BFF (Breast Feeding Forever!)

I realize it's been awhile since the obligatory breast feeding post, so here is another installment. Although it's really going great, and I can't really complain, I will anyway. I was told oh so many things about the magic of breast feeding, and the wonders of nursing etc. While I would do the same thing as I'm doing now again without question, I have to say, I don't find it to be such a terrific thing. First of all, I should clarify that since I'm not home, I cannot breast feed on demand. I have to pump at work, which is, really, lets be honest, the worst of both worlds. You get all the hassle and mess and fuss of bottle feeding, with none of the benefits- i.e. you have to spend time expressing the milk, and then you have to freeze the new milk, thaw the old milk, make sure the frozen milk isn't too old, make sure the bottle is the right temp, for GOD'S sake do NOT microwave that bottle, think of the children!! etc., and your boobs get mangled all to pieces anyway.
And yet, you get all of the problems that come with breastfeeding (the drooping effect, the time factor, the sucking action that isn't exactly super fun) without any of the bonding, cuddling, loving benefits. Of course Domingo gets all the nutritional benefits, which is really the most important thing, and we are saving some cash on formula, but I can't help but feel that I'm kind of getting a raw deal, among other raw things.
For example- I was told, almost PROMISED, that nursing would melt the baby weight away. "It's 500 calories a day", they told me, "you'll be like a rubber band, and bounce right back to your pre-baby body," they said. Well I must be packing away an extra 1000, because I didn't lose any weight after 2 weeks post partum (until I started running again in earnest, and since then I've only lost like 3 pounds). Next- I was told that I would be period-free until I weaned. Well that didn't happen either! I had 7 good months(6 and a half really, those first few weeks after Domi's birth weren't exactly fun in the sun) but now I'm crabby, crampy, and bloated as ever. WHAT HAPPENED!?! While I'm a little annoyed by this prospect, what I'm more concerned about is the effect this will have on my milk supply. OH THE PRECIOUS MILK SUPPLY!! What's to become of you? Domi is still drinking beaucoup ounces, and I'm pumping less and less lately. Today he drank 22 ounces, and I pumped 12. (I'll pump again tonight, so it'll be closer to 18 ounces, but it's still deficit drinking!) The other issue is that he's so used to drinking from a bottle, that some times he gets irritated while nursing that it takes a second or two to let down. And yet another issue is that the weekends are supposed to be our time to exclusively nurse, but we've been so on the go lately, that I've been just taking a bottle along where ever we go, and giving him that instead of nursing. So I'm afraid that instead of building my supply back up on the weekends, its slowly and steadily going down down down. I think the fact he's sleeping longer and nursing less at night is working against me too, so maybe I'll have to go back to pumping at night, ugh!
On the bright side, we made it to 6 months which was a goal. (my next goal was 12 months so we could avoid formula entirely, but if it doesn't happen, que sera, sera!) Like I said, it's definitely worth it, and I wouldn't change anything if I had it to do over again (except maybe not going back to work until 6 months- that would have put me so ahead of the game in the nursing dept!). This coming weekend I will make a concerted effort to not pump at all and just have him nurse. And I'll try to pump after he nurses in the morning and the evenings. AND I'll throw back a beer or two just for good measure- all in the name of the milk supply.