Good to the last drop
Dear TheMonk and Bri,
Today marks a large milestone in your evolution from helpless little beings to growing little boy and girl. Today, little ones, you had your last nursing session. Now, truth be told, Swee’Pea you pretty much gave up nursing a couple of weeks ago, just as Mommy was beginning to wean. But we’ve been lying you down next to Mommy while TheMonk fed so Mommy could savor the bonding moments you have shared since the beginning.
Ah, the beginning. You probably don’t remember this but you didn’t feed very well when you were first born. We had to feed you with a syringe and a small tube we stuck into your mouth. This, to put it mildly, sucked (no pun intended). After consulting with a Lactation Consultant, we began to make some headway and your mother lead the charge in getting you to breast feed.
In fact, I’m not exagerating one bit when I tell you that you have the best Mommy in the world. If you only knew what that woman has gone through while nursing two babies at once. For the first several months of your life, just about every feeding you had was through your Mommy. Six to eight times a day you would be placed on the ever-present twin nursing pillow and Mommy would get you to eat. Sometimes, sessions would last over one hour – just to make sure you got enough. As you can imagine, having ravenous little ones sucking constantly, is bound to cause some problems. Your mother has endured pain so bad that I’m pretty sure tears were involved. Yet she continued. Even when she went back to work, she would feed you before work, pump twice while at work and then feed you two more times before you went to bed for the evening. Your mother rocks.
Not that this whole thing has been an awful experience. On the contrary, your mother has come to love the time she gets to spend with you – just the two of you (We learned early on that I was too much of a distraction so I couldn’t be in the room when you fed). Over the past year I’ve often peeked into the room where you feed with Mommy to see you playing “Patty Cake” or “Where’s Mommy’s nose?” Your mother’s smile as she interacted with you is something I’ve never seen anywhere else. This was her moment to be with you and she cherished it – even while enduring so much.
So, the year has come and gone. While your mother will certainly miss some of that quiet two-on-one time, we are also looking forward to having more flexibility to do more with you guys outside of the house. We’re no longer bound to a nursing schedule and we’ll take advantage of that. Your mother will also be able to do some things for her now – going for a run, going out with friends after work, or just going shopping at night while Daddy feeds you. Whatever she decides to do, after all she’s done this past year, she deserves it.
So don’t forget how much your mother loves you and how much she has done for you. Because if she can nurse twins for over a year, just for the benefit of you two, she’d do anything for you.
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WITHOUT A DOUBT, could not have done it without my wonderful husband (Teamwork)! Thanks for helping me out during all those late nights, early mornings, and helping out with all the housework that had to get done. Thanks for helping me be the mom I want to be!
Comment by Andrea — June 22, 2006 @ 6:56 am
That was a beautiful post. I came across this site from the Daily News article, and just spent the last half hour browsing both your and Andrea’s blogs. You two are so lucky to have eachother, and now this beautiful family.
Thanks for bringing sweet tears to my eyes with your abundance of love for each other.
Comment by Maggi — June 22, 2006 @ 9:36 am
Kudos to Andrea for a superb job (and to Matthew for being the cheering squad)! This is indeed a milestone! But it is true, as soon as breastfeeding is finished, mommies can find more freedom – and it’s much easier to leave kids with a baby-sitter.
Comment by Deanna — June 22, 2006 @ 10:09 am
I am standing up at the computer and saluting you BOTH! My Lord you rock (sorry, but especially Andrea)!
Congrats on the major achievement. My boobs hurt just thinking about it:-)
Comment by samantha — June 22, 2006 @ 2:35 pm
Andrea truly rocks. I only lasted 4 months.
She will find that there is soooooo much more freedom now, so I’m hoping she takes you up on your offer to let her do something for herself.
Comment by Amy — June 22, 2006 @ 3:52 pm
Our Okapis also had a challenging time nursing – needed the syringe in the beginning (terrible memories) and they also had trouble getting enough in the beginning until they built up strength (we also contacted a lactation consultant). They also nursed for about 14 months.
Then so much changed for me. While I was all for nursing, it was hard on me, hard on my relationship with my Okapis and hard on my relationship with my wife. When she stopped nursing, she and I had more time together, I could spend more time with my Okapis without my wife, and I felt more useful as a father. For me, when she stopped nursing them, it was like the darkness cleared away and I could see again, I felt hope again, like we could really make this whole family thing work.
Congratulations on getting this far with such a great attitude.
Comment by JGS — June 22, 2006 @ 5:25 pm
I so enjoyed nursing each of my five. I had problems sometimes with low milk production (my fourth one was only able to nurse part-time for six months, then my milk dried up) and that was kind of disappointing to me. My last one was born 2 months early. We had to teach her to suckle and it took us until she was 2 months old for her to get it down. The syringe was used. Special bottle, lots and lots of pumping which caused lots and lots of problems. Once she did learn, she didn’t want to stop. I weaned her at 14 months. The bottom line though… It’s worth it, no matter how long or how much trouble. I’m glad I was able to do it at least a little while with each of them.
Comment by Julie — June 23, 2006 @ 8:23 am