A Breastfeeding break

Well, as many of you know, we are pregnant again with Number Three.  I am 14 weeks along and finally in the blissful second trimester.  Little Man is now 13 months old and Sweet Pea will be 9 years old in a few weeks.

The original Nummy lover.

I am naturally a tall, slender person.  In fact, my fight to gain weight can only be described as a similar struggle as those who try to lose weight.  So, this makes the first trimester of pregnancies very difficult for me.  Keeping up with my battle of caloric intake for myself and then adding another person into the mix can be difficult.  History has shown that I usually lose about 8-10 lbs. in that first trimester.  (I know, I shouldn't complain...right?)  But it is very difficult.

I nursed Sweet Pea until 9 months.  That is when she decided that she was done.  I knew that I wanted to allow Little Man the same privilege of weening himself.  But, not all children will do that.  Little Man was still nursing 6 times a day (a scheduled nurser) when we first found out that we were expecting again.  We kept going and I was determined to let him nurse until he wanted to stop.  But, I had a very difficult time keeping up my supply.  Through morning sickness and constant queasiness, the added 1500 calories a day were very difficult to get.  My supply was starting to fade.  We found a recipe for amazing Galactagogue Cookies.  They were great until I couldn't stand chocolate, oats and nuts for a few weeks.  After seeing both my doctor and Little Man's doctor, we all decided that it would probably be in the best interest for all of us to start introducing cows milk and start weening from breastfeeding.

Last nummy.

Weening actually went a lot easier than I thought it would.  Even though Little Man loved his "Nummy time", he was getting so active and enjoys having his snack and sippy time now while playing on the floor.  In one month, we successfully weened.  We started by introducing his afternoon nummy time with snack and sippy.  He wasn't too interested in this nummy time for a few weeks, so it was an easy transition.  After a few days, we replaced second morning nummy time with a snack and sippy.  About a week later, we started to replace his nap time nummy with milk at lunch.  Surprisingly, he still goes down to nap easy...and now Daddy gets to cuddle him to nap!  Then we replaced morning nummy with milk at breakfast.  Just three days ago, we replaced nighttime nummy with a little cereal and milk.  So, we have successfully started giving Mommy a break.

I miss the cuddles.  I love the freedom!  For both of us!  He loves being able to play and not be interrupted or getting to be out with other people and not have to have Mommy there all the time.  He is enjoying afternoons with Neenee and Bonka when they come to visit and getting that much needed one on one grandparent time.  I am enjoying being late from a meeting or running errands and not feeling guilty for being late and making him hungry!  I know that, at the end, I was just not giving him what he needed.  Now I can tell that he is content and full.  He's become such a big boy!  I have also gained 2 lbs, which is a very good sign!!!!  Another perk, is that it won't be so hard for him to adjust once the baby comes.  Hopefully, Nummy envy won't be an issue.