The End...

Before you read, please know this is mostly post about breast feeding. There, you’ve been warned ;)

I realized last night that it has now been a week since I last nursed Lake. So I guess that is the end of our special little arrangement. We officially made it 16.5 months. I knew I wanted to do extended breastfeeding (past a year) but wasn’t sure exactly when I wanted to stop, other than knowing I didn’t want to go past October.

I’ve had some bumps in the road with nursing Lake. The most painful was when he had thrush (yeast infection) in his mouth and passed it along to me. That was painful!

Then the biting. Oh boy! I knew his incoming teeth were hurting him, but mommy is not a good teething toy! Then as he got older, holding him at the right angle would cause strain on my neck and shoulders (already a sensitive area for me) and he nursed with such force that it was painful. Lets not forget about the hitting and slapping me and getting frustrated when my supply had dropped.

But even with those little bumps, I loved every minute we had together. My favorite moments were when I was putting him to sleep. Our routine for almost a year was, I’d get off of work, take him upstairs, change his diaper, get his PJs on then nurse him to sleep. It was my down time and my connection time with Lake. I didn’t let Kaydriana fall asleep at the boob because I didn’t want her to be dependent on that being the only way she’d go to sleep, but with Lake, I treasured this little routine of ours. And ultimately, Lake now goes to sleep on his own, so I don’t regret my choices.

Two weeks ago, I was getting to the point where I could go 24-48 hours with nursing him. I felt like I didn’t really get to say good-bye, so I tried to call him over for one last nursing session. He was ignoring me, so I undid my nursing bra strap (which has a distinct sound) and he looked right at me, got the biggest smile on his face and literally squealed in delight as he ran over to me. I’ll never forget his joy!

I ended up feeding him one last time after that when he woke up in the middle of the night and I couldn’t get him to calm down. He was finally soothed and went back to sleep and that was a week ago.

I really think we could go longer, but I wanted to quit for selfish reasons. I want to change my BC, (many birth controls affect your supply) I want to start dieting, and really want to stop wearing those awful nursing bras of mine!

Lake hasn’t tried to nurse the last couple of days, but I do have to be careful when we’re showering because he has latched on to me when I wasn’t prepared! So I’ll have to be mindful of being exposed!

End Breastfeeding Post

Lake is talking and babbling so much right now. He’s added a few words to his vocabulary, but I think only Tim, Elisa, and I can decipher his little language. He now says, “first down!”, “Balloon”, “banana” along with the words he was saying before. He now uses “Mama” and “Dada” more frequently and is really good at signing, “more” and “please” consistently.

Kaydriana is dressing and redressing herself throughout the day. Even if I can manage to get her dressed before I leave for work, she is always in a different outfit when I get home and it generally involves a tutu or a princess dress. Next week, we should be able to get her enrolled into dance class.

As for me, the details have been worked out and my last day as a manager is Saturday, November 30^th. – Side note, looks like I’ll be working a 12.5 hour day that day L

I’ve really received some warm comments and many people saying how proud they are of me for making this transition for my young family. Many successful women have even told me they did something similar in their career and when their kids got older, they focused on their career growth again. My favorite comment came from an 18 year employee who said I was the best manager he has ever had. He’s gone through many managers during his career, so I take this as a very meaningful compliment!

42 days!