 It's been four years straight of giving my best to these babies, and I just hope it wasn't enough. And that's worth celebrating. Ziya, was it enough? What? What? Thank you, mommy. And when baby Rady was born, what did you drink? Where did baby Rady get the milk from? Your body. That's why we say thank you to mama's body. Come join the party right after a word from our sponsor Squarespace. Well, 2024 has arrived. And yeah, it's time for a complete restructure. This year, Shan and I are embracing a new direction. Focusing on artistically stunning and engaging content, starting with Shan's website makeover. There's no better partner for this transformation than Squarespace, the proud sponsor of this video. Squarespace isn't just a sponsor for us. It's ideal for us in tailoring our brand and fit our unique needs and our desires. It stands as the ultimate platform for entrepreneurs looking to stand out and succeed online. With Squarespace, creating a captivating website is a breeze, allowing you to connect with your audience and know your audience with in-depth analytics. Plus, you can sell everything from products and content to time. Now, while I can go on and on about Squarespace's impressive capabilities, I'll save that for later in the video. But if you're eager to explore Squarespace right now for yourself, visit squarespace.com slash shan booty for a free trial. No credit card needed. And when you're ready to launch, go to squarespace.com slash shan booty to enjoy 10% off your first purchase of a website or a domain. Enjoy the video. We'll talk soon. This is the fruit of my body, which I will now give to you. Just stopping, providing milk felt anti-climactic. And this was really something special and big to me. And I know it was something special to my kids. So this story began February 2000. I wanted to hallmark that with an experience where I could really explain to them what the past four years was really like for my body. We wanted to have Raiju. So Raiju, that's a picture of you and mommy's tummy. I was growing my tummy. Yeah, it's you growing your mommy's tummy. That's you. That's you, remember? See my tummy now? You were growing in my belly. Yeah, my tummy was like blue, like that. The very first day that you were alive. Then, Raiju, do you know what's happening here? Mommy had to make milk for you from her body. You drank it from the boot. And of course, this party was not complete without baby shenanigans. But for the most part, I feel like they really clicked with it. They really understood it, and that meant the world to me. You're in mommy's tummy now. See? And when Ziya was in mommy's tummy, Raiju was already here. That's Ziya when she was born. Now turn the page. That's what mommy's doing. Pumping the milk. This party was also a final hurrah where I served the girls their last bottle of mommy's milk. All two. It's made from water. I guess we're officially done with milk. Cheers, baby. Raiju, can I kiss? On February 19th, 2024, I celebrated my official four-year baby making, baby giving, best of me to the baby's anniversary, which essentially means that I have either been pregnant or breastfeeding for four years straight. And this date is important to me because in my mind, it was my milestone and my goal post to hit for when I will be stopping breastfeeding. And I actually continued on after that date. And now is actually the new date of when I will be stopping that journey. And on one hand, I feel deep gratitude for what my body has done and how it has shown up for my children and for myself. And on the other hand, I feel really sad about it. I think as a mom, you just go through different phases of being able to protect your kids. And when they're in your body, you have full control and protection to a certain degree because there's still a life that has its own will and has its own destiny. And then when they leave your body, now they're always close to you, right? They're on your time, you have breastfeeding, you have that connection. And then when they get a little older and start walking and moving, you do still have milk, right? So when they get sick, that's a way that you're able to help them, to control them, to protect them. And so losing that connection to them has hit me so much harder than I anticipated, which is crazy to say because I hated the experience of chestfeeding or breastfeeding. Love the benefits of it, but I experienced complications all throughout. I produced lots of milk, which led to lots of bouts of mastitis, lots of blockages, lots of bowls. Mastitis sometimes so bad that I would have fevers and constant night sweats and couldn't lift my arms because of the pain that was in the area. And then after that subsided because my milk supply regulated, then it became nonstop yeast infections on my nipples, which is not sexy to say, but it just became a normal part of my life that I would feel discomfort or pain while I was doing this thing. But the joy in watching my kids consume something that came directly from me, especially, and I want to say especially just because my daughter, Ryu, was on breast milk until age one, because exactly at age one in one month is when I found out that I was pregnant. And at that point I was so sick and so nauseous and so tired that I just didn't really