3 Years, 2 Months, 6 Days

3 years, 2 months, and 6 days, that is how long LP breastfed for.

Before she was born I was hopeful that we would be able to make it to a year. For some reason it was the one thing I was most afraid of, not being able to successfully breastfeed. I actually had nightmares that we couldn't make it work the last month before she was born. Then she was born and from the start she was a champion nurser. In the beginning she could be done in 6 minutes flat. She thrived, breastmilk alone kept her between the 90th and 100th percentiles for the first 6 months and 3 weeks of her life. As she got older, it became a source of comfort for her, and our sessions became longer and more relaxed. Year one passed and she showed no signs of slowing down, never mind stopping.

She was never a quiet nurser, there was no being discrete when she was hungry. Yet we nursed everywhere. In the mall, in classes, at the park, on an airplane, if we were there she probably nursed. She never had a nursing strike, I think I was more likely to have one than she was. There was no replacement for her, she flat out refused to ever take a bottle.

LP is a ball of constant motion. She doesn't like to sit still, expect for when she would breastfeed. It was our quiet time together, she curled up in my lap, quietly looking up me. Our last nursing session was almost exactly the same as the first, me in the chair, LP in my lap. Only she was now 38 inches long instead of 21.5 inches and her legs hung over the arm of the chair.

I didn't know it would be our last session. Having gone as long as we did, I really wanted her to be the one to decide when we were done. Unfortunately that didn't happen, I had to take medication that wasn't safe for her. My doctor helped to explain it, and while she didn't look too happy, she said she understood. For the first week should ask if my foot was still hurt and if she could nurse. After the first week she stopped asking. We started a new bedtime routine and I finally came to terms with the fact that this very special relationship between us was finally at the end.

I never imagined it lasting this long, but I will always treasure every moment of that special time that was just for the two of us.