Friday, August 27, 2010

How To Wean A Tiger Lily



Do you see this face?
Tired, worn out, one might even venture into the realm of "to' up".

And this face?

This is Lily.
Going through withdrawals, I'm sure of it.

So what if I picked the worst pictures that I've ever seen of either of us...

It has been 72 hours since we started weaning. She has nursed [briefly!] only twice in this time [only bc I couldn't remove two very painful clogged ducts with my pump. Babies are the best suckers ;]


WHY
The short answer to this is: It didn't feel right anymore. For those of you who kept nursing your 5-546 year olds...you won't know what I mean. But for those of you who have unfortunately shared this experience...you know what I mean. I never thought I'd be so physically distraught because Lily was nursing, nor did I ever think I'd cry after getting over the first few days of newly nursing, but I was and I did.

HOW
Whenever we go through something new with Lily, I usually bitc...talk about it on Facebook, usually to comments saying "Let me know how it goes! I've been trying to do that with Soandso and NOTHING has worked!"
I have to say...I have never been a fan of that logic. There are a few exceptions, but most of the time that I get that "We've tried everything" it means they've tried two things, each for no more than a day, it didn't work right away, so they gave up. And it always annoys the crap out of me when they complain OVER AND OVER again about how they'd wish soandso would do suchandsuch when they never really tried.
So when it came time for Lily to quit her habit, I decided cold turkey was best. I know my family so well and anytime anyone tries to wean themselves off anything in my family...it never works. Wanna quit drinking? Don't buy anymore beer. Don't drink anymore beer. Stop smoking? Stop buying cigarettes . Don't smoke any cigarettes. Wanna get your 3 year old to stop sucking on a retarded binky? Throw the damn thing away. Don't buy any more binkies. I wanted to get Lily to stop breastfeeding. So I stopped breastfeeding her. That's it people. That's how it works. People write dumb books and make million dollars off of dvd series on what's the "Godliest way to Sleep Train your kid" but if you want something done, pray, and do it. SERIOUSLY. It sucks for a few days, but it will get better.


After the first 24, my boobs were bigger than Ms. Dolly Parton herself. I thought about taking a picture, but then thought my blog would get all sorts of unwanted attention. They were like...alien eggs. You could see all of the ducts and it was just freaky.

Ok, ok, enough about the physical details, right? How are we doing emotionally?
Better than I thought I'd be in some ways, worse in others.
I never, *ahem* NEVER thought I'd wean Lily. Mom's who wean their babies are selfish, uncaring, biatches who don't know what's best for their kids...said stupid me. I always thought about what a beautiful gesture of affection breastfeeding was for Lily, and for all babies. I always just assumed that with the lack of breastfeeding there was a lack of affection. What I failed to realize is that affection has to be shown in more creative ways. Kisses, holding, reading, sweet moments just sitting on the kitchen floor playing with pans, talking about what "Russ" could possibly be thinking about in his little dog brain have all been a lot more frequent around here.
That's all been wonderful.
The crying, hitting, scratching, and outright unrulliness of the first two days were not. I thought I was gonna break. But we've come out of it. We've gone to bed, taken naps, and even recovered from a Rusty V Lily battle...all without nursing.

I think we're gonna make it. I'll keep you posted on how we're doing in the meantime. I also want to thank you all for all of the supportive emails, phone calls, comments on FB, you've been rad and a half!!! Which reminds me....YOU ALL NEED TO COMMENT HERE!! There's a comment section for a reason ;] Don't be scurred.

Have a great weekend everyone!!
Mae



7 comments:

Gramma said...

i love you for speaking your mind, and so eloquently i might add.

Chelsea said...

I don't think I'm "ready" to give up the binky as Conrad isn't "ready" either. He about gnawed off his whole hand today in the car and kept kicking my seat on the freeway and finally I pulled over on the freeway to find the damn thing, gave it back to him and suddenly the tears stopped, I was suddenly calm, and he even danced to the music once he chilled out. I don't know what it is about the stupid "retarded" binky, but maybe I'll be as brave and mature about you with the weaning and just STOP BUYING THEM or GIVING them to him. Today though, he's had motrin once and his teeth are killing him, so he can have it all he wants. I give up.

Good job! Sounds like you're doing really well with it!
and those two pictures of you guys are adorable.

Kathryn Nordyke said...

I'm a bit of an all or nothing person as well. haha! Write it all down, you'll laugh about it later..and so will Lily. =)

Mae Burke said...

Haha, Chels, I know! I'm not addressing you here, lol!
I mean, it's like with dieting. How many people do you know that will sit and complain about how fat they are til Jesus comes home but can't...NO WON'T go more than a day without eating a loaf of bread. You know what I mean? If you're not REALLY wanting to lose weight, STOP SAYING YOU ARE! You know what I mean? I think you do.

And I sure hope I can laugh. Now that the engorgement is gone and I've convinced myself I'm not going to actually explode...I think it's going to be easier ;]

Whittney said...

This is us - only cartoons! I used TV way too much while I was puking to entertain her and now it is out of control. Demanding cartoons all day. So, no TV on Tuesday & Thursday. I'm just gonna do it. (Don't judge me b/c it's only 2 days a week! I have needs. Like The Office.)

Glad it's going better with the weaning.

joannalee said...

i love that you hold nothing back-- i bet it's therapeutic actually!

here's to lots of new creative ways to be affectionate! go burkes!

Anonymous said...

mommy's get way too little recognition, so here's yours:
way to go for enduring that cranky little person so you can both be happy and healthy!
way to go for being a green, hippy mama for the sake of your family! way to go being pregnant and still being a good mama and wife!
Hang in there, you rock! :D
--Paige