nursing...almost over

after so much hard work to even nurse to begin with...we are reaching the end.  i have a lot of mixed emotions about it.  on one hand, i feel relief - although i have loved nursing the bird, i am ready to get my body and a little bit of freedom back.  on the other hand, i feel sadness as i have felt privileged and thankful to be able to nurse her as long as i have and will miss this special time with her, which no one else has been so fortunate to experience except for me. (i have to admit that i am also nervous because nursing has kind of been my “get out of the gym free” card.  and now...i seriously have to start working out again.  although i am back to my pre-pregnancy weight, i am SO out of shape!)

up until two weeks ago, we were still nursing an awful lot - 4 times a day (first thing in the am, after am nap, after pm nap and before bed) for about 25-30 each session...that’s a lot of time spent nursing!  then, the after am nap session started to dwindle, as that is also the one session i miss the most since i work at that time. (one thing i will NOT miss is pumping at the office!).  so, we stopped that session first.  no problems at all. in fact, she loved her whole milk so much that a couple of days later, she didn’t want to nurse after the pm nap.  this is a small miracle, for anyone who knows us.  we have be counting on the after pm nap nursing heavily as the bird has notoriously taken horrible afternoon naps. many days i spent a good hour or more nursing her at that time just to help her to get a little more sleep.

so now, two weeks later, we aren’t nursing at all during the day and barely at night.  the only one that seems to be sticking is that first thing in the morning session.  i’m not sure how long my supply will last now so, i am sure we will probably be finished up in the next couple of weeks...if not sooner. i feel lucky that this transition has seemed to go pretty smoothly.  it is very much led by her and she loves her “new” milk like crazy.

it has been a challenging, beautiful, frustrating, lovely thing to get to do with my bird.  filled with moments that were painful and tearful but also soothing and wonderful.  i will always cherish the memories of this time we’ve had together!