RouRou: Weaning Rou

Nursing is a choice every mother makes. For the mother nursing her first child, this choice will be confronted with challenges and difficulties, and the one who succeeds at this endeavor will surely agree that it takes a great amount of determination to see this through. But the subsequent children reap the benefits of the experienced mother and it is to my delight (and perhaps the little girl's) that her nursing journey was fuss free and smooth.

I started lactating from the second trimester of my pregnancy; yes, right when Rou was still in my tummy. I must say it wasn't the most pleasant way of finding this out. I would, on a number of occasions, wake in the middle of the night and find a sizable portion of my bed stained with colostrum. And one day, I chanced on the most peculiar thing: how colostrum gathers and forms into a drop heavy enough to drip, without any form of pressure of stimulation. I started to realise that Rou will have ample milk supply the moment she comes out into this world, and I didn't have to go through the first few days of waiting for the milk to come in, like how it was during Gabe's time.

In fact, Rou had so much to drink while we were still in the hospital, that she would sleep for three to four hour intervals in between. I have to give her credit for being a wonderful nurser. While other newborns take three to five sucks and rest before going at it again, she does an average of ten to twelve sucks. Which means nursing time is reduced (30 minutes in total) and coupled with the good milk supply, ensures she has a full feed, which then translates to a good three hour nap in between, giving the mother a good break. When we got home, the confinement lady had to give me a bottle to catch the milk dripping on one side when Rou was nursing on the other.

Then the time came when I had to evaluate the quality and quantity of my milk supply. Rou was on semi-solids and into solids, and it affected the milk supply; less demand equals less supply. And I was not well, taking a lot of medication and struggling with weight loss. It was perhaps not a good option for my health if I continued nursing for too long. Hence we stopped, when she was 9.5 months. Just as well, as her brother was also weaned at the same age.

I miss holding her that way. I miss seeing her reaction when I take out my nursing cover -- she knew that the sight of the cover meant food and would kick and grunt in response. I miss the whole mother-daughter bonding over nursing. But in the same breath, I embrace the freedom of having a weaned baby. No worries over engorgement, being away from her when it's milk time, and most of all, the ability to leave her with other caregivers while I take my breather-breaks. I enjoy watching her kick vigorously at the sight of her bottle, hold it in her little hands and drink to the very last drop.

Speaking of which, both my children had smooth transitions to the bottle despite being fully breastfed and I have to credit it to the Pigeon MagMag. I started getting them to drink water from it when they began taking cereals. After getting used to the idea that they can drink from another source other than mummy, they took to the idea of the bottle very easily. Mei even went on to drink from the straw cup at about nine months.

Writing this post simply means that my little girl has grown. There will come a day when she will be weaned from our care, and I'll probably have mixed feelings about that too, when the day comes. Ah well, we'll try to enjoy every step along the way yeah?