19 months and 25 days

19 months and 25 days.  That is a long time.  That's almost two years! So what is the significance of 19 months and 25 days?  After nursing for 19 months and 25 days Everett has completely weaned himself.  He hasn't asked to nurse in over a week and I don't think that he will be asking to nurse again. 

Nursing E at Chatham last May

This whole thing just kind of happened without any notice.  I knew that being pregnant can (and does) deplete your milk supply and I assumed that Everett would probably decrease the amount of times he nursed every day, but I did not think that he would all of a sudden over night be done with nursing all together. 

In Hilary Flower's book, Adventures in Tandem Nursing she states: "Children have an innate drive toward independence and growth, governed by an inner clock.  This is why, despite the pleasures of breastfeeding, no child nurses forever.  In truth, all children outgrow the need to nurse, just as surely as they outgrow their preference to spend all of their time with their mother." I find this interesting because I have noticed that Everett has started asking more and more about Daddy and PigPaw throughout the day.  Also, Everett's self weaning came during the same week that I was helping him to learn how to take naps.  He is getting bigger and bigger and becoming more independent by the day and I know that it is a good thing but (insert whiny voice) my baby is growing up! 

When I first found out that I was pregnant with Everett I knew that I wanted to breastfeed him, but it was more because I did not want to spend the money to buy the formula.  Seriously, it was definitely selfishly motivated at first but as I started to do more research about breastfeeding I realized that there was more to it then saving money.  I wanted to provide the best thing that I could for my baby and I knew that was what I wanted for him.  

Everett and I have really developed a wonderful bond I know that it will continue to grow throughout the years.  The time that we had while he was nursing was wonderful, and while at first it was challenging, I will always cherish the memories.