Let me start out by telling you about a few very exciting marks that I have always soooo looked forward to with each baby. These are all things that weren't life or death. These are things that just plain made me flipping happy.
1. Sleeping on my stomach!
I'm not a stomach sleeper. I like my side. My right side to be exact. But, when that option in taken away from you for about 7 months of a pregnancy because of a human growing in your belly, and then for another 12ish months because of huge boobs that are full of liquid gold, you can't help but feel a little pissed about the loss of that flip. I never really dreamed about this sleeping position with Adda or Ella (I thought very fondly of it though!!!), but with the twins I longed for my face in the pillow. So when that day came, that my boobs were like cannons, I was like a sack of potatoes only moving to take a breath. I had already spent the last two months of the pregnancy so big that I had to be moved out of bed and I was ready to do somersaults.
2. Sleeping without a bra!
Some ladies are different than others. Some need a bra early in a pregnancy. I never locked my ladies up until I absolutely had to. That means that until my milk came in, I let them roam freely! Once my milk arrived I had to wrap em' up to prevent a spray down every few hours. I always nursed longer than 12 months, not because I thought I was a supermom, but because I just made lots of milk and I was home and in a good routine and very much enjoyed nursing my girls. With the twins I did it longer because I was trying to save us from having to purchase a cow to graze in our backyard and supply our family with a constant flow of dairy. I found a rhythm and stuck with it. When I did start to think about quitting I knew I had to very slowly take myself off so that I wouldn't get mastitis again. After having it 5 times I had nothing in me that wanted to try for a sixth. It literally feels like a good mixture of a really bad flu and a boob job. I haven't had a boob job but seems like that's what it would be like!
3. My body back!
With Adda I stopped at 18 months. By that time she was only nursing morning and night and it was obviously a comfort thing. I had a 4 month break and then found out I was pregnant with Ella. Ella was 8 months old and I was pregnant again. This time a total shocker. I was fully nursing and had not even had a cycle yet and thought for sure we were protected. Ha ha!!! I decided I would try and nurse Ella as long as I could as long as the twins were growing like weeds in my belly. I stopped nursing Ella at 16 months, 3 weeks before I had the twins. I just couldn't fit her on my belly anymore and she took to milk in a cup very easily, much easier than Adda did. I nursed and pumped with the twins for the first 3 weeks and then pumped exclusively up until a few weeks ago. I finally decided it was time to close the book on that very long chapter of my life.
I don't say any of that to get accolades or pats on the back. I only say it to give you a GOOD picture of how excited I was to say goodbye to The Pump.
The first night I didn't pump I laid in bed and took these selfies and sent them to some friends and family members. My caption read, "These are the faces of a very happy lady who for the first time in almost two years is going to bed without getting her nips sucked down a funnel over and over and drained for my little varmints! I'm finished...unless all of the sudden I become engorged and need some pain relief! Ahhhhh!" We jokingly talked about making a slo-mo video of me beating it with a bat. Something kinda like this!
We also talked about videoing Gonzo with the pump on. I really tried to make that happen! He wasn't so fired up about trying it out.
In the end I didn't practice my gold swing on my pump. I didn't tie it to a raft and send it across Lake Arlington. And, I didn't pretend I was a National Champion in the weight throw heaving it across the sky. (I should have done the weight throw one...I know a National Champion in this event and could have gotten some good coaching tips from her.) I actually haven't even gotten rid of it!! All this talk about how glad I am to say goodbye to this pump and I still have it. It's zipped up and on a shelf in the twin's closet. I've learned to never say never to The Lord. By that I mean...if something happened and somebody needed breast milk for a baby and I was asked to help and The Lord laid it on my heart over and over and over...and over and over and over again I would get that "sucker" back out and pump again. Although, my fingers are crossed that I'm done! Never say never!
