Down to Three Times a Day - Hooray!

So last week when I said I was going to be posting less, what I really meant was that I was going to be posting the same amount. I guess. Hmm. Maybe I'll just try to post less boring things. Well anyway this is my nutty blog and if you are reading it then maybe you think I have something interesting to say every now and then. Or maybe not and you just like pictures of my ultra-cute baby and her goings-on. Or maybe you just like punishing yourself. I'm not sure. But still, I will *try* to make this a bit more interesting. Or not. Maybe I'm just not interesting. I don't know.

Okay, so anyway, back to the matter at hand. I had stopped discussing my weaning dilemma on the blog because I was tired of waffling back and forth on the issue. I had privately decided that on June 15 I would drop one pumping per day and go down to three times a day. I was hoping to continue dropping pumpings and be done entirely by July 1. Well, this weekend I decided to take the plunge and drop down to three pumps per day early. Let me tell you, it makes a big difference!

The pumping that bothered me the most was the first one in the morning - 6:30 or so. This one is tough because I usually get up with the LO and am getting us both ready for our days. Just taking the time to pump and prepare bottles and then get the pump packed up for the day was really a drag. So yesterday I just waited to pump until 8:30. It's a little bit painful because I go all night and in the morning when I wake up I am very ready to get rid of that milk - but the little bit of extra pain doesn't compare to all the extra convenience.

Boy though, by 8:30 today I was VERY READY to pump. So I got my pump bag out at my desk at work and AH! OMG I forgot the electrical source again! Stupid!! Thankfully DH was still at home so he brought it up to my office for me because I was on a conference call. I don't know what I would have done without him. I have my car adapter but since I was on a conference call I would have had to wait it out. And pumping in the car is no fun especially at work. But besides that minor bump I think that pumping three times a day is going to work great for a while. It already is so much more convenient.

The good news is that the LO is finally drinking less than 40 oz a day. So pumping three times a day is enough to provide her with milk without dipping into my one month or so of frozen supply - I may even be able to store a little still. I think I'm going to be able to get her to a year of breast milk and I feel really good about that. It's certainly  been a challenge but it's something I set out to do and I'm glad I am closing in on that goal.

I do realize that I'm going to have to adjust my diet a bit now that I'm weaning. No more eating everything in sight just because it's there. Also I plan on starting to exercise for the first time in a LONG TIME. I stopped exercising when we were trying to get PG because my doctor said if your body temp gets too hot it can be hard for those few little cells to gel. Then I didn't work out while PG because I didn't want to. Then having a baby, breast feeding, pumping, and look here I am over a year without exercise. It's going to be interesting.

Lastly, while looking at the pictures below of the LO playing in the water at school, I am struck by how much she looks like a big girl and not a baby. Combine that with the gradual winding down of breast milk and it's starting to hit me that she's slowly growing up. It makes me happy, excited, sad and nostalgic all at the same time. Parenting is definitely the biggest roller coaster I've ever jumped on. Here we go!