Pumping and Weaning

Sigh...there's nothing like firing up the pump after having a glorious 10 days away from it (aside from my little hand pump that I used in the car on the way to my parents house on vacation two Saturdays ago).

I've officially weaned LC down to 3 nursing sessions per day while on vacation. And really, it wasn't hard at all, just milk before each meal. Granted the timing was all off while we were away, but hey, it was cool, we made it work :)

So two weeks ago, we went from 5 sessions per day, to 4 per day when we cut out the last one before bedtime due to biting / disinterest. And then this past week while we were away we knocked off one more, going from 4 to 3!

So my plan while back at work is to pump 2 times instead of 3, cutting out the lunch pump (yay for a whole lunch hour - I just might treat myself to ChikFilA today!) and move my morning session from 10 to 11:30 and keep my pm session at 4:30. So yeah, we're down to 2 sessions per day.

I'll see how it goes this week, and then maybe next week see about cutting out the 11:30 session and just stick w/ the 4:30 one for a week and then knock that one out.

Honestly, going in to pump at 11:30 today I felt totally empty, no milk. That's the hard part about weaning and pumping sigh. I went for 10 days nursing my baby 3 times a day, having no idea how much he was taking in but knowing for sure when he was finished nursing that he was full. What am I to expect from these pumping sessions? 3ozs? 5ozs? I find it hard to believe that I could get 5ozs anymore. And that 10 ozs I hand pumped out two Saturdays ago - I believe those days are long gone. I wake up in the morning with just enough milk to satiate my sweet baby's thirst, not full or engorged in the least.

This is what they mean by gradual....hey, it's working, and hey, it's kinda nice.

LC and I are on the same page - our little nursing team, turning a corner together while we both continue to grow and learn :)

Hm...maybe I can knock this 11:30 session out sooner than I thought, it might not even be worth it if I'm not going to get enough for a whole bottle. I can use up my frozen stash as I back off the pumping and when it's gone, it's gone. So long as I can keep nursing him one time in the morning for as long as he wants (that's his fave), then we'll both be happy :)

I think my body can adjust to that, ya think?