Straight to the bottle

Coordinating a business trip with three kids under four and a husband who is on call for most of the month is like juggling fiery batons. It sounds crazy, but once you get going, you realize that it's not that bad afterall. But clearly it's not something you want to do on a daily basis.

So, my husband took military leave to cover his on-call days, and I flew up to New York with Margot while he got to finally experience the joys of flying alone with two children to Philadelphia so they could be with the in-laws and he could go to his other job as National Guardsman.

All this still meant leaving Margot for almost a full day with Liz's lovely babysitter. And a bottle.

Bottles are not yet Margot's friend, and in fact, I consider them to be more of her arch nemesis. She sees them and starts screaming and biting them, and most people (except me) all but give up. And since she's really not eating any food yet, save a bunch of tissues and granola crumbs off the floor, she pretty much relies solely on the boob.

And that, my friends, is getting a little old. And not just because with every suckle, I'm clearly losing hard-to-come-by breast tissue. Even worse, I can't really go anywhere alone for longer than a few hours.

Lately I've been trying to give her a bottle a day on my own to prepare her, and to help allow me to get some breaks. And while she still fights it, she's taken up to 6 oz at a time from the special boobie bottle. But it's still not pretty and I was still reallllllllly nervous leaving her with a bunch of frozen bags of breastmilk.

Let's face it. Giving a kid frozen peas who is used to picking them right from the vine and popping them into her mouth can be a little precarious of a situation. It's still the same thing, but I just don't think it tastes exactly the same.

I'd never actually flown with frozen breastmilk before, and almost didn't since I left it sitting on our porch. That's what you get for only ever traveling with boobs and not bags of milk. It's pretty hard to forget your boobs.

Thank God for that or I probably would.

But thanks to a load of awesome Twitter advice (thanks girls!), I had it packed to perfection, and the precious cargo that I painstakingly pumped daily made it to a freezer in Brooklyn.

And wouldn't you know, aside from the screaming that ensued when I left, she drank ALL 12 + ounces of milk that I left, napped for two hours, and was soundly asleep for bedtime when I got back. 

I mastered the art of the trusty, boob disfiguring hand pump, and all was well with the world.

Well, except my flaming sinuses and burning red eyeballs thanks to the cute Mom-101 kitties.

But before this, I'd have thought it was nothing short of a miracle.

But sometimes, a little trial by fire, and letting go can do wonders.

And a really great reason to do it doesn't hurt either.

 

Do you recognize these lovely ladies?

Comments

[sue]

Oh God. My 3 kids are on the "extended breastfeeding" schedule. Thank God I have weaned 2 and the 3rd? He is almost 2 and would rather die and be eaten alive than wean. I have been breastfeeding for 6 years straight and am ready to wean!!! I think I might try the night away thing too ;)

[Boston Mamas]

Wow, that is awesome that she pounded it back! Laurel was similarly resistant to the bottle - after lots of screaming (everyone involved) she basically went from boob to sippy cup. -Christine

[Karen (Submommy)]

I took off for the weekend with a dear friend when Girl was about 6 months old. SubHub and I had been trying to get Girl to take a bottle for WEEKS prior. I was completely freaked out.

I disappeared for 2 days, and voila! Bottle. As SubHub put it, "She got hungry."

It opened up a new world for me. It made me WANT to keep nursing her, because I knew I could go away and not be a milk machine, and she wouldn't starve to death.

Sweet freedom.

[Jozet at Halushki]

My second two didn't wean until 2 1/2 yo. I was very ready for them to both do so waaaaaaaaaaaaay before that. Glad you were able to get away (with your boobs) and the kiddo did fine!

[rosana v.]

you're bringin' me back! i remember those days...my first loathed the rubber nipple as well. it was a tenuous relationship for a very long time.

check it out...

http://chroniclesofmomnia.blogspot.com/2008/12/got-milk.html

http://chroniclesofmomnia.blogspot.com/2008/12/i-can-cut-glass-with-them.html

seriously, it is some of the funnier memories i have about early childrearing!

[Shannon@anchormommy]

"...pretty hard to forget your boobs." Love it!

I salute your bravery in letting go! Looks like it was just the thing to get you both started on the road to independence. ;-) I tell you what though, I just hung out with my best friend and her newborn a couple days ago, and I realized how much I miss breastfeeding. Sniff sniff.

[Angela]

You lucky duck! Have a blast!

[Liz@thisfullhouse]

Ladies look lovely, as normal ;)

[Carrie]

You give me hope. Precious, precious hope.

[EmmieJ]

I had to travel for work when my breastfeeding son was about 6 months old. I brought my pump with me and froze milk at the hotel so that it'd keep in my cooler for the flight. But when I went through security, the sign said that mothers could only bring breast milk if they were traveling with their baby. Huh? If I had my baby with me, would I really be returning with 2 days worth of milk? The security guy was completely baffled and my male married but childless coworker (with whom I'd only been working for a couple of months) was white as a ghost hearing all this boob talk. Frustrating at the time but comical now that I look back on it.

[Mary @ Holy Mackerel]

I'd like to forget my boobs once in a while. I used to pump and then store my milk in the fridge in the hospital (my son had cancer when he was a baby), and I would always almost forget it too.

[tyne]

Honestly, you are so freakin' hilarious. I love to read your blog, because I think, "huh, that's me, only really funny." How great that your husband had to fly alone with two kids. That will definetly convince him to get a vascectomy!!!

[Elaine at Lipstickdaily]

Oh those days . . . !

[Christina]

I'll second thanking God for making it impossible to forget our breasts.

I know I'd leave them in a dressing room at the mall, and then if I found them again, I'd wonder if anyone else touched them and be totally weirded out about every putting them back on again.

I'd then have to then order a new pair. And you bet I'd order them LARGER and PERKIER.

With that tangent over, I'll add I'm glad that Margot took a bottle without problem and gave you some free time.

[tuesday]

After buying too many adiris, my kids of course hated them.

Sigh, I am jealous I would love to have a lunch with some friends. ALONE. Or at least have bene invited to yours :)

[Heather]

The 2 kids of mine that nursed did not take a bottle. My son pretty much refused, and #3 just didn't need to use one ever really...I think she did maybe twice.

Also, my #3 didn't do solids until 9 months, and now, 3 months later she's eating the same meal as the rest of the family. (and she has no teeth) Go figure.

Glad Margot did fine!

[Julie @ The Mom Slant]

I'm just so impressed that she takes the Adiri. At least one of our babies is getting some use out of it.

And lunch at a restaurant with those ladies and no children in tow? That picture looks like heaven to me.

[Vicky]

Whew! Glad you got through security! I ALWAYS have issues with my pump. I have to manually pump on the plane a lot too. I loathe it but it works. I'm so not looking forward to weaning.
So glad it all worked out so well!

[jenni]

my 5.5 month old also shows complete disdain for bottles and solids. whats up with that?

[Sarah @ BecomingSarah.com]

I recognize three of you, but who are the two on the right? (Sorry, ladies! I'll totally visit your blogs to make up for my ignorance, will that help?)

Great to hear that things went well with Margot and the bottle =)

[Jo]

Oh the joys of weaning. When I start getting that horrible "why am I am stuck to this baby, I'm beginning to think he's a parasite" feeling I know it's time to let go. For me that was the only bad part about breastfeeding, their absolute dependency on me and even though it's sad, when it's finally over one feels... well, FREE! Oh, and you know what I think is fantastic? Husband plane duty. Ha!