And just like that...my nursing days were over!

Fifteen and a half months. That's how long I got to nurse J. In all honesty I really wanted to make it to eighteen months, but he self weaned himself.

Now I know there are a lot of people who would say "Babies won't self wean until the age of two" Well all I have to say to that is 'poo on you' Sorry to be blunt but I was starting to force J to nurse and he just wasn't having it.

It's a bittersweet feeling. On one hand, I'm so glad that I'm done with it. Not needing to be on call all the time. No more late night feedings..I get my boobies back! And then I think about all the time I got to spend with him. I provided something for him that no one else could. I have to give myself a pat on the back. After J was born, I wanted to give up two weeks in. I had sore nips, a small cut and to top it all off, I was so sore. After we both got the hang of it, things became a whole lot easier. But then I started to feel couped up all the time. I was never comfortable NIP so I would always organize my days around J nursing. After we hit three months, I said to myself..OK time to try some formula... Well that was an epic fail. First off, J wanted nothing to do with it. And secondly I felt guilty cause I was able to produce 'liquid gold' so why not continue on??

At six months all my other mommy friends (who had children close to J's age) children were off the boob and on to the formula/bottles. So I thought.. OK.. let's try it again. Maybe this time he'll take it. WRONG! Again he threw a fit. So I thought about it again, I'm still producing milk..why would I switch now?? So I set a new goal for myself. Let's make it to a year.

Happy birthday to you...J turns one! What a happy and sad day all in one. First off, my 'infant' is no ,longer an infant he is a small child (toddler if you will) and we both hit a MAJOR milestone. We made it to a year! Some of my family members were shocked to know that I was still nursing my 12 month old son... but I never really paid much attention to them. J had his first sippy of dare I say it.. COWS milk at ten months and he loved it! The transition from breast milk to cows milk was easy peasy. Although the main source of 'milk' was still me. (Please, do not tell me that Cows milk is meant for baby cows cause I'll lose it. I'm raising my child..not you!!) Sorry to be blunt again, but it drive me CRAZY when I hear other 'lacativst' say s*** like that.  Get off your high horse. If you can/want to nurse till your child is a certain age then bravo to you. But please don't make me out to be the bad buy... ok rant over.

At fifteen month J's nursing schedule dropped..drastically. He went from 3 nursings a day to just one.. then 2 weeks later.. he was done with my boobies. I tried to force him to nurse and that didn't go over to well with him. So I just stopped. I tried again a few days later and all I got was little love bites.. then he would run away.

I will treasure my nursing days with J forever. He taught me a lot about patients and he will never truly know how much I appreciate that. I know that I gave him the absolute BEST for 15 months... I am so proud of myself and J... and I look forward to my next nursling when the time comes.

Much love

xoxoxo