I've long wondered when I would be able to write this post, and it seems like now is finally the time.
So today, on the 8th anniversary of when it all started, I'd like to report that I'm done being pregnant and/or nursing.
Yes, after 8 consecutive, non-stop years of being pregnant and/or nursing, I'm finally done.
What? You're wondering how you make 3 closely-born children last 8 years? Here, I'll share the timeline:
December 28-ish, 2003: I get pregnant with Evan.
September 2004: Evan is born and I start nursing him. We call breastfeeding, the breast milk, and my breasts all "milky stuff"; we had no idea how long the term would last.
July 2005: I get pregnant with Kendra and am still nursing Evan.
March 2006: Kendra is born. My file at the hospital has a sticky note for the nurses saying I'm still nursing Evan and not to be alarmed if they walk in to see me nursing a child other than the baby I just birthed. Evan can talk up a storm but can't say "milky stuff" so he asks for "tuss" when he comes to the hospital to see us.
August 2006: Evan decides he no longer needs to nurse at bedtime, his one remaining time to nurse.
September 2006 (exactly a month after the previous date): Evan asks if he can have "milky stuff" at bedtime one night and resumes bedtime nursing.
April 2007: I find out I'm pregnant with Laura, while still nursing Evan and Kendra. I decide sustaining 3 little bodies plus my own may be a bit much so 2 1/2 year old Evan is weaned immediately.
June/July 2007: In a spectacular battle of wills* between 15-month-old Kendra and me, Kendra is more or less weaned in a single moment of defiance on both of our parts.
December 2007: Laura is born. The nurses ask me if I'm still nursing Evan and Kendra so they can make a note in my file. I laugh because I think it's so nice that they asked.
Late spring/early summer 2011: Laura decides a book at bedtime is better than milky stuff.
Summer/fall 2011: Laura occasionally still asks for milky stuff (usually when she walks in while I'm getting dressed in the morning), but less and less often, and always with a report of "that one has milk, that one doesn't" or "I didn't get anything from that one, but I got a little from that one".
Winter 2011: Laura will go nearly a month at a time without asking for milky stuff. Laura turns 4. My last baby is officially weaned.
December 27, 2011: I finally dare to buy a smaller size of a non-nursing bra.
*It really was a spectacular battle of wills. I wish I could forget that week ever happened, but I also wish I could have recorded it and watch it again now. Kendra, the non-sleeper, decided she no longer needed to sleep
at all. She went that entire week without sleeping
at all. In the middle of one of those long nights, in an attempt to salvage what little sanity Chad and I had left, we strapped her in her carseat on the living room floor and turned on Veggie Tales. She sat quietly for 48 minutes until the end credits started and she resumed crying; we slept wonderful, glorious sleep for 48 minutes. During that week, I never gave up trying to get Kendra to sleep. One day during a nap attempt, I sat down to nurse her. She must have realized it would put her to sleep because, as soon as I unclipped my nursing bra, she sat up from her reclined position in my lap and yanked my shirt back down. She refused to nurse if it would make her sleep, and I, in my very sleep-deprived state, refused to try and nurse her again after two more failed attempts the next day.
Messages from between the lines: If anyone ever tells you that you can't get pregnant while nursing, they're wrong. If anyone ever tells you that you can't nurse while pregnant, they're wrong. If anyone ever tells you that you can't nurse multiple non-twin children, they're wrong too. Take it from this wise ol' cow; it's all possible!
