weaned

I think it's safe to say that Adeline is officially weaned.  It has been almost a week since she has nursed.  At 17.5 months, it happened a lot earlier than I had planned (which stems from baby #2 happening a lot earlier than we had planned) and it's so bittersweet.  Our nursing 'career' has been really wonderful for the most part.  A few frustrating dips in milk supply, but no really big issues.  I have really enjoyed nursing Adeline.  It's always been a source of comfort and closeness for both of us.  I loved holding her close and watching her peacefully drift off to sleep.  I loved rocking her and listening to her sweet suckling.  I loved staring into her eyes and patting her little bottom.  Only while she was nursing would she lay still enough for me to really take her in.  I could size her up, notice how much she was growing.  Notice the depth of the color of her eyes, the pinkness of her cheeks.  Try to soak up all her sweetness.  I didn't, however, love the pinching or biting that came with time.  But even that does not negate all the beautiful memories I have of the time I've spent nursing Addie.  

The weaning itself has been a slow, gradual process.  I decided to wean her after we found out that I was pregnant with baby #2.  I did briefly explore the idea of tandem nursing, but quickly decided that I am not up for the demands of that.  About 4 months ago I started trying to get her to nurse less often during the day.  Then she eventually only nursed for nap and bedtime.  Then she quit nursing at nap time.  I kept nursing her at bedtime for about another month.  I was so reluctant to give that one up.  I kept thinking it was because I didn't want to mess up her bedtime routine (we are very sensitive about bedtime now that she is sleeping well).  But I think it was actually more about the fact that once I gave up the bedtime nursing, then she would be completely weaned... and growing up... way too fast.

And so here we are, baby girl completely weaned.  That gives me approximately 3 months reprieve from being a milk machine, then I start the process all over again with baby boy.  A whole new chapter of memories to write.

One of the very few pictures I have of me nursing Adeline.  She was around 3.5 months old.  Not a very romantic picture, but it's all I've got.  I'll have to be better about that with baby boy.

As a side note, Addie has been sick for the past 2 days.  Go figure... I quit giving her my antibodies and she gets sick right away!  She threw up yesterday at dinner, then again at lunchtime today.  She hasn't eaten more than a few crackers since Thursday, and she took two 2.5 hour naps today then still went to sleep at 7:30.  I'm not complaining about all the sleep, but I just hate to see her so sluggish and not feeling well.