6 months EBF and still going strong!

I have been wanting to blog this for a couple of weeks, but life has been hectic and the blog has taken a backseat. I am just now getting around to updating, but on January 5th I hit a big goal that I had made for myself before Luca was born; a goal I really doubted I would be able to achieve. Luca has been exclusively breastfed for the first 6 months of his life, AND I am still doing it! He has never had a drop of formula (and there is absolutely nothing wrong with formula, I was a formula baby), and it feels like such a great achievement to know that I was able to give him that precious gift for his health and development. When he was first born I thought I wouldn't make it past 3 weeks of breastfeeding. It was the hardest thing I have ever had to do. It was physically, mentally, and emotionally draining. I will be honest I hated it at first. In the beginning I had to set little goals and take it day by day, but I pushed on because I knew it was best for him and I was thankful that I was physically able to nurse my child. It wasn't this magical special time with my child that so many people had told me it would be. Being the sole provider of nutrition for my child was overwhelming and exhausting. He depended on me and me alone for food, and it was a big job.
When I went back to work I was certain I wouldn't make my 6 month EBF goal. I was so overwhelmed with the idea of having to pump at work when I knew my days were already packed. Once I went back I took it day by day again, and eventually got into a pumping routine. Thankfully I had a decent freezer stash from my maternity leave, which helped to supplement on days when my supply was low.
Six months later, I am not crazy about being tied to a pump and having to revolve my whole life around pumping, but I will say that I have changed my mind about the time I spend nursing Luca. Every day I look forward to nursing him after work, and nursing him to sleep at night. That's my time with him. Time when he is quiet and still, and it's just the two of us. Sometimes we just stare at each other, other times I watch him sleep peacefully while he nurses and it is the best feeling. I even look forward to him waking in the middle of the night sometimes because I love sitting in the quiet darkness of his nursery with him.
My next goal is to make it to one year before I wean him. I know I can do it. Sure it will mean more sacrificing, but I know that it is worth it. I will be glad to throw the pump out the window when I am done (or perhaps reenact the scene from Office Space where he takes the baseball bat to the copy machine), but until then I am going to keep on pumping!