Lactivist leanings

So why do I still breastfeed after 10 months?  I remember watching a show a long time ago, maybe Oprah or something similar, and it featured a breastfeeding mother.  She said that she was so thankful for breastfeeding because it allowed her to discover her child's allergies.  She could eat only boiled white rice and plain boiled chicken.  If she ate anything else her child would react.  I can't even image having to go to that extreme!  But it always stuck with me the power of breastfeeding.  The baby eats what I eat.  I can control what I eat.  Similac, Nestle, Target don't get to feed my baby whatever is in their factory. 

I  wonder how Audrey would be different if I formula fed.  I'll never forget that realization that wheat was the issue