When I first found out I was pregnant, I received mixed messages from the medical community regarding breastfeeding while pregnant. The nurses told me I should stop because it could cause me to go into early labor, and my OBGYN said it was fine, but I would want to stop for my own sanity. I didn't want to hear either of their voices because initially I felt fine nursing while pregnant. But then the pain got worse. And worse. It felt like every time she latched she was bitting harder, but she was not, it was just that my breast were getting more sensitive.
I tried to start telling LO, no more nursing, and she would kick and scream and cry and throw a fit! I tried to distract her with other activities, toys or a drink but she was not having it. I tried rocking her to sleep and night and sometimes that worked, but then the next night it wouldn't. So I would give in and nurse. My darling husband, would tell me I had to be strong if I wanted to really wean her. He has always been supportive of me breastfeeding from day 1, and never told me when we should wean, but he saw how much agony I was in every night. We would be off again on again, weaning for a few days then nursing again. I was not ready yet so we kept nursing.
Weeks later I realized I wasn't producing any milk. I am not sure when my milk actually dried up, and I was in denial at first, but I tested it many times, and sho nuff, my milk was gone! This caused another set of emotions to rise within me, which I will blog about later. But once I realized the little one was dry nursing, I was even more encouraged to wean. However this time, I took off night duty.
I discussed with my husband how I could not do this on my own and he had to put our baby to sleep at night, and he gladly took on this responsibility. He put on some nature sounds, rocked her, and sometimes gave her a bottle of coconut milk, and I would leave the room until she fell asleep. A couple of nights the hubby has been busy with work and she kinda just fell asleep on her own. What a blessing, this felt like a miracle!
She still asks to nurse at night and during the day, but now she doesn't kick or scream when I say no or try to distract her with something else, she just moves on. I keep thinking one day she will forget about nursing, but I don't think that will be soon. This weekend will mark two whole weeks and this is the longest stretch by far we have ever gone without the boob! I am proud of us, and feel blessed that the transition has been going smoothly. Hallelujah!
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