So a couple weeks ago it was "World Breastfeeding Week", and that's when i had planned to write this post, but of course, life got in the way.
Here I go: We are officially done with nursing...and I cannot believe I [we] made it that long! It was a looong 17 months. There were so many times that I went back and forth on when to quit and essentially it happened pretty naturally. There were a quite a few tears and a night or two that you woke up crying for it, but I knew it was time. I could tell i was turning into a pacifier for you. And to be honest, we probably could have stopped way sooner, but you were sucking the calories out of me and I liked being skinny.
Will i nurse my next baby? You betcha!! I miss it, and I cannot wait until i get to experience that oxytocin rush associated with nursing. Plus like I said before, eating whatever i want and having the excess calories go towards milk production, is a win/win if you ask me. Although I doubt next baby gets the luxury nursing sessions you received (I'm talking about how you somehow managed to wiggle your way into our bed). Dada is going to have to buy you a TemperPedic mattress to get you to sleep in your own bed! lol, jokes on him ;)
So, where do i start...
From day one i planned to breastfeed. i read every article about it on the Internet and watch tons of YouTube videos of moms nursing their babies. To say I did my research is an understatement. I knew the minute you were born we needed to do skin-to-skin and try to get you to latch and start nursing asap. we did it, you immediately latched and you were a champ at nursing.
Breastfeeding has so many health benefits for babies and moms, but I'm not going to get into any of that...
I've probably written about most of my memories nursing you, but here are some of the times that stood out the most to me:
i thought i had the flu the second week of your life. Dada literally took care of you that first week, so once i was feeling better the second week Dada took a much-deserved day off and went fishing. later that afternoon i started having chills and an all-over not feeling very well. i took my temperature and it was around 101 F. i started panicking, insisting i had the flu. called the pediatrician to see if i needed to quarantine myself (oh wait the baby still needs to eat!!!). i was so upset and crying. i had Joanie buy me a face mask so i could still feed you. i googled what to do, because of course i needed a second opinion regarding what the Pediatrician told me...it's best to nurse through the sickness. Essentially a person has the virus in their system before symptoms show, so by the time you realize you have a cold the baby has already received antibodies from the breast milk to keep them well. liquid gold right there if you ask me. plus, i read that it's very hard for a newborn to catch a cold because their bodies have so many antibodies that are built up in the womb. but that;s beyond the point.
pumping at work. it sounded like an oil rig. I would lock myself into a small office with bright pink computer paper taped to the glass window and crank up the machine. i hated having to ask my employer if i could go pump and I'm sure they were happy to take the hot pink paper down and turn the lactation room back into an office. plus the breast milk in the fridge; it had to gross someone out.
you wanted to nurse ALL. THE. TIME. and i hated being tied down. or having to excuse myself at family functions to go feed the baby.
Dada started calling me the Milk Maid. He walked into the bedroom one time when you were about 14 months old and said, "she looks way to big to still be nursing." But he and I both knew that we were giving you the best of the best!
You didn't cut a tooth until around 9, maybe 10ish months, so I'm pretty sure that had a lot to do with how long we nursed. People would ask if you would bite me, and you never really did. When you cut your top teeth you would bite every now and then, but you were also at an age to understand that if you bit me, no more boob. so I think that if you were younger when you started cutting teeth it might have been a different story.
I'm sure there are so many more stories that i could write about nursing and such, but I've had this post in draft-form since the beginning of this blog, so I'm going to wrap it up and call it done!
Now, to start thinking about getting you out of our bed! Just kidding...i love snuggling with you :)
xoxo,
Mommy
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