Crying Over Spilt Milk

I've pumped breast milk every now and then since Lola was about 4 weeks old so that family members could give her a bottle. But it hasn't really been a necessity until this week when I (temporarily) went back to work for a short stint (it's a long story having to do with health insurance and employee status.) Now that I've actually been gone during the day, expressing milk for a bottle has become a requirement. I'm happy to do it for Sweet Lola, but it takes time, and care, and to be honest, somewhat of a hassle between transporting the pump and parts to work, finding a time (and a place) to actually pump, washing and sterilizing all the parts, and sorting the milk into storage bags for the freezer. So you can only imagine the frustration and disappointment of spilling over 6 ounces of milk onto my kitchen counter while trying to transfer today's bounty from the container to the storage bag. I'm guessing that only a mother can relate - it probably doesn't seem like all that big of a deal outside of mother-world. But trust me - it was quite traumatic. My friend Laurie once compared pumping bottles at work to living paycheck-to-paycheck. It's so true! And my check just bounced.