Tonight as I was nursing my son to sleep I was reflecting on our nursing relationship. The first several weeks were beond challenging. It started with a poor latch despite lots of help from the lactation consultant in the hospital and my midwives. The poor latch led to cracked and bleeding nipples thank goodness for calendula cream. It healed my sore nipples and was safe for Saylor. It took a little too long for us to get a good latch sorted out and by then my milk supply had decreased. That led to a regime of taking domperidone, pumping and drinking a herbal tea was supposed to help,that all in hopes to increase my milk supply. All the work was definetly was worth it! We also supplimented with some formula until he was about 4 months old. After about 6 month I slowly decreased the time I put into pumping and eventually stopped altogether. Just after Saylor's first birthday I also stopped taking domperidone knowing that I had done my best and if my milk supply dried up I was ok with that.
Some how 17 months later Saylor is still nursing on demand with no signs of stopping. I love those quiet moments when he is happily nursing and I can soak in his scent and movements. He may no longer be my small infant but he is still my young son who my life now evolves around. I will continue our breastfeeding realationship until he decides he has had enough. There is nothing else that can calm or soothe like a bit of cuddle and some mama milk.
