Disclaimer: This post is not intended to start a debate on whether or not breastfeeding is right for everybody. I believe a mother has every right in the world to choose how they want to feed their child and that their decision, whatever it maybe be, should be supported by all of their loved ones.
There are three reasons for breast-feeding: the milk is always at the right temperature; it comes in attractive containers; and the cat can't get it. ~Irena Chalmers
As Anna turns 8 months old today and still on breastmilk, I have to give myself a pat on the back. Nursing and pumping when you have one child to tend to was fairly easy. However, when I got pregnant with Anna, I immediately started to worry if I would have time to dedicate to the process like I did when it was just me, Daddy & Caroline.
My decision to breastfeed Caroline was an easy one. I saw how easy my very dear friend, Emily, made breastfeeding look and I thought "I'll give it a try. If it doesn't work, then it doesn't work." I have never been of the mindset that I HAD to nurse my children. I just thought that all mothers tried it and for whichever the reason might be, it may or may not work. End of story.
But, I fell in love with it. Talk about a special bonding time with your baby. I have no reason why it became so close to my heart, but I sure fell hard for it. Turns out, I'm a little milk maid. With both babies, I was able to produce far more than what each was consuming and it gave me the opportunity to develop a stash of milk that would make a cow blush.
I had two separate approaches with each baby. With Caroline - I strictly nursed & pumped for 6 weeks. At 6 weeks old, in preparation for her to start school at 8 weeks old, I quit nursing and continued to pump until she was 7 months old. At that point, I was able to stretch out my frozen milk until she was 11 months old when I weaned her onto cows milk. With Anna - I continued to nurse her for much longer than 6 weeks. In fact, she was 7 1/2 months old when I nursed her for the last time. I was able to send milk to school with her and nurse her in the mornings and the evenings. She had no issues switching from bottle to breast. Caroline, on the other hand, was a different story. Once we started giving her the bottle, she never wanted to nurse again.
I was starting to dread the day that I had to stop nursing Anna. I know there comes a time when you just know it's the right time to stop and a couple of weeks ago, I just knew. Anna continues to get bigger and bigger and busier as the passing of each new day. To be honest, it was hard to sit still to nurse for 5 minutes. And that just led to frustration for both parties involved. And even though I knew it was time, I was getting sadder and sadder thinking about it.
But, then it dawned on me. Yes, I'll miss it because I have really enjoyed that bonding time with Anna. And there's nothing like being given the satisfaction of doing what you have put your mind to and looking down and seeing those sweet eyes light up because she's so darn happy.
But, I was good at it. I finally found something where I could establish a goal and see it to fruition. I can't say that about too much in my life. This? CHECK.
Caroline never had a drop of formula and I hope that I can maintain that with Anna, as well. I don't feel like I have as much milk frozen with Anna as I did with Caroline, so she might be on cows milk a little sooner than 11 months, but that is something I will have to discuss with our pediatrician.
Above all, I have to thank my dear husband for supporting me. I remind him daily how much money I saved him by not buying formula. Although, I think I should have bought stock in Lansinoh with the rate I went through milk bags. Ha! He was behind me 110% the entire journey and was always there to help me whenever I needed it. My dream is to be a supportive friend to all my mom friends out there regardless of their feeding decisions. If you can provide a home with love and meaningful relationships, then all the rest will fall into place.
