Hi Cynthia,

I am at your end of the curve too.  I naturally go about 2 1/2 years after
delivery before fertility returns.  My children (3) are 3 1/2 years apart.
The third one was conveived while #2 was nursing and menses had not
returned--must have been at first ovulation!  So that time around I went 6
years between periods.  I had someone at the breast for 13 years as I bf
through pegnancies and figured 2 breasts meant easy mothering--one on each
side.  My 2 girls self-weaned at age 6 years.  I helped my son wean at age 4
1/2.  My regret is that I did that.  I would not repeat that early weaning if
I could go back.

Since my personal experience is such an outlier for our culture, I do not
share it with patients.  I help them with what they want as I strongly
believe that personal experience is strickly that--personal--as far as
patients/customers go.  However, I did share my extended bf with a class of
nursing (RN-type!) students when I was giving my introduction several months
ago.  I give a 2 hour bf class with each rotation of students in maternity.
I had decided it was time to start normalizing extended bfng. The students
were so shocked that anyone could bf that long that I am now undecided
whether or not to include personal.   If even one person was too shocked to
hear what I had to teach, it was not worth it.

Pardee Hinson, MPH, IBCLC
Charlotte, NC