Nursing My Clare Bear

It *almost* feels normal enough now that it's only once or twice a week that I sit back and think wow, I'm nursing this baby with no supplement. My body is making enough milk! It's so crazy how different this experience is. Between Clare nursing a ton from the very beginning, getting the tie more effectively dealt with right away, my knowing more, and taking Domperidone, Clare is getting enough from me without my needing to pump, supplement, or seek out and drive to the ends of the earth to pick up donor milk. It is AMAZING. Honestly, I don't know that I could have kept up with all of that with 2 kids anyway, so thank God that my experience has been different. I mean, I know Clare would have been fine however she was fed, but this has been such a huge boost in my morale and makes life so much easier!!! Things that are new for me: not having to take a pump with me if I will be gone longer than 2 hours, not having to pump in the car, not having to pack bottles, not being asked a million times "what kind of bottle is that??" because of the weird bottle we used to make Felicity work harder, being able to feed my baby wherever without anything but myself! It is so crazy convenient to breastfeed and I never realized how much crap I had to prepare, take with me, and clean until I didn't have to do it this time around! The only thing I miss about bottles is that it was easier to feed while doing other things (wearing, walking, would be easier dealing with Felicity) because nursing is still a 2 hand event for me. But everything else is just so much easier. I love that Felicity is getting to see me nurse in a more normal way. She brings me the boppy which she's dubbed my "nursie pillow". When Clare cries, she often says "I think she's hungry! She needs nursies!". I just love it.

I tried to wean myself off domperidone a while back and went about a week before suspecting it was affecting my supply, so I'm back on. I figure I will re-evaluate at 6 months, then at a year. I hope to nurse longer than that but also hope to be able to stop the medication since Clare will be on solids, too. The medicine is not a big deal, but also medicine carries risks, however small, so I don't want to be on it longer than I need to be. A lot of people struggle with weight gain while on it but, with the help of My Fitness Pal, I'm down 11 lbs! Woohoo! Still 8 to go to reach my pre-pregnancy weight and I don't want to nor need to stop there, but hey, progress! :) I'm pumping once in the evening, most nights, which is probably silly since Clare has no interest in bottles. But I don't think I want to do to cow's milk with her (a whole other post!), so I figure I can use this eventually in sippies.

Anyway, it's amazing how different and... normal?... nursing Clare has been. Such a sweet experience!