2 days ago, i breastfed isaiah for the last time. i didn't realize it would be the last time so it's a little bittersweet to think about it. i had a feeling it might be the last time but didn't know for sure. i'm proud of myself for making it this far. i'm excited to have my body back all to myself. i'm so excited not to have to wash pump parts and bottles anymore! i'm a little sad that my baby boy is growing up and doesn't "need" me as much anymore. most of all, i'm thankful that my body cooperated and was able to produce enough milk for our son to thrive and grow.
from the beginning, i knew my overall goal was to get to 1 year but i set small goals for myself along the way.
- my 1st goal was to make it out of the hospital without having to supplement formula. almost immediately after giving birth, isaiah quickly latched on and knew what to do. i always say that i was lucky not to have any issues with pain or discomfort while nursing. right away, isaiah had a perfect latch and was well coordinated feeding. i nursed him every 1.5-2hrs during those first few days. i was so worried about his weight and jaundice that anytime he was awake, i basically nursed him. this really helped establish my milk supply.
- my 2nd goal was to make it out of my maternity leave without having to supplement (7 weeks). breast feeding was so easy and convenient until i got thrush. it was awful. i will spare you the details but just know that i had to not only take an oral medication, i also had to swab my breast with a water-vinegar mixture and swab isaiah's cheeks and tongue with a medication after EVERY feeding. that was at least 10x/day if not 12x/day. for SIX WEEKS. (i thought it was cured and went away but it came back!) all of the milk that i pumped during that time was "tainted" so had to be thrown out or scalded (too much work) before feeding which kills the good antibodies floating around in the milk. this almost ended the journey for us as i was so frustrated and exhausted.
- my 3rd goal was to make it to 6 months. this meant pumping every 3 hours while at work even when taking 28hr call. by this time i had developed a bit of an oversupply and isaiah would sometimes choke and spit milk up all over me while nursing. it was very frustrating but i am forever thankful that i was able to build up the frozen supply of breastmilk i had in the freezer.
- my 4th goal was to make it to 9 months. this was around the time that my supply really took a dip. isaiah was eating more solid foods and i was getting lazy about pumping. i had a really busy month on service and sometimes would only pump 1x/day instead of the 2-3x/day i need to. because i was always blessed with an over supply often i would get enough milk pumping 2x/day for the the 3 bottles isaiah was taking at daycare. one day i remember pumping at work and only getting 2-3 ounces for the whole day. i was devastated. i had taken my great supply for granted, and now it was dwindling away. i decided to make pumping a priority and to stop being so lazy. i pumped every 3 hours while i was at work and even added in a pumping session before bed when isaiah was alseep. i took fenugreek 3 pills 3x/day. i drank a crap load of water. luckily my supply made a comeback. although not as robust as before, i was making just enough or 1 -2 ounces shy of what isaiah needed. plus i still had a good frozen milk stash to pull from.
- my last goal was 1 year. isaiah seemed to be allergic to cow's milk. every time i gave him yogurt or cooked mac & cheese while cow's milk, he'd break out in a hives. i wasn't sure what type of milk to give him after his first birthday so we got allergy testing. i was afraid he'd be breast feeding until he was 5 if we couldn't figure out what type of milk to switch him to. he tested slightly positive for cow's milk (3mm wheal) so we worked on transitioning him off of breast milk a week shy of his first birthday. at first we tried mixing breast milk with cow's milk since his allergist said he might not be that allergic to it. by the time we got to 3/4 cow's milk 1/4 breast milk, he broke out in a rash and we switched to organic vanilla soy. at first he went on a strike, refusing to drink any liquids since we went cold turkey on his bottles. after about 3 days he came around and has been drinking soy milk ever since.
- at 12 months, i was still nursing him before bed and in the morning. i began nursing him before his bath and bed time routine to remove the association of falling asleep at the breast. then one night i didn't offer to nurse him, and he didn't seem to ask for it and we were down to breast feeding once a day in the morning. isaiah had this silly habit of waking up at 5am daily. if i nursed him and put him back in his crib, often he would go back to sleep until 7-8. i was afraid if i stopped nursing at 5am, he would be up for the day at 5am - way too early for me! then yesterday he surprised by by sleeping in until 7am!! he slept from 7:30pm - 7am! i decided just to get him up and dressed and feed him breakfast. he didn't seem to mind or miss nursing. i can admit it hurt my feelings just a little but i was so proud of him! then this morning he woke up at 6:15am and we snuggled in bed and watched mickey mouse until i fed him breakfast at 7:00am.
awww...love it! Thanks for sharing your story. Closing the books for you and I'm just starting...AGAIN. LOL I'm back to work in a week so starting to pump and store!
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