Six Months Into Breastfeeding

Tomorrow my baby girl will be six months old. I can't believe that she is already there. While I can sit here and write all about her, today I'm just going to write all about my boobs (and a little about her too).

I remember when I was pregnant I told my husband that my goal was to have my baby on my milk for her first year. I remember saying that I'd probably just nurse until six months and then stop and do pumped milk in bottles. I'm not quite sure why I thought this. Perhaps I was falling victim to the views that society has on breastfeeding older babies. Perhaps I thought a big infant hanging from my breast would be weird.

Whatever the reason was....I was so wrong.

I sit here today proud of myself of reaching my short term goal of six months breastfeeding. My next mile mark is nine months and then the ultimate goal of one year. And as for nursing? There is no stopping us. My baby only gets 2-3 bottles a week and although it was never intentional for that to happen, I'm kind of glad that it has.

Nursing my baby is the most amazing and beautiful thing ever. It's so second nature to me now. Heck I just went on a weekend trip and didn't pack any bottles or any pumps. I even sat on side of a main road near an intersection and fed my child (two shirt method works wonders and is so discreet). I'm proud of myself for overcoming the fear of public breastfeeding and for not caving into society's views of what is normal and not normal. I'm proud of myself for doing what is natural. Its life and IT IS normal.

I've had my bumps along the way like many. I cut dairy from my diet for two months in search of cures for some issues we were facing; I dealt with an over abundant supply; and I fixed a foremilk/hind milk imbalance. It's never always been easy to breastfeed, but it's never really been hard. It's been exhausting at times but nothing but pure delight all the time.

I already know that when the time comes to wean my baby it will be the hardest thing I've ever done. It'll probably be harder than natural labor because I know that when we're done, we're done. While some people may not understand the bond that goes along with nursing, I know there are some people who do get it.

So until that dreaded day comes to wean, I'll sit here and keep proudly nursing my baby no matter how big she is and no matter how much she bites and laughs at my boob. I'll never ever forget the way she stops from her nursing, pulls off my breast and looks at me with the biggest smile ever. It melts my heart over and over again and makes me feel so incredibly loved.

I am looking very forward to the next six months(+) of breastfeeding and I'm praying that our journey continues to go smoothly (I've learned to never take your milk or breastfeeding success for granted). For every woman who is just beginning their breastfeeding journey or will be doing so soon, I promise you that it is so worth it. Once you overcome that first month or two, things get much easier and breastfeeding becomes the norm.

Breastfeeding is the norm. It should always be the norm and I hope more people continue to whip out their milk bags to feed their child whenever needed, so that way we can ALL see just how beautiful and normal it truly is.