I'm a Quitter Part 2

***Warning: The below post gives a lot of unsolicited information about my breastfeeding issues...proceed with caution...***

Last week I shared with you all that I had officially quit breastfeeding. Thank you to all of you who reached out to offer support and "I've been theres"...it certainly reaffirmed why I wrote the post in the first place.

In that vein, I figured I would take it one step further and share with you all what my process of quitting was like.

 I was relieved to be quitting, but immediately stressed out again when I realized how little information is available to guide you through the process.  I'm an answers girl...I want to know exactly what to expect at every turn, and with this, there really was not much guidance.  When I can't find answers, I, at least, like to read what others experiences were like in hopes of gaining some insight (I'm a big googler!).
 Obviously, I am not a medical professional so this is just what worked (and didn't work) for me.
I began by attempting to wean Levi gradually.  I had read this was the best way to do it...slow and steady.  I had been feeding him 11 times a day at roughly the same times each day, so I began by substituting a bottle for one of the feedings (Josh had always used some of my pumped breastmilk for the 11PM one, so I didn't count that one although we did begin giving him a bottle for that feeding and then again at 11AM).  I did that for a couple of days and then substituted a bottle for another feeding (5PM).  Again, I did that for another few days and then substituted another bottle...
This is where I ran into trouble.  On the first day of skipping the 5AM feeding, I was out and about running errands and stuff.  I noticed my boobs starting to feel crazy full and kind of painful.  This had happened before, though, and when I had fed Levi, the pain had gone away.  So, on this particular day, I just kept on running my errands until our next regular feeding.  By the time I got home for that feeding, though, my right boob was in mucho pain, like to the point that I couldn't even put my seatbelt on.  I fed Levi, but it still didn't go away.
I called my doctor's office and the nurse told me it sounded like a plugged duct and just to nurse/pump as much as possible.  I was kind of annoyed because it felt like I was going to have to start all over on the whole weaning process, but did it anyway because it hurt like H-E-L-L!
Then came the next obstacle...flash forward a day...my boob is feeling better, but I notice Levi is nursing for a really long time, even more frequently, and is pretty fussy in between.  I was worried he wasn't getting enough to eat, so I pumped to see how much milk he was getting (another reason I was not a fan of breastfeeding...you can't see how much they're eating).  Without going into too much detail (because if you're actually still bothering to read this I give you a lot of credit and don't need to totally bombard you), my suspicions were confirmed.  So, I freaked out...what was I supposed to do?  On one hand, I was told to feed as much as possible.  But I didn't have enough to feed.  And I didn't want my boob to get infected or something.  But I was totally over the whole breastfeeding thing at this point (I kind of freak out when things don't go according to plan).  Of course, it was a Saturday, so I called anyone I could think of, couldn't get any answers, googled everything I could think of, and finally just decided to take my own course..
I just stopped.  Cold turkey.  I didn't nurse or pump or anything.  And the first 24 hours were rough...I was putting cabbage leaves on my boobs nonstop, piling ice packs on top of those, and sucking down Altoids nonstop (a lactation consultant gave me that trick).  I wore a sports bra around the clock.   I was tempted to nurse or pump, but I kept telling myself it really wasn't that bad (which it really wasn't...painful, but not excruciating), so I just kept going.
And guess what...it got better the next day, and the day after that, and by the third day, it really didn't hurt at all anymore.
I would say it took about another week or so for my boobs to feel completely dried out (actually, I don't know what totally dried out feels like, but they are back to roughly my pre-pregnancy size and don't have that heavy feel to them that they did when I was breastfeeding).
So that's how I quit breastfeeding.  I really hope that if someone else finds herself in the same situation (confused, stressed, etc) that this will somehow help.
And with that I conclude my ramblings on breastfeeding...promise:)