On lactation

I am proud of the fact that I am taking the time and making the effort to breastfeed, and I plan to do so for as long as it's reasonable. But I have to say, nursing, though it at times makes me feel bonded with my baby, very often makes me feel like other things. Many a woman has made the comparison between the electric breast pump I use each day and those used on dairy farms. This comparison is particularly true when you use, as I do, a hands-free device (Have you ever washed dishes while expressing milk?).

Last night, as I lay in bed nursing Oliver for the umpteenth time, drifting off with my breast still hanging out, I sensed another comparison. These marathon midnight sessions, rare though they are, make me feel less like an all-you-can-eat buffet (after all, there's only one item on the menu) and more like a free-refills soda station. If you just sit there all day with your 99 cent paper cup, you can have a little more, and a little more, and a little more...