Motherhood is:
Dedication
Every Morning. Every Afternoon. Every Night. Every Day.
Some days it is more trying than others, but when it comes down to it, we would do anything at any second for that sweet child.
For me I knew from the start that I wanted to nurse our daughter to be. Now 15 months later we are down to 2 sessions a day, and even that is drawing to a close. One month from today I leave for my first deployment since becoming a Mommy. I am excited for it, but my heart is breaking at the same time. I am hoping she will drop the last few on her terms like she did the ones previous, but time will tell. Wish me luck.
We have had an amazing experience nursing and I cherish those moments with my daughter more than anything. My journey was originally going to end when she was only 6 months old, with a deployment, however, with support from Commanders and coworkers I was able to stay home. I had been pumping like crazy to try and stockpile enough breast milk to get her to the one year mark. I started pumping when she was about 2 weeks old and at peak was feeding her 10-12 times a day and then pumping up to 5 times a day. When I learned I would not have to deploy I started to wean from the pump. With production very high, even that took some time. So after months of endless pumping and developing a love/hate relationship with my sidekick (pump) our freezer was full and so were the freezers of our friends. Since we now were going to be blessed to not need the extra it was time to find a milk bank. Fortunately, there is one in Kansas City, only an hour and one half from where we live. I got in contact with them and went through the process; paper and medical and ended up begin able to donate 7,901 ounces. What an amazing feeling to know you are going to be able to help our so many other Mommy's and Babies.
I am not telling this story for any kudos WHAT.SO.EVER! But to share that it isn't always easy, it isn't always convenient, but it is ALWAYS worth it. Whether it be breastfeeding, meal choices, what shirt to wear, when to vaccinate, etc being called Mommy takes dedication, and I wouldn't want it any other way!
Head on over to StyleberryBLOG to check our Shawna's Project 52 and many others!
Head on over to StyleberryBLOG to check our Shawna's Project 52 and many others!
Being and mom and breastfeeding is such a dedication! I found you from Styleberry's Project 52. My Project 52 post was about our "sleepless nights" with our daughter who is teething at www.lucasandmahina.com. Let me know if you want to link up!
ReplyDeleteWow! I am so impressed and proud of you for keeping it up and donating all of that milk to those who need it.. way to go! I totally feel the same way about the pump- love/hate relationship! It's such a pain, but boy am I thankful to have it so that I could always give my daughter breast milk.
ReplyDeleteOh Monica, I am crying with joy! What an amazing opportunity for a mother. As a mother who will never have the ability to nurse my children b/c of cancer, I THANK YOU!!! What a gift you have given and I hope one day to use that bank for another baby!!!!
ReplyDeleteI just shared this post with my mom's group. I hope you don't mind. I'm still just in aw of your dedication and donation. I thought we could all use this as inspiration as we're currently in that stage of being slaves to constantly nursing newborns and pumping at work or to build up supply.
ReplyDelete(I've almost made it to 4 months of EBF Ella...pat on the back for me!)
Love to you and your family!