The Van Courts: She's growing up...

As much as I've tried to fight against her... Miss Callie has decided that she's finished nursing. Wednesday, January 18th around 9 am was the last time Callie nursed from me... finishing the feeding with a quick bite that ended it all. It wasn't by my choice... not by my choice at all. This was about the 4th time in 2 or 3 days that she had bitten me... and every time it happened, of course I jumped a little, and said "no-no Callie, that hurts mommy"... which led to her crying... sad that she had been scolded. Every time I put her to nurse after that, she would just start crying the exact same way she had after that last bite.

So much has gone on in the last couple of weeks that I haven't had too terribly much time to really dwell on the fact that she is finished... that she is growing up... until now. There's a part of me that never wants her to grow up (I'm sure all mothers think this!)... and I'll forever miss that quiet, intimate, snuggle time she and I shared as she nursed her few feedings a day. I'm continuing to pump... because I still want her to get some breast milk (pediatrician's recommend babies get breast milk for at least a year for full benefits)... but my supply is slowly dwindling... so she is eating more formula than ever now. I know that the formula is just fine... it's what my mother and I were both raised on and we turned out just fine... didn't we? But something about that personal goal of a year... it has become nearly an obsession to me.

Prior to Callie's birth... I was uncertain as to whether or not I would breastfeed my babies. I was certainly an advocate for my patients... but the concept was just... weird.. for myself. The moment Dr. Kuhlmann laid Callie on my chest and she started rooting around... my heart was melted and I was determined to give my littlest one whatever she needed or wanted.

Breastfeeding came relatively easy to Callie and I... with only a couple of setbacks... mostly on vacation to Cheyenne where the dryness and altitude nearly dried me up twice. Callie even loved her "milky-milky-milky" pronounced "meee-key meee-key meeeeee-keeeey" (the song I sang to her just prior to feedings) so much that she refused formula up until about a month ago.

I had great support from family and friends... I can't tell you how many people went out of their way to provide a quiet place with a rocking chair for Callie and I to share our time together. And I think I may have "blazed a trail" for my sisters to follow on.

So while this chapter closes for my sweet baby girl and I... I look forward to having my body back to myself... and not having to be quite so obsessed with what I'm eating and drinking. And, of course, to fit back into my beloved Victoria's Secret, again. ;)

Here are the biting culprit's. She has both of her little two bottom front teeth. You have no idea how difficult it was to get a photo of them :) You can see them best when she's crying... here she is fussing for me to pick her up... "Her do lika be holded all da time" (Callie-talk).

(Don't be fooled, her life is not nearly as terribly as it seems to be portrayed in this photo)