Oscar Mayer Weaner

It’s official. I breastfed Cormac up to his six-month birthday, but now that part of our mama-baby relationship is over. I feel a little sad but also a little relieved.

Mac has always been a food-fighter; I feel like almost every session was a wrestling match. He would chew and grab and wrench and twist and arch and scratch and pull and claw and slap. He does the same thing with the bottle, but at least the bottle is not connected to my body. I feel confident that I gave him a very good start in life. I am proud that I stuck it out through the hard parts at the beginning and proved to myself I could do it.

But I also know, having raised Owen so far, that breastfeeding is really a small part of motherhood. At least for me. Such a small part of my children’s lives, overall, never a guarantee of anything. It had wonderful moments, but sharing the feeding with his father is wonderful, too. Feeling my body return to it’s normal state is wonderful, too.

It was a very slow weaning process, so I am not uncomfortable. No need for cabbage leaves or Tylenol. I’m glad for that; abrupt weaning is not for the faint of heart. I finally stopped because Mac was getting upset and confused at not having booby on demand.

The process started a month ago, when I had to start a course of antibiotics to treat what the doctor thought might be a stomach infection. I had to bottlefeed Mac and pump the breastmilk, which is a miserable thing to do, especially if you have a hand pump and not a fancy electric jobby. My supply plummeted for those 9 days. Never got back up. I decided to tough it out to six months, which was my main breastfeeding goal, and I did: that was December 8th. We were down to one or two sessions a day, and I let that peter out a few days ago.

Now that my doctor has found what he expected to find — evidence of a chronic, inflammatory autoimmune disease that should be manageable with pills — I will most likely be put on medication that isn’t compatible with nursing. So ends my one and only successful run at breastfeeding; it felt like a momentous enough occasion to highlight here.

OK, fine. I will miss it a little bit.

December 22, 2007 | Filed Under baby, motherhood

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Comments

11 Responses to “Oscar Mayer Weaner”

Sherah on December 23rd, 2007 7:29 am

Congrats on making it to 6 months! It’s quite a feat in this modern world.

Hope that you feel better once you get your meds.
Bad Hippie on December 23rd, 2007 8:08 am

Yay! I didn’t breastfeed the Beavis, and often feel super-guilty about it. It’s good to hear that you think it’s a small part of your relationship with your son. Sometimes I feel like the boob nazi are seriously judging me - 14 years later, even!
Denise on December 23rd, 2007 8:09 am

That’s what I thought your diagnosis would be but you really should talk to TW about it, particularly if you find those “pills” don’t work quite as well as you might have expected.

Now about weaning, six months? Already? Are you sure he’s that old? ‘Cause it feels like OWEN is six months, not Cormac! sheesh. They grow so fast.
kelly on December 23rd, 2007 9:24 am

you are a wonderful mom.
supa on December 23rd, 2007 9:29 am

@denise: have her drop me a note! And yes, tell me about it. I have a hard time believing my Owen is practically a preschooler, to say nothing of my newborn being six months old already.

@bad hippie: I bottlefed Owen and felt such guilt, and was determined to breastfeed Mac. And then I did, and realized that I held absolutely no judgment about other moms who bottlefed. It helped me realize how big a deal I had been making over something that shouldn’t be that big a deal — babies need food, and that should be that.

@Sherah: Thank you very much.
maliavale on December 23rd, 2007 6:13 pm

Wow. It sounds both infinitely tough and rewarding. Congrats on making it that far with Mac, and I hope you’re feeling better soon on meds. Hang in there.
stephanie on December 23rd, 2007 8:45 pm

Congrats, good job, mama. That picture is so sweet…nice that you have that to always remember.

Hope you get some physical relief soon.
your neighborhood librarian on December 24th, 2007 10:19 am

Oh, I wish I had taken a picture like that of either of my babies at the trough. A few years on, and those times are already a total blur.

On the up side, I have also forgotten how to change a diaper!
Nikko on December 24th, 2007 3:29 pm

Mary Beth,
Sorry to hear that you are not feeling well.

Hope that you get a second opinion too, if doc is “not really sure” what’s going on. WTF?

I worked in a hospital in the past. It is a lot of guesswork.

Try watching ‘House’ it will make you feel much better and laugh.

Merry Christmas & Love to you, Iain, Cormac, Owen

I enjoy reading your blog and looking at your pictures so much.

p.s.
I think that you might enjoy Cheryl Richardson’s web site and Louise Hay’s website.
supa on December 24th, 2007 3:54 pm

@maliavale: thank you! i’m trying.

@stephanie: thanks! I have a few shots of him this way. it warms my heart, a lil bit, i have to say.

@YNL: “at the trough.” Hee. Glad to hear diaper changes will become naught but a hazy memory in the future, though.

@nikko: thank you! When the biopsies come back he’ll be positive. I do love ‘House,’ but sometimes I think it has ruined my expectations of medical care. If only all my doctors were as rude and as hot.

Thank you for the web site tips.
Tina C, on January 1st, 2008 12:52 pm

well done. nothing like setting a goal and reaching it!!!