374 hours. That’s roughly 15 and a half days, over two weeks. That’s how long I breastfeed JJ. I’m a realist, a logical person. I went into breastfeeding hoping I could do it but mentally prepared to hit roadblocks. Once JJ and I got it figured it out, I had no idea how long it would last. I had hopes to make it a year and here we are, a little over 13 months.
Once we found out we were pregnant again, I contemplated whether or not I should even stop breastfeeding. I was so uncomfortable when my milk came in with JJ and it took awhile for my body to regulate. I was an overproducer which meant a lot of uncomfortable days in the beginning. I figured with a new baby on the way, I might just keep going.
That changed once JJ started daycare. For most of his first year, we were together 24/7. I would only pump when we were apart or if I knew I would be leaving. I didn’t build the gigantic freezer stash of milk many moms do. In fact, when JJ started daycare I don’t think I had any milk in the freezer. A few days leading up to him starting daycare I would pump after nursing so I would have enough to send JJ to school with. A week or into into him being at daycare they asked me to send him more milk, but I didn’t have any more to send. I was trying to pump at home during his meal times at daycare but it wasn’t enough. Plus, I had a hectic work schedule at the time with a lot of big projects so I wasn’t always pumping exactly when I was supposed to pump or I would forget entirely.
I wasn’t interested in buying formula since I knew he would be switching over to whole milk at daycare once he turned one. Around 10.5-11 months I ended up adding whole milk into the breastmilk I would send to school. After a few weeks I sent him to daycare with straight whole milk and then he moved up to the toddler room and it didn’t matter since they provide the kids with whole milk.
Up until this past weekend, I was still nursing JJ in the mornings and at night. The slow transition to daycare, pumping less and nursing less also slowly started decreasing my supply. It’s a little over a week since I last nursed JJ but I haven’t felt any pain or uncomfortable. I’m not quite sure if my milk is dried up yet but I’m not engorged. I guess I’m thankful for our wonky situation because it made saying goodbye to breastfeeding a little easier on me physically.
While I’ve enjoyed our nursing sessions, especially our mornings and nights together, the last few weeks I’ve become a little more sensitive due to pregnancy and breastfeeding no longer interested me. Thankfully JJ has always taken to a bottle well so we haven’t had any issues on his side of things either.
It’s been an interesting journey but overall one I’ve enjoyed- breastfeeding JJ. I’m happy my body was able to provide for him. I have no idea if I’ll have the same experience with baby #2 but I’m glad I was able to breastfeed for at least one baby. It’s an amazing thing- what women’s bodies can do. Create and provide for a child. I’m forever thankful to have had these experiences because I know there are so many who can’t. While it hasn’t been easy, it’s been beautiful. 374 hours of breastfeeding and I’m clocking out! Until the end of August that is!
