Amanda Hearn

I feel very blessed to have nursed all three of my children for varying lengths, but it is since my youngest has stopped nursing that I see something new and special... something unexpected in the bond beyond breastfeeding. Gwyneth nursed for about 27 months and when she stopped nursing my breasts were not automatically "mine" again, much to my surprise. With my first two children they just sort of moved onto something else - case closed so to speak. Some 9 months now after breastfeeding, Gwenny still claims my breasts as her own and she will fight me if I say that they are mine. She still prefers to fall asleep with her hand on my chest, and if she catches Daddy looking at them she will sometimes cover me up with my blanket and tell me that she is protecting me (or them?). I find it all comical and we play and laugh, but more than anything I am touched by the notion that my body is still her comfort. Though I am no longer providing her physical nourishment, I am still giving her emotional