Breastfeed Weaning

So long overdue but better late than never.  I wanted to document my journey so I would have a reference for the next time around.  Everything I read online stated that other moms stopped breastfeeding and poof two days later felt fine.  However, that was not my experience at all.

I set my goal to stop at eight months.  I had stored enough milk to last me some time. But eight months came and went and here I was still pumping away. Then we hit Christmas and I swore I was done after that, but we planned a vacation to Florida over New Year's and I knew better than to start the process then. Here I am ten months postpartum and continually putting off the weaning process but at the same time completely over the daily grind of pumping every 4-5 hours.  I will admit I am the absolute worst person at water consumption and while the back and forth on when to stop was going on I was training for my first 1/2 marathon.  So my body took over and started to produce less milk due to dehydration when my miles increased, which I took as a sign that it was a means to an end. 

I went from pumping four times a day to first thing in the morning and right before bed at night.  This schedule continued for about two weeks.  I figured I had weaned enough that I could just stop since I hadn't been filling up anymore.  I was now only two weeks away from my 1/2 and eleven months postpartum.  There was not a chance in hell I would lug my pump down to Disney for this race, and I was ready to be done.

As mentioned previously, the info I found online seemed to be extremely sugarcoated.  Mothers on forums were mentioning that days 2-5 were the worst but then engorgement subsided.  I was fully engorged for two whole weeks.  So much so that I could not lift my daughter or hold her b/c the mere touching of anything to my chest brought tears to my eyes. And running was completely out of the question, not the best timing I know.  Finally I called the lactation consultant from my hospital who was wonderful and confirmed I was doing all the right things - cold compresses, avoiding warm water in the shower, restrict movement, pain medicine and express small amounts for pressure relief.  She even suggested the old wives tale of cold cabbage leaves in your bra.  She made an insightful point that if my body had been lactating for eleven months, it simply couldn't turn off a switch and stop producing cold turkey.  Everything takes time and patience is necessary.  Lucky for me, I felt completely back to normal just days before leaving for the race.

Christmas (2015)

Photo dump of Liv's first Christmas.  Christmas morning she came downstairs, looked at the new gifts from Santa and went to her toy chest to play with her old things.  However, both Liv and I were sick the day after Christmas which forced us to slow down and lounge around the house.  This provided the perfect opportunity to play with all her new toys.  I couldn't tell you which new item is her favorite, but I would say the top three contenders are her baby doll, drum and ball pit. 

Meeting Santa for the 1st Time (2015)

On Sunday we drove down to Stone Harbor to enjoy Brunch with Santa at the venue where Randy and I got married.  The day was exactly how I pictured my wedding to be with indoor/outdoor seating overlooking the bay and the doors wide open to enjoy the 60 degree temps.  However, my wedding day it poured like hell in March with freezing temps. Anyway, even though it does not feel like Christmas in the Northeast, we are happily enjoying the weather while it lasts.  Here are some pics of Liv meeting Santa for the 1st time.  I was honestly surprised when the first official meet and greet went so well.  No tears. A little uncertainty and awe of the man in the big red suit.  But when it came time for her to sit on Santa's lap was a different story.