Officially Weaned

As of mid-April, Amar'e has completely weaned. To my surprise, this went remarkably smooth. She hadn't been nursing a whole lot so the transition was natural and pretty easy. It involved very little tears or an upset toddler, which was ideal because I wanted the wean to be as easy on her as possible. I truly never had a set idea of how long I was going to nurse her, I just let it happen. I wrote about the thought of weaning and a little bit about my breastfeeding experience here.  I am not sure what caused her to give it up in the end. I am assuming it was a mix between the taste of my milk getting salty because of the hormonal changes my pregnant body is going through, and me suggesting another activity when she would ask for her bubba. She was always willing to give the other activity suggestion a try and forgot all about wanting to nurse. One day I realized that she hadn't nursed in over a week. At this time I do believe I gave into a request of hers to nurse, I guess to just give it a try after a week of not doing it, and it was extremely uncomfortable for me. That must of been my turning point of physically not being able to nurse her anymore. Probably due to the hormonal changes once again, and the thought of tandem nursing is frankly overwhelming to me.  I give those mother who nurse a baby and a toddler credit because I don't think I would be able to handle doing that. How would I get anything done? Other than nursing children? Although, if Amar'e were still nursing when the baby arrived, I'm pretty sure I would be a tandem nursing mother, most likely, not getting anything done (besides feeding children) and that would be OK.

Anyway, I could not be more happy that the wean was done smoothly and without any problems. I also could not be more proud of myself for nursing my lovely little baby for over two years. Nursing doesn't come instinctively for every mother, but it did for me (don't get me wrong, it wasn't overly easy to learn). I am very happy that I never was met with any negativity about our choice of extended-breatfeeding(I guess it's the official name for nursing a child after the age of one). Maybe it isn't viewed as harshly as I thought it was viewed. I'm pretty sure seeing that Time magazine that featured an article on extended nursing set my mind on the course of thinking that is was thought of as negative. Or maybe it is, and I  never found myself in a situation where I noticed negativity about nursing a toddler. Either way, when it comes to what's best for my family, I let my feelings guide me and not the opinions of others. Now I have four more months until I start the next chapter of nursing another child.

This is the outcome of an exclusively breastfeed vegan child:

Results: Perfection!!!!

I want to hear your story...did you breast or bottle feed. Were you happy with your decision? Any regrets?

23 Weeks

How far along? 23 Weeks

Total weight gain: 7lbs

Maternity clothes? Nope 

Stretch marks? No new ones!

Sleep: A few days after returning from Florida I started sleeping horribly. This makes for a very grumpy,groggy,tired Desiree

Best moment this week: Amar'e insisting on me feeling her belly because she is convinced there is a baby in there. Seriously.....too.....cute!!!

Miss anything? Being able to sit, stand, bend over normally. Sciatica is horrible! It is getting really really bad!

Movement:Yes, yes, yes. Lots of movement. Kicks are getting stronger.

Food cravings: Fruits and vegetables,lemons,tomatoes,nachos,chocolate chip cookies, salt, this chickpea concoction that Andrew whipped up one day for lunch, Brussels sprouts, caramelized onions, Mangos,Watermelon...

Anything making you queasy or sick: Pretty much over this part of the journey.I hope.

Gender: We will not be finding out the gender until the day the baby arrives. I have been watching the DVD of the ultrasound, and I have a suspicion that we are having a boy. I am in no way trained in gender determination of ultrasounds, so I am extremely uncertain. We still will be picking out a boy name and a girl name. 

Symptoms: Heartburn has become a huge problem. Its usually sets in during the evening and it makes me miserable!!

Belly button in or out? In.

Wedding rings on or off? On.

Happy or moody most of the time: Still getting some mood swings on and off. If I get hungry...watch out.

Looking forward to: My sciatica adjustment on 7/9, but sad I might have to reshedule due to Andrew's schedule.