by Amy Spangler
August 01, 2010

One thing I loved about breastfeeding is the lasting memory. The fact that, too often, we don’t appreciate what we have, until we no longer have it, proved to be true for me with breastfeeding. I was lucky in that my firstborn entered the world knowing how to breastfeed—because I surely didn’t. None of my family or friends had breastfed, but I learned to never underestimate the power of practice, patience, and persistence! When my second son was born, all I had to do was apply what I had learned that first time around—the memory of what to do and what not to do.

I didn’t realize at the time that babies could, would, and should breastfeed two years or more, so I weaned both my sons around 14 months. At the time, I thought I was ready to close that chapter in my parenting book and move on to potty training. My husband and I had made the decision to limit our family to two children, but it was only after I had my first period in 46 months (two successive pregnancies with each followed by 14 months of breastfeeding proved to be an effective deterrent of menstrual cycles) that I mourned the loss of breastfeeding—a loss punctuated by the fact that I would never again know the sensation of a baby curled up skin-to-skin against my breast.

Breastfeeding left an indelible mark—a memory that is as vivid today as it was 34 years ago; a memory that has guided my career path; a memory that has given me the privilege of working with other moms and dads as they create their own memories of breastfeeding their children. —Amy Spangler, MN, RN, IBCLC, President of baby gooroo, mom to Matt and Adam

In honor of World Breastfeeding Week 2010, we asked a few moms to share their breastfeeding experiences with us. Stay tuned all week as we celebrate breastfeeding mothers worldwide!