feel up to any more discomfort. And I felt like raising and feeding two bodies is enough. I don't think I can handle three. So she actually stopped breast milk at a year and a month and then didn't return back to it until after Ziya was born, which just happened serendipitously. We didn't intend that way, but I was producing so much milk and we were putting it in the freezer. And then I started noticing that if we ever had bottles laying around, Ryu would gravitate towards it and she would drink it and so we wouldn't stop her. And then I also noticed her immune system was starting to improve. She was in daycare, we're getting sick all the time, but with the breast milk help and supplement, I was starting to see benefits there. So of course I want her to continue doing that. And so I was like, yeah, like that's beautiful and I can make enough. And let me tell you guys, she is my number one customer. Like she loves breast milk. She was so excited by it every time it was her favorite drink. And being able to produce your child's favorite thing, Okay, little pause here, but let's just dive into why Squarespace is so impressive to me. First, their appointments feature has been a game changer for us, with our schedules being quite hectic. This feature streamlines our day-to-day management beautifully. And speaking of beauty, you've got to check out their fluid engine. It makes creativity so easy and it's accessible from your browser or even your phone. And are you thinking of selling products? Squarespace has you covered here too. They assist with everything from product design to production to inventory and shipping, plus their mailing list management and analytics tools are top notch. And the ease of designing and customizing your website is simply amazing. If any of this sparks your interest, visit squarespace.com. slash shambhudi to start your free trial. No credit card required. And when you're ready to launch, go back to squarespace.com. slash shambhudi to get 10% off your first purchase of a website or a domain. Remember that's squarespace.com slash shambhudi for your free trial and 10% off your first purchase of a website or a domain. Now enjoy the rest of this video. So I'm really trying to be happy about the experience rather than sad that it's over. And I'm not really like choosing for it to be over. My body has been communicating with me. I started producing the crazy 60 ounces a day. Like every time I pumped seven times a day and every time I pumped, I'd produce somewhere between 10 to 12. So more than 60 ounces a day. And then it just kept peeling back over time. And, you know, now I might produce five ounces every two days. And, you know, Jared just really been encouraging me like, hey, it's time. Like you did it. You know, you did your part. And they have a different milk that they like now. So, yeah, I think if it were up to me, I would have kept going. And like no part of that is disappointment with my body. You know, it's an acceptance. And that's why it's worth celebrating. And that's why I really wanted my kids to know that this isn't celebration. It is important. And then obviously, because this is what parenting does to you, whenever you experience these moments that are overlooked, like they're between the lines, they're not the things that you would think would have an impact on you. So people don't ask you, right? People don't leave space or make space for this. Like we all kind of get, when your kid goes off to college, it's a hard time for a parent, a very exciting time. And again, you experience the joy and the pride, but also the sadness of the end of a phase, the end of an era. We expect that so we give parents the attention and the care, the consideration they would require during that time. But so much of parenting includes moments like that that just go overlooked by the general population, which means that as a child of a parent, these are probably not things that you realize may have been hard for your parent, or you may have never addressed with your parent. And so I've never really said, like, thank you to my mom's body. So I want to say that a body that I look at now and it's so strong and beautiful that I see memories of me on. Like I know that there's proof that I was there in like a very beautiful way. That she's reminded every day of the sacrifices that she made and the beautiful thing that her body did. And yeah, I think that I wonder at my mom's body and I admire it for many ways. And she's older, my mom's in her 60s now and still looks so strong and healthy and her skin looks tight and vibrant and fantastic and melanin-full and just rich. Those are things I wonder at. But genuinely like thanking her and throwing a body party for her and celebrating that time and that choice. That's something that I want to set a little moment aside to do right now and I would love to invite you to do the same for the caregivers, for the mothers in your life, whether or not they physically carried you and the inside or produced food for you through their body. If they did it by sourcing that food, if they did it by protecting you and building a safe space for you, the mothers in your life. Yeah, you don't have to throw a full-blown party for them but a little thank you I think would go a really long way.