Boob Juice

While I was pregnant, I read and read and read till my eyes bled (hey, that rhymes!) about breastfeeding. I knew that it was something I was interested in trying it for the benefits it provided my baby with, but wanted to know more about it. After finding out all of the great benefits for me and my baby, I was ready to give this thing a whirl. I set a goal to breastfeed for a minimum of 3 months. I really wanted to push it to 6 months if my baby and I could hack it, but I figured we'd see how the first 3 went first and go from there.
Well, here we are after 3 months. My son, let's call him "WEB" and I had a pretty easy breastfeeding run, but I'm tired of having bazooka boobs. One of the first signs I had that I was pregnant a year ago was that my boobs were super duper sore and swollen. I went from a 36D to almost a 36DD while I was pregnant. Now, after 3 months of serving up boob juice, I am easily a 38F. I know my husband enjoys them, but my back hurts. I'm tired of wearing these ugly nursing bras (I don't care how much itchy lace you put on a bra, there's nothing cute about a bra that has snap flaps) with a tank top with a shelf bra over it just to make sure that my boobs aren't touching my knees.
I have to admit, when I first started thinking about weaning, I felt selfish. I have had no problems breastfeeding. WEB and I got the hang of it right away. It wasn't until the last week or two that it has gotten painful, but that's only because he has gotten stronger and gets a little rough when he's super hungry (and it seems like he's like that all the time now). He has also discovered gripping and pinching, and I don't think I'll ever get used to his little hands grabbing a handful of my boob at his 3am feeding and squeezing as hard as he can. So not only do I end up with sore nipples, but bruises or pinch marks too!
It doesn't help that everything I read comments on how we are one of the few cultures that stops breastfeeding before your baby turns a year old. My main reason for breastfeeding was to help prevent allergies and asthma for WEB since I have both pretty badly. I think he'll have gotten a good majority of the benefits to help prevent those through 3 months of nursing. Quite honestly, it's a little weird to see a kid moving his mom's blouse up so he can get under it to get some boob juice. I saw a couple of moms breastfeeding their sentence speaking child at Disneyland recently and it was just plain odd. I guess that's where our culture has me brain washed too... It's funny how things have changed since we were babies and since our parents were babies. There is so much more information out there now thanks to modern science, but it's more of a matter of what's en-vogue at the moment.
I have resolved to wean my babe off of my boob juice. By the time I complete the weaning process, I will have nursed for about 4 months. That's not too shabby in my book.