Sunday, July 27, 2008

Big boys need milk too!

RJ has been drinking breastmilk for his entire life. While in the NICU, they added formula to it for more calories per ounce, which we continued for a couple of weeks after bringing him home. But once he learned to nurse, that's been it.  I had a LARGE stockpile of frozen milk due to his slow start, at one time we borrowed a chest freezer to store it all. Gradually, we have been using that milk at daycare once a week and during his Daddy Fridays.  This last Thursday, I was shocked, saddened, and strangely proud as I pulled the last two bags of frozen milk from the freezer to take to daycare.  I'm still nursing him when we're together, and pumping once a day while at work. I restocked the freezer for next week's daycare, so it isn't the end of things, but the end is in sight and I haven't decided how I feel about it yet. 
RJ doesn't have any teeth yet, we don't know when they will show up! But he has started some bad nursing habits such as pulling, biting, and snacking. So it's nice to know I have formula to fill in when I've had enough abuse. We use formula in the evenings to make him eat enough that we can all get some sleep. For the most part, this works well.  I am proud of myself for giving him the best stuff possible for as long as I can. I don't know when our last nursing session will be, but I know I will miss it.

I'm feeling a little conflicted about my baby growing up. He's been sitting up for a while now, and today I showed him how to pull himself up in the crib. His legs aren't strong enough for him to do it alone, but he got into a weird yoga-type frog-leg pose by pulling up right after I helped him out. This little guy is smart! We're lowering his mattress tonight!

2 comments:

Melissa said...

Aww! You've done great with nursing/pumping! I totally understand what you mean about feeling sad when you think about him no longer nursing. It's so amazing how fast they grow! WTG RJ with sitting up and starting to pull up! Watch out Mom & Dad!

Angi said...

Kudos to you for nursing still! So many give up long before you have and you should be proud, absolutely, for giving him "the best stuff possible for as long as possible". My goal has always been a year. I only nursed two months with Chas, 12 months with Rhyse, 16months with Greer (stopped due to new pregnancy) and the Boob Jury is still out with Creux (almost 10m but still going strong). Once I got to 12 months, there was never really a reason to stop, surprisingly. And yes, those feelings of confliction will plague you every wonderful step of the way through your parenting journey! Excited for them to grow, hard to watch them go...