Thank you everyone for these incredible stories so far. My eternal, eternal
gratitude for you all having forged the way for moms and us younger LCs.

My earliest memory of breastfeeding was of my aunt nursing my cousin. I
remember viewing it with curiosity and didn’t give BF much thought. We
discussed it briefly when I was in grad school for nutrition. The first
time I really learned and was fascinated by it was when an IBCLC came to
talk to our dietetic internship class. I knew nothing of baby behavior or
the breast crawl or IBCLCs.

But my goal as a dietitian-to-be (already a ‘second career’ as I had done
my undergrad in meteorology!) was to be a shiny media-savvy RD. I knew for
sure I did NOT want to work for WIC.

Well, my first job was WIC (and outpatient nutrition) and my predecessor
also happened to be the Breastfeeding Coordinator so there I went into that
role and found my love and my passion. While with nutrition I still stumble
and have imposter syndrome, with lactation I gobble up every piece of
knowledge I can and embrace the learning. There are very few topics I can
say I do that with!

After breastfeeding my first 2 up until self-weaning halfway through their
sibling’s pregnancy, and currently breastfeeding my 5 month old, I’m more
in love than ever. It’s not always easy, it’s not always fun, but it fits
perfectly with my life and has helped me hone my instincts when as someone
with high anxiety I often mistrust my instincts!

On Thu, Jul 9, 2020 at 12:55 PM Laura Monin <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Married at 22 in 1968 and living in NYC pregnant in 1972. No friend nor
> college roommate had had a baby yet. Somehow read the original blue LLL
> manual and Karen Pryor’s
> Nursing Your Baby and decided “I can do that”. My mom had nursed me for 6
> weeks in 1945, my brother for 2 weeks 2 years later, and my youngest
> brother for 6 months when I was 8yo. Despite my Italian immigrant
> grandmother having nursed her 4 children for long stretches, my mom could
> not buck the anti-BF of the times. My brother and I were fed a PET
> evaporated milk and KARO syrup concoction.
>
> I nursed (the preferred terminology in those days) my first baby for 15
> months and weaned when my Pedi told me to wean before I returned for her 15
> month checkup.
> Found LLL for my 2nd child, nursed for 26 months and became a Leader
> applicant in Connecticut. Became a Leader in 1979 in LA when my third child
> was about to be born.
> BF her for almost 4 years. I too flew to Georgetown to take the first
> IBCLC exam. Lead meetings in LA, then New Jersey and continued in SF Bay
> Area and ran the group’s pump rental station.
> Gradually began doing private practice LC visits, teaching hospital BF
> classes, and renting my own pumps and learning “on the job”. In those days
> LLL Leaders made up the majority of LCs. By 1990 I got hired by 2 hospitals
> (part-time each). Set up the BF program for UC Berkeley (teaching BF and
> Return to work/school classes and helping to set up now 10 “pump rooms”
> spread around campus. Afterward I worked for WIC until 2015 doing my most
> challenging yet satisfying work.
>
> I am retired both as an IBCLC and LLL Leader. I sometimes get asked a
> question or 2 from relatives or friends’ grandchildren. At 75 (will be in
> September) I enjoy viewing my 7th and last grandchild happily at the breast.
>
> Best Wishes to all of you who are helping or have helped women and babies
> to thrive.
>
> Laura Monin
> Moraga,CA
>
>
>
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