When I found out I was pregnant with my first child I was so very excited. I signed up for all the classes that the hospital offered.

I hate breastfeeding…no, it’s true, I really do!

I breastfed my first daughter Carla for three months, and it was sheer hell…

I am not exactly sure when it was that she started really nursing well again, but I do know that we have a special story to tell about a beautiful little girl.

Before my second daughter was born, I had already made my decision that I was not going to breastfeed. My decision was made mainly for selfish reasons and partly because I had an unsuccessful time with my first child due to a birth defect. I just didn’t want to be tied down.

My son was born three weeks early. My head was in a spin. I was a new Mom, with all the doubts and uncertainties that come with the territory. I had an unexpected cesarean section, my baby had a terrible head cold and I couldn’t get a decent latch out of him.

When my first daughter, Elizabeth, was born in March 2000, I planned to nurse her for about 5 or 6 weeks till I had to go back to work, then switch to formula.  Since I work 12-hour days as a pharmacist with no scheduled lunch or breaks, I did not think that I would be able to pump.

“If you don’t give a bottle to your baby in the first two months, he may never take one,” said an article. Wouldn’t want that to happen, I thought. I knew that I should not give artificial nipples in the first six weeks. To be safe, I decided to wait seven.

As a full-time working woman and part-time pumping mom, I’ll be the first to admit that pumping breastmilk for my baby can be a bit inconvenient. But then again, babies can be a bit inconvenient.

I suppose that many would say that worrying about how your formula fed your baby is ridiculous.  It’s over and done with, and there’s nothing you can do to change what’s done.