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| Riley, 10 lbs 2 oz, beautiful VBAC, August 14th 2008 |
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One day old, nursing non stop, good latch
champion breastfeeder |
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| 1 month old |
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| Cutie |
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| In the Bjorn, walking the kids to school |
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| Snoozing, Ayden, Momma, Riley |
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| Pouty lip |
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| Chubs loves booby |
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| Milk pukes |
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| Riley and I, with my cousin Sara and Ryen, NIP |
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| Chubby pumpkin, 100% mommy milk |
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| With Sara and Ryen again, Dr Seuss style |
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| nursing in the Ergo |
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| Not an NIP photo, but I love this one... |
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| Ditto: the year Ri was born we had so much snow... |
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| NIP at a restaurant |
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| NUMMERS! |
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| Gentian violet face |
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I pumped daily for Riley's older brother for 14 months...
On this day he decided to help himself while I was pumping |
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| One year old |
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| 18 months (Christmas) |
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| 2 years old (and I was pregnant with Amarys here) |
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| Welcome, baby sister! |
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| 3 years old |
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| 3 years, 2 months old, several weeks before weaning |
It was a beautiful journey, and a wonderful part of our relationship. And now it's done. I'm a little bit sad, and a bit relieved, because I was definitely done. I nursed Ayden for 14 months, pumped for Matthew for 14 months, and nursed Riley for 38 months. A pretty good run, I'd say! I had been feeling 'done' for several months, and talking with Riley about the possibility of being finished with nursing for awhile. Then one day last week I nursed him in the morning (painfully; no matter how much latch and position adjustment I did, I could only get a painless latch about 20% of the time in the past few months) and thought, 'this is it. I'm done. I don't want to do this anymore.' So midmorning I sat him down and told him we were done. I said I love him and we can do other things like cuddles, songs, tickles, and kisses, but no more milkies, because he's such a big boy now. We talked about fun things that big boys can do that little boys and babies can't do, and made plans to bake cookies together as a fun, big boy activity. And that was it.
He's asked a few times, and is pretty persistent about it first thing in the morning and last thing at night in particular. He LOVED his milkies. But I can talk him out of it, and sometimes snuggles with daddy are a nice substitute. We're both a bit sad, and I was more ready than he was to be finished, but we're managing! Yesterday in particular, he baked cookies with me, planted bulbs in our garden with Brent and I, and ate ice cream specifically because he is a big boy. And he seemed pretty happy with that.
=)
So am I.
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11 comments:
thanks for sharing that account. I still love the bottom-lip pouting picture.
Awwww aw aw!!! I am crying! What a beautiful journey - thank you for sharing such lovely photos!
I was such a BOOB when I nursed Elijah - very, very private, and therefore NOT ONE PICTURE of me breastfeeding him. I regret this so much. SO much.
With Jonah, I have taken a few, but I should step it up. Breastfeeding is such a sweet, memorable journey, that goes by incredibly fast, and I want to remember and relish those tender moments.
Awww! Thank you again for sharing!
Great post! Makes me a bit teary to see him move into the "big boy" classification. You've given him such a gift with prolonged access to milkies. I'd be interested to hear if you notice any difference physically ie increased energy, while no longer asking your body to produce milk for 2 parasites! or should i say 3!
So many great pictures! You remind me that I need to ask the husband to take more of Annabelle before we reach the end of our journey. I'm glad to hear the end seems to have come at a time that works for both of you.
What does your mom mean by "3" ??!
If there's relevant news in recent, previous posts (!!!!), I haven't gotten there yet.
Such a beautiful post. What's fun is that I've been reading your blog long enough to recognize most of the pics!!
I too have been ready for Z to be done, for several months now. She is such a nurser though, mostly at night before bed. Last night I thought, "this is it" - just like you, that specific moment of not being willing to go on. Her 3rd birthday is in a month, and we've been tossing that around as an end date. It will be tough. I think I will show her this post of yours and use it to talk through her nursing stages.
Ha ha, Lor. No hidden twin or unplanned pregnancy here! Remember my milksharing journey? My mom means Brayden, my friend's little boy, for whom I still pump every day!
Em and Melissa, I think it's tough to get good photos of yourself breastfeeding; it feels a bit weird and immodest, and you're always taking up both hands while you are doing it, so you have to ask someone else to photograph you. I think memory serves just as well as the camera for that cool relationship, although it was nice to walk through hundreds of photos of Riley and realize I had so many of us nursing!
=)
and mom, I haven't noticed any changes yet, except for having tons of milk at bedtime and in the morning! I will keep you posted...
Ha. I got back on here to say your milk sharing adventure just dawned on me.
And I read the other post about this being the bittersweet end of intentionally creating new little Voses. And I do say "creating," as there are clearly other ways of a person becoming a Vose, and I do say "intentionally" because, well, you never know. ;)
Thank you for sharing, Mel. I love being part of your journey.
So sweet! I'd say that's a fabulous run. And a beautiful tribute, for sure!
What a great idea to celebrate the journey like this! Thanks for sharing, and congrats on so many good memories.
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