We had trouble with breastfeeding from the very beginning. First there was the fact that because I was a premie (which remember, stands for "premium"), I wasn't strong enough to latch on for long enough to get any food. While in the hospital, I had a feeding tube for 24 hours and then learned to drink formula through a bottle to gain precious weight those first few days. By the time we left the hospital, I was on only breastmilk, some of which I got from nursing and the rest that I got through a bottle with breastmilk that Mom had pumped for me.
During September and October, we continued to work toward getting more milk from nursing and less from the bottle and by mid November, we had mastered it!! We didn't need the breast shield anymore and didn't need to wash pump parts and bottles everyday! But then a couple weeks later, I got thrush (from all of the antibiotics I was on) and shared it with Mom. So, back to the pumped breastmilk we went until everyone was cured. Unfortunately, it took us until the end of December to find a medicine that would make my thrush go away, and by that time I had no interest in relearning how to nurse and Mom had to go back to work soon anyway. So, we just kept on with the pumped breastmilk.
Mom kept pumping breastmilk for me until August 6th (so she could go to England pump-free!), but she had stored up enough milk for me in the freezer to last me until today. Here is a picture of my last 5 oz bottle of breastmilk.
BEFORE:
AFTER:
I did some quick math and figured out that over this past year, Mom spent approximately 500 hours doing nothing but pumping. That's 21 entire days - 3 whole weeks!! And that doesn't even count all of the time it took Mom and Dad to wash and sterilize all of the bottles and pump parts every day and all of the time spent FEEDING ME!! I also calculated that Mom pumped about 50 gallons of breastmilk for me - WOW! Not only was it healthier for me than formula (and tastier, too), it saved us almost $1000.
If Medela needs a spokesperson, my Mommy's the one! From a breastpump and a breast shield to bottles and nipples to freezer storage bags and microwave steamer bags, our family is QUITE the fan! Although some might say that our method wasn't the "ideal" or "most natural" way to feed a baby, the pump-and-feed method actually worked really well for our family. Mom had a lot of flexibility in when she pumped each day and I got lots of wonderful bonding time with Dad who helped feed me. Thanks Medela!!
Um, Mom...there's a strange looking toy in my toy box!
Time to take a break and go for a little ride around the living room. Faster, Daddy! 
For dinner, I had myself a nice tray of ravioli. Of course, when I was done, it looked like I had killed and eaten some small rodent for dinner, which was PERFECT because I was dressing up as a vampire for trick-or-treating! I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to show off my vampire teeth!
I took a late nap after dinner (to wait until the sun had set, of course) and then donned my vampire outfit! My red bib worked great as a cape! Oh, and FYI - ketchup makes for a tasty "fake-blood" option. In these picture below, be sure to check out my fangs (and red eyes)!
What an adorable little vampire!
"Bye-Bye" wasn't the first word I learned how to say, though. My first word was "light". Here's me showing Grandpa where the light in the entry way is:
I can also say "no", "dada", "mama", and "kiki" (for kitty). Let the language explosion begin!
