though they might be disappointed with the actual storage space available.

Attached to my breast pump, I left the safety pin I'd first attached back when Harper was in the NICU. When we'd scrub in to visit her, we were to remove all hand jewelry, and the hospital provided safety pins to help you not lose your items. Once, while arriving back at the car and realizing I still had my safety pin on my shirt, I removed it and stuck it to the closest thing, which at that time was my pump. I left it there as a small reminder of why I had chosen to pump. Occasionally the pin would come undone and stick my in the arm as I was walking - usually dreading having to go to the glorified closet which is the Mother's Room at work. It was those times being pricked that I had to just laugh and be reminded that I needed to look at this duty as an honor and not some sort of burden.

So I bid adieu to my old pal. I plan on it being a little while until we are reunited, giving me some time off after a year of being attached at the hip.... er... well, whatever.

'til then!