Becky--I second what Tina said--bring your baby to ILCA!  I have been to the
last 2 ILCA confs & w/be at this one.  Babies are very welcome.  Most moms
w/babies do sit in the back half of the room so they can slip out briefly if the
child wants to be vocal & slip back in when baby is feeling better.  I think you
said you are sitting for the exam also.  I am sure good arrangements can be made
to care for your little one during testing, and you can visit & nurse during the
lunch break.

What to call it:  I go with 'breastfeeding'.  It's time adults learned not to
stumble over proper words.  Why is it that child-slang or locker room-slang is
so much easier to say than the real word?  For babies - I taught my little ones
to say 'ma ma' when they wanted to nurse.  No turned heads in public.  They
called me 'mom', so we knew the difference.

Summer arrived this week in Phoenix.  We had an extended spring which was
wonderful.  The first 100F came in June instead of late April or early May.  Our
first monsoon flow occurred yesterday.  When I left work at 5pm, the
thunderclouds filled the eastern sky.  By 6pm, the dust blow reached my home on
the west side and lasted about an hour. These 'storms' will not interrupt any
conf or post-conf activities. AZ people hardly ever make rainy day contingency
plans--not with 7" a YEAR! The unfortunate part is the high risk for brush
fires.  There are about 3 dozen going now somewhere in the state.  4-5 of them
are in the Valley. You may see some blackened areas when you fly in this week, &
maybe some white smoke plumes. Another sign of summer, it's HOT by native
terms--around 110F day, 80+ by early morning.  Night time swimming is wonderful!
The cicadas are coming out and are singing in the trees now.  Those with a
negative attitude call it "that infernal @#$%^&* racket!" They look like a cross
between a grasshopper & a cricket. They are no threat--no flying in the hair,
biting or stinging.  You can hear them but really have to search to see one.
Come to Arizona & enjoy!!
Phyllis Adamson, IBCLC