Monday, March 14, 2011

Weaning: Vacation Ahead

I am bound and determined to be done with nursing by the time Amalia's first birthday rolls around.  She seems ready, having already decreased to one or two feedings a day and LOVING her water bottle.  And I am ready; I miss drinking milk and eating yogurt, and I would LOVE not to have to whip my shirt up at all during the day or have my chest ache from missing a feeding.

So, ready as we are to hop off the nursing train, I am a little unsure of what to expect when all this stops.  The last time I stopped nursing I was pregnant, so I don't really know how this whole weaning thing works.  When does your body get back to "normal"?  And what is my new normal going to be?  I already weigh several pounds less than I did before I got pregnant with Baylor; in fact, I am smaller than I have been in years, due to a combination of nursing, eating better, and exercising more.  So what happens after I stop nursing?  Will I gain weight?  Will I lose weight?

In short, as my sister so aptly put it the other day, I'm about as screwed as you can get when it comes to clothes right now.  Not only am I weaning (new bra size), but I am not pregnant or post-partum (new waist size) and I'm exercising (new hip and thigh size).  To sum things up, I have only a couple pair of jeans that really fit me well, and the rest of my closet is slightly baggy.  To compound the confusion, we are leaving on vacation a couple weeks after Mollie's birthday ... vacation in Florida.  Where I'll need shorts.

*sigh*

So, soon, I'll get to go shopping for new bras (smaller ones for my newly-deflated chest), a new bathing suit (a tankini to cover my belly - though very toned, my skin has not rebounded like I'd hoped it would), new shorts (my old ones are too big and outdated), and probably some new shirts (again, smaller chest).  It's the perfect storm of craptasticness.  Oh, and I get to do it in a total time-crunch, vacation looming large on the horizon.

I know I shouldn't be complaining; I know I am very lucky to have lost all the baby weight I gained (64 and 56 pounds per pregnancy) and then some.  And I get to go on vacation to Florida; again, nothing to sneeze at.  I guess what I'm looking for is advice and insight from anyone who has been here before me.

How long until my body fully done with nursing?  Meaning, when will I know where things have settled?  

4 comments:

Jocelyn said...

Just got something in the mail about weaning, it says helpful tips and advice at www.babycenter.com/0_weaning_3272.bc

Hope it helps!

Nicole said...

It did, Jocelyn! Thank you so much! I hope all is well with you and your adorable little girl! :o)

Ashley said...

Hey Nicole... Aiden like Amalia pretty much weaned himself.. and getting horribly ill x-mas of 09 took care of the rest because of all the stress of spending xmas in the ER with him and he being almost too sick to eat I dried up completely from stress and lack of sleep. At that time though he was only nursing at bedtime, the rest of his milk was by that time soy milk as he was already over 1.
As for my body returning to normal... I did a 5K with my friend Jenn in May '10 and started "training for that in March '10" By the 5K I had lost all the baby weight and most of the tummy. All in all by the time Aiden was 18mth old I was happy enough with my body but even to date I still wish I was in better shape.
I wish you the best of luck. Let Amalia help you with the weaning.. it will make it easier on you both!! But I recommend not using pneumonia, RSV, and a double ear infection to help the cause because it causes you lots of unnecessary stress!!!
(hugs) Ashley

Nicole said...

Thanks, Ashley! Yeah, I'm hoping not to use any sort of illness to commence weaning. We're working on it slowly and she seems pretty open to it.

That is awesome that you ran a 5K! I wish I was a runner, but sadly it is not my forte nor my passion. I do love aerobics classes, though, so I'm taking a parks and rec low-impact class here soon. :o)