Tits for two

Good thing us mothers are born with 2 boobs, right? When I started my breastfeeding journey, I only hoped to get to 6 months. If I got there, I would consider myself successful. I made it to 6 months. And then 9 months. When I got to 9 months, I found out I was pregnant with my next. Hubby wanted to wait a couple years, I wanted to go for it now...little did we know we were already baking another.

The new OB doctor told me, "It is best to wean him (pointing to Logan), so as not to have any pregnancy complications." I had done my research and knew that I could continue to nurse through a pregnancy as long as no complications arose. I told her "No, I will continue to nurse as long as I have an uncomplicated pregnancy. If we run into problems, we can discuss it then."

I nursed Logan through my entire pregnancy. He completely refused a bottle when I had gall bladder surgery. He even spent the night in the hospital with me when they thought I had a pulmonary embolism. And when his brother, Austin, was born....he asked for "maa-naa's" about 30 minutes after.

For a year I tandem nursed 2 little boys. Most often, the youngest would latch on one tit and then the other would want up for the other. Pictures prove how funny family thought it was when I was looking my most tired with 2 hanging off my boobs. Often Logan would reach out and grab his baby brothers hand while they nursed together. Those are the moments that made it all worth it.

Because of the amount of milk my body was producing to feed 2 babies, I pulled a muscle in my left boob while not wearing a bra. For over a month, I had to hold that boob while I showered as not to let it hang. The pain was a solid 8/10 at times.

I got the pleasure of nursing 3 of my children. Now I get the pleasure of reminding them of the sacrifice I made to make sure they got the best food and I am the reason why they are so tall and strong and smart. Logan and Austin are now 15 and 14. They LOVE when I remind them of how long they nursed (Logan - 2 1/2 years, Austin - 1 week shy of 3 years). Anytime they are bugging me about buying them something, I tell them we will have a talk about their nursing career. Its like magic! Suddenly, they no longer want to bug me about spending money!

My boys are so easily embarrassed. I am not. Exact opposites. Walking out of Walmart after getting a vaccine, Logan thought I owed him something for putting him through that pain....my response: Loudly exclaiming, "I nursed you from my body for 2 and a half years!!! Isn't that enough payment?!"

When trying to get Logan to share his computer with his brother Austin, I remind them, "Logan, don't you remember how you shared nursing with your baby brother? You were each on 1 tit and you held hands!?" That time, Logan's friend was on the phone and got to hear all about it. Oops.

One day, I hope they are less embarrassed. I hope they find a partner who isn't embarrassed by boobs or tits or tata's. And even though my tits really took a beating, I am proud of the fact I was able to nurse 3 kids for as long as I did and that I may have contributed just a little extra brains or something positive. Even if they hate me talking about it all the time!