2 Tim. 4:7-8 (Princess Kay of the Milky Way Version)

"I HAVE FOUGHT THE GOOD FIGHT"

• 10 months - 300 days - of providing my sons with the best source of nutrition possible: breastmilk
• 1 Medala Pump in Style (it isNOT stylish!) and DOZENS of assorted parts
• 2 post-hospitalization appointments with United Hospital's lactation consultants, resulting in
• 1 Nipple Ointment antibiotic prescription for an infection
• 2 boxes of disposable breast pads before I wised up and bought washables ones
• a dozen or so assorted nursing bras and tanks
• 2 twins nursing pillows and 1 green Boppy pillow
• excruciating pain as "Barracuda" and "Piranha" learned to latch

"I HAVE FINISHED THE RACE"

• Hospital
• My house
• My mother's, mother-in-law's, grandmothers' and sisters' and friends' houses
• Airport bathrooms
• AirPLANE bathrooms
• My van in parking lots (notably, Burger King and Meijer's)
• Hawaiian condo and beaches
• St. Maartin hotel room 
• Church nurseries
• Macy's Mall of America

"I HAVE KEPT THE FAITH"

•  3 months of pumping 8 times/day  (approximately 120 hours of pumping)
• freezing breastmilk in ice cube trays resulting in 4 gallon-sized Ziploc bags full
• using the frozen milk that I thought would last into eternity in the 4th month
• 7 additional months of pumping at least once/day (approximately 60 hours of pumping)
• roughly 180 hours of pumping in 10 months =  7.5 24 HOUR DAYS attached to a milking device

"NOW THERE IS IN STORE FOR ME THE CROWN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS BUTTER, WHICH THE LORD MINNESOTA STATE FAIR WILL AWARD TO ME ON THAT DAY - AND NOT ONLY ME, BUT ALSO TO ALL WHO HAVE LONGED FOR HIS APPEARING NURSED TWINS FOR 10 MONTHS OR MORE."

Happy 10 month birthday, Matthew and Nathan - and congratulations on successfully weaning yourselves, my little fishies.

 (If you're not from Minnesota and don't know what I'm talking about, check out this article.)