Tuesday, October 26, 2010

And Another Chapter Closes...

My sweet Adrienne is officially weaned. 17 months is a long time to nurse a baby (according to most people's standards) but I nursed Brooke just shy of two years so I feel so weird that we're done already. It's always bittersweet when one of my kids moves onto the next step but she self-weaned and it was done in the most natural, healthy way. For that I am extremely happy!

Adrienne was never much of a nurser anyways so really, it's surprising that she nursed for as long as she did. I always said that my goal was to get her to a year and anything past that would be a bonus. Well, I got 5 months worth of "bonus nursing" so that's definitely a good thing. She always associated nursing with eating (go figure!) while Brooke associated it was comfort and security. Those 2 girls are so different so would I be surprised by them being opposites here??

Breastfeeding is such a beautiful, amazing thing. I have had countless hours of precious time feeding both of my girls. I have sacrificed my body, my time, and my ability to be away from them for many, many months. I am so thankful for all of that! It's crazy to think that I have been either pregnant or nursing since June of 2006 with no break. If this next baby nurses for at least a year then I will be done nursing in March of 2012. That would be 6 continuous years of having my body of "loan." Wow... CRAZINESS! Maybe this short break from breastfeeding won't be so bad after all:-) Lol

I still can't believe that Adrienne is officially done! This time last year she was just tiny and now she's completely weaned and very much a toddler. Oh how the time flies!

2 comments:

rccalyn said...

Congrats on making it 17 months! That's awesome. I nursed Marissa for 16 months, and while she had definitely started to show signs of self-weaning, I wasn't happy with how it ended (had to stop for antibiotic after a miscarriage). I'm still nursing Arianna in the mornings and after nap. It's been my goal since she was born to nurse her until I have another baby to nurse! I'm really hoping that by still nursing, I won't have such a miserable first 2 months of it this time around. I could probably easily wean Arianna now, and she'd never notice. But for now we're still going strong :-)

It is weird to calculate how long my body hasn't been "mine"! It's a good thing though - and doesn't all this breastfeeding help toward preventing breast cancer? I thought I heard that somewhere...

*~tRiStYn MiChElLe~* said...

awe!!! its so bittersweet isnt it?? Next time I see adrienne i know i will be shocked at how big she got!! Its been soooo long!!! :(