Cartoon Boobs and Ball-Trippin'

So.  I'm laying here with an ice pack across my boobs.  I pumped about 3.5 hours ago, and I'm hoping to go another 3.5 hours before I have to express just enough that my boobs don't explode.  Go ahead and google "drying up breast milk."  Now you know what I'm doing.  I'm not to the point of drinking three cups of sage tea a day while cabbage ferments in my sweaty (GA Summer) bra.  Nor am I stopping cold turkey or binding my chest with an ace bandage.  With my luck I'd get a plugged duct that would turn into mastitis...which is an infection in your breast tissue that can cause almost flu-like symptoms.  No ma'am.  Slow and steady wins the race.  I've been paring down since Wednesday, and it is something else.  My boobs were well-trained.  All those times I thought I was not making enough and going to lose my supply...I wasn't even close.  So here we are, the three of us.  I'm putting more and more time in between pumpings, so as to gradually stop all together (the end goal, of course).  The pumpings are not to empty the breast (like you would if you were trying to maintain or increase your supply).  They are literally just enough to make your boob not like a brick.  Ask Joe about that, as I routinely make him touch the side of a boob, despite his initial refusal and disgust following.  Also, I'm in a sports bra 24/7.  Not binding, but not loosey goosey (which promotes milk-makin').  I'm also trying to avoid having hot water touch the boobs (which stimulates let-down), so the showering is a real treat, dancing around, adjusting the temp.  Just in case, I put an ice pack on for a few minutes before getting into the shower, and follow the shower with the same boob cooling.  I had no idea it was this complicated.  Really gives a whole new meaning to "jugs," as I'm literally about to burst with milk.  However, "fun bags" couldn't be farther from the truth.  Food for thought.

On a slightly more seriously note, it is a little depressing to be stopping.  If for no other reason than I got to be so damn good at it.  Not everyone can make milk, but I CAN!  As a mother, this ability has made me feel better about my inability to carry Maddie to term.  Additionally, since she was so premature, the antibodies that my body made to ward off anything I was subjected to, were EXTRA glorious.  See, she got those antibodies through my milk, and thus it boosted her immunity.  It was an extra layer of protection for a tiny baby.  Now, though, she's getting a mix of cow's milk and breast milk and doing fine with it.  Her doc okay'd our slightly early time frame (since she's not quite a year).  Today, the bottle just started to be a little more cow's milk than breast, and in another ten days (by the time we go to AZ), she'll be on all cow's milk.  (I have frozen stuff to use up as I dry out).  Tid bit for all the future mommies - when your boobs get huge and engorged with milk, you produce a lot of foremilk...this is the milk at the front of the boob.  It is more watery and less calorically dense than the hindmilk...the good rich stuff that follows it.  So basically, the little bit I'm pumping out right now is watery crap compared to what I usually do.

Who knew this post would be all about boobs and breast milk?!  You're welcome.  It's a stand-alone topic for sure...but also one to hide behind so I don't have to write/think about Joe leaving TOMORROW.  (Hence the ball-trippin' part of the title of this post.)  SHIT.  :-(