On weaning...

I really wanted to write this post more for Brooklynn and I. So I understand if no one reads it, or gets it, but to me it was a really special time.


Ten and half months of nursing. Exactly.


Let me start by saying I never planned to make it this far. I thought I would try my hardest. My ultimate goal being six months. But if I didn't make it that long or it was too hard to pump at work, I wasn't going to beat myself up over it. I am a realist over somethings. I knew it was going to be hard to but worth the effort.


So Brooklynn latched immediately. Within 12 hours of being home from the hospital, my milk came in. After about three weeks i didn't have to wake Brooklynn up during nursing. At seven weeks when she started sleeping through the night, I had to pump in the mornings because I had so much milk. Thus begins the journey of having plenty of milk for Brooklynn and such an attachment to nursing.


We started rice cereal at four months, no change in milk consumption. It wasn't until about six months, when she started teething and eating so much that I waivered. We were about to quit. I talked to her pediatrician and figured out the formula we would use. But we cut a breakfast feeding which made a huge difference. She stopped biting. We kept at it.


When I found out I would probably have to have surgery in September I really decided that I was going to have to wean. We slowly cut a feeding a week. Until all that was left was morning and night feedings. I cut  her night feeding and cried. When she refused a bottle I sobbed. (Luckily she was teething). Now she has frozen milk until just after 11 months which is when her Dr. said she could go on cow's milk.

Sunday September 25 I breastfed my Brooklynn for the last time. I cried but I am so grateful for the time I was able to feed her. It is such a gift that a lot of women don't get to have. I enjoyed every minute of our time together. Thankful and blessed.