Nursing Shortage

I must face the facts....my milk has taken a drastic dip in supply. I have limped along for the past 2 months ignoring the facts that I am starting to dry up slowly. I have become a slave to my pump and smell like maple syrup from taking fenugreek (and I can't stand the smell of syrup unless it's where it belongs...on pancakes). My goal was a year, and I'm having a hard time facing that we are not going to make it.

Today was a big step in my denial. I gave Monkey his first bottle of formula before nap time. It was bittersweet in the fact that we've never had to supplement him in his 8 1/2 months. He doesn't know anything but his Momma's milk. Yet, he took the bottle without a hitch. Sucked it right down like nothing new was going on. Good since this will become more of a common occurrence as my freezer stock dwindles. Sad that he sucked it down without even batting a long baby eyelash. Part of me wanted him to fight it. Bad, huh?!

I'm just not ready to stop nursing him. We're going to go as long as this milky Momma will go. For now, we'll stick with morning and bedtime nursing. The daytime will be for the formula. I usually have more than enough for wake-up and sometimes a mid morning snack. Then I figure my supply will bulk up for my cherished nursing time....bedtime. This one will be the last to go, as I can't imagine our routine at night without nursing. The bond has been unbelievable. More than I ever imagined it to be. So rewarding and absolutely amazing that this boy has gained 22 pounds off what I have given him (he is eating food too I guess). An incredible experience thus far.

I'll continue to pump at work until it deems not worth the setup. Pumping at home is going to become a thing of the past though. I'll have to say....I won't miss this part.

Hard to stomach that for 6 months I was producing like it was going out of style. Then all of a sudden, I hit a wall. I blame it on the revisit of a women's most dreaded monthly duty....ugh. I've been limping along ever since. It dawned on me the last two weeks that he's not getting enough from me. Stupid of me to detriment him for my own stubbornness. So we will go as long as I can last. Who knows maybe we'll make it to a year with only one a day. Time will tell!