It’s not how I planned. But then again, what is?
Bubba Joe is officially weaned from breastfeeding. He has been since LG was born. (LG = little girl) But again, it is not how I planned.
You see, I nursed him through my pregnancy. Again, not exactly what I intended, to get pregnant and nurse. But getting pregnant with Bubba Joe took some time. I expected it to take more time with LG. (But thanks to the baby vibes at my sis’s house – and maybe her hot tub to help us relax … you get the picture.)
So when I found out I was pregnant, I purchased the book Adventures in Tandem Nursing produced by the Le Leche League International. It helped debunk some of the ideas out there about nursing while pregnant and gave ideas on what to do when baby comes, including nursing both children and even weaning. I found the book very supportive and as always, went along with BJD and my approach of letting Bubba Joe guide us in when he hits certain milestones.
But then, my pregnancy was complicated. I was hospitalized. BJD brought in Bubba Joe every few days to nurse – at that point we were fearful of having a preemie. The first hospital stay I was 27 weeks pregnant. Not even in my 3rd trimester. Because of the preemie fear, I wanted to ensure my milk supply. Weaning was not an option. No! Instead, I wanted to make sure I had more than enough milk.
But then came the struggles – do I have Bubba Joe nurse more often? That meant his dad would have to bring him into the hospital more. That meant Bubba Joe would be exposed to lots more germs. Which could mean he would get sick. Which of course, meant that if we had a preemie, we’d be struggling with a little one in the NICU and a sick one at home.
We didn’t have a preemie.
But when LG was born, BJ was sick. Ugh. Bronchitis. Again.
He had it for at least 1 week before I was hospitalized and it lasted an additional 3. I was in the hospital for 1 week after LG’s birth. That meant we were home with him sick for 2 full weeks.
Coming home was a struggle. His ped had told us he was highly contagious for the first 10 days of being sick and if LG caught what he had, she would surely have breathing difficulties.
BJD and I went back and forth and back and forth. We did the math. It was over 10 days from his initial signs. We had “planned” on him bringing his sister home with us from the hospital. But like most of our plans …
Bubba Joe hadn’t nursed for my entire last hospital stay – 10 days total. Prior to that, he nursed mostly at nap time or bed time. Some days, he wanted “milk” more often. Other days he wasn’t interested.
And today, he’s weaned.
He asks for “milk” more often recently. But BJD and I both agree that he’s done with nursing and sine the weaning happened more or less, well, naturally, we didn’t want to risk creating a monster. Bubba Joe understands that mama’s milk is for LG. And he’s surprisingly okay with that.
I’m so proud of my little man.
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