I don't think that my story is much different from others except that I
think my decision was based mainly on the naivete of being young and also on
the convenience factor.
      My first baby was born in 1973.  I don't remember having any real
contact with any breastfeeding mothers.  My sister had breastfed her babies
but she lived in Connecticut and I was in Utah.  I never even occurred to me
to bottlefeed.  I do remember hearing the stories about having to get up in
the middle of the night to fix a bottle and about how much trouble mixing and
sterilizing, refridgerating ABM was.
     I was seven months pregnant when we moved to California and on my first
OB visit I was asked if I planned to breastfeed.  I replied "Of course, is
there any other way to feed a baby?".  My doctor was very taken aback.   I
was surprised that he was surprised.  He hooked me up with NMC and my
counselor was Harriet Palmer (the founder of NMC).  She was great and helped
me through some hard times and invited me to join.  Hence, my passion for
breastfeeding began.  I went on to breastfeed 6 children for various amounts
of time and to be an active member of NMC for 22 years.   I still remember to
best moments in the middle of the night when I was alone with my baby (a real
treat with the later children) and I was able to feed them, sing to them and
enjoy them.  Sometimes in my case I think that young and dumb was a real
blessing.  I was not sophisticated enough to know that I was making a really
important decision, it just seemed like the natural thing to do.  The great
thing now is that I do know that I made a great decision for my kids and I
often tease them when I see teenagers doing something really stupid (smoking,
driving dangerously , etc) by saying "That poor person must have been
bottlefed, aren't you glad that you were breastfed and are smarter than
that?"  Of course they can always come back with "YOu were bottlefed mom!"
  I just tell them that I know and how much smarter I would be if I had been
breastfed.  We have fun.
      I am moving to Switzerland in 14 days and after I get some of the
language under my belt hope to do some breastfeeding counseling.  I will miss
Lactnet for the time that I don't have a computer (about 6 to 8 weeks) as it
is often my lifeline.  I too am grateful for all the great wisdom,
passion,and academic information that is available.  Thanks to you all for a
great discussion group.

Yours.
Merilee Reeder CLE
(yes, you may use my story on the website if you chose to)