Bronze Boobies

I made it. I made it through three months of breastfeeding.  In the breastfeeding world this is known as "getting your bronze boobies" (I know, I read too many boards and blogs).  As silly as this sounds, it's a very big deal to me because it has been such a struggle, especially the last couple weeks.  I honestly can't believe I made it this far but I kept my eye on the prize and I couldn't be happier.  But, let me tell you, it was not an easy road.

Let's take a trip down memory lane...Mila didn't latch well so at first I was nursing, pumping and then bottle feeding that pumped milk; a process that could take 40-60 minutes at a time....and she was eating every 2-3 hours so this was pretty time consuming (not to mention exhausting). Then I started exclusively pumping, but I couldn't keep that up once Robert went back to work because I couldn't take care of Mila and be hooked up to a machine at the same time.  Plus, being milked like a cow just isn't the same feeling as nursing because you're not bonding with your baby.  When I returned to work not only did I have to make time to pump,  but my supply continued to dwindle. During the last month, however, Mila did latch better so the experience was more rewarding, but she got frustrated the milk didn't flow as fast as it did from the bottle.

No matter what I did my milk production never increased; I tried the teas, supplements, vitamins and oatmeal; nothing worked.  At my peak I was pumping 24 ounces a day; to put this in perspective for you, girls with a lot of milk can pump 50+ ounces a day.  Recently I have only been producing 9.5 ounces on a good day; Mila drinks anywhere from 18-24 ounces a day so I obviously have to supplement with formula (according to "the rules" I still get to keep my bronze boobies though!).  I don't know at what time most women decide to wean but I think my time is a'comin; it doesn't really make sense to spend 20 minutes pumping to get two ounces of milk. From both boobs! (see what kind of lazy milk sockets I'm working with?!).

I can honestly say that I am proud of myself, I gave it my all and my little baby is as happy as can be.  I will, however, miss the bonding, milk snugs and moments like these:

I wonder what kind of present one gets for achieving her Bronze Boobies :)