The Moo's Retirement

I'm in a real dilemma.
The supply has dropped considerably. I'm doing 2.5 ounces at the lunch-time session. If i miss the lunch-time session, it's a mere 4 oz at dinner time. Hardly worth the effort and time spent, it's like trying to squeeze water out of stone. Except it's not water, and it's definitely not a stone. Nevermind.

I've heard from my uncle's domestic helper that back home, her mother nursed her till she was ten. She could be playing catching with her friends one moment, and lifting up her mother's blouse to quench her thirst the next. That's just the way things were in their hometown. No one batted an eyelid.
I suppose it's something between a mother and child.  Personally, i would draw the line at puberty. Imagine a pimply faced teenager... ewww, better not imagine.

Thing is, here, most people stop before their babies turn one, and i am starting to feel like i need to justify breastfeeding my 14 month old. When i asked for breastfeeding-safe drugs from my GP recently, he took a double take and asked "You are STILL breastfeeding? WHY?" giving me the same perplexed look he did when i kept turning up at his clinic with Glory for the nth HFMD screening in a month. You know, the look which is really just a more polite version of an exasperated roll-eye.

Now, i hadn't really thought about WHY i was continuing with the breastfeeding. We were told breast is best, so i just continued on and on simply because there was no pressing need to stop.
Sure, there was a period when Celeste thought it a great game to, well, nip me in the bud, and hearing me squeak in pain. But i employed some dog-training techniques -instead of squealing in pain, i tried growling - and it worked wonders. She's off biting now. So why would i want to stop? It's free milk, it's supposed to help me burn some calories, plus, nursing is such a great bonding activity.
 I don't want to give up forever the wonderful, cuddly, warm moments, with my baby curled up close to me, where she would stay for a couple of minutes at least, giving me time to hug and caress her.
And i am unwilling to give up the very powerful weapon the nursing breast can be. Need her to quieten down? Shove a breast. Want to bargain for extra few minutes of sleep-in? Shove a breast.When she gets to Glory's age, i could probably shove an iPad instead, but for now, nursing is THE wonder.

And i think the great reluctance to stop is also because we don't plan on a third child. Which means that once i allow the supply to dwindle to zero, I would NEVER get to nurse again.  Ever. That part of my life would be irreversibly over. The purpose of a breast would be done and over with for good - you carry them around from puberty to grave, but they were useful only for these measly 19 months.

So i nursed on, though frankly, no one is gonna miss my milk if i do stop altogether. Celeste takes so much solids now, milk probably makes up just 20% of her daily nutrients. Furthermore, she takes formula milk quite happily now. 

Maybe i'm nursing more for my own sake than hers?

Well, i'm sure the day will come when she will on her own initiative wean herself off it. Already, there are occasions she declined to nurse...
For now, i'll just treasure each session as they come and let her decide on when to stop.
 But maybe set an arbitrary compulsory cut-off date of um, say, 11.11.2011.