On the blog about her 9 month checkup, I talked about the plan to begin to wean her at 1 year and how I'd been wondering which one of us would be ready for that process to begin first.
My question has been answered loud and clear: She's ready. I'm not.
I'll spare the readers all the details, however it became very obvious that Harper was ready to be done being dependant on Mommy, and would much prefer the bottle/sippy cup. I wasn't expecting it to happen so soon and it took about a week and a half to really sink in that we were beginning to wean. Last Thursday was the first day I've ever not taken my pump to work with me and it was W-E-I-R-D. I truly felt like a part of me was not there.
As kids do, they do things on their own terms which is probably why it's been such a hard realization for me. I wished it could've happened when I was ready, on my terms. But - such is life and we lear to roll with the punches.
I'm just now beginning to let my mind wander into the positive aspects. As many times as I felt inconvenienced or burdened by choosing to be so steadfast in keeping up my supply and doing what I felt was absolutely best for my daughter, it's been such an honor and a privilege to have been able to and I tried to never take for granted what came so easily to us, when it did not happen so easily for other mothers.
So now, we're transitioning straight over to regular cow's milk slowly, mixing her bottles with what I pump and what I have stored in the freezer. So far, so good. No ill reactions and she seems to enjoy the change just fine. She's also enjoying the small bits of cheese we're offering and throughly enjoyed her egg yolk scramble Saturday morning. Sounds tasty, doesn't it? I'm choosing the less painful route and extending the periods of time between pumpings so as to let things taper off naturally. I'm sure in a few days I'll be blogging about saying goodbye to my pump for the long term, until it needs to be dusted off again for the next go around.
Growing up so quickly, she is.
1 comment:
I am just so impressed that you have nursed so successfully. I have looked up to you so much for this. You were able to nurse a preemie and go back and forth from bottle and breast. I have made it almost 3 weeks now. I only pray I am as successful as you were.
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