Goodbye, Nursing Bras!!!

Last Wednesday, the 12th of April, was a momentous day.

Not just because it was exactly a month before my son E turns two.

Not even because, at long last, Bucky Covington was ousted from American Idol 5.

It was a day to remember because it was the day I officially banished my nursing bras to a dark, uncharted region of my dresser drawer.

Yes, my friends, after 23 months of being lovingly breastfed, E is weaned! E nurses no more! My nursing wear can retire! Wooohooooo! Yeeeehaaaaa! Yippeekayayey!

Hello, push-up bras! Hello, Baileys, sherry and white wine with dinner!

Goodbye sleep deprivation! Goodbye sore nipples! Goodbye having my blouse tugged at by E in the most public places imaginable!

Don't get me wrong, I absolutely loved being able to breastfeed both my children until they were nearly two. Full on till about a year, and then mixed with milk or formula till weaned. It's a great blessing and a great gift to have had, and I know many mothers desire what I've had the joy of doing. But it was an endless nightmare having to wean them in turn, strong-willed tots as they are.

E was even more difficult to wean than B. There were moments when, exhausted and in despair, I had to rely on O's optimistic hope that E wouldn't be hanging onto my breasts for comfort for ever. He was an invaluable help during this whole process, so this is OUR victory, not just mine. Thank God for O! Oh, how I seriously love that man.

Now I am able to enjoy cuddling E and holding him close without fear of disrobing in public. Now I am able to put him to sleep without using the breast as a sedative. Now I am able to comfort him with calming touch and quiet words, and he no longer needs to nurse to feel better. And after only a few days, I can see how much good it has done to our relationship as mother and child.

After the experience of having weaned B and E, I understand David when he declared:

"But I have stilled and quieted my soul;
Like a weaned child with its mother,
Like a weaned child is my soul within me..." (Ps 131:2)

I was struck, as well, by the reflection offered by the NIV's The New Student Bible (Expanded and Updated edition) on that particular passage. Let me share it with you:

A Child with Its Mother
"How trusting is a baby? Not very, some would say, for babies cry violently as soon as they feel the slightest hunger. It is the weaned child, a little older, who has
learned to trust its mother, to fret less and simply ask for food instead of wailing. The profound simplicity of this patience is David's model for how he, and all Israel, should wait on the Lord."

Looking at how I've fretted and worried and wailed within my soul lately, I'm thinking, perhaps the Lord's not done weaning me yet.

Oh, Lord, teach me to trust in You even more, like a weaned child with its mother.

Amen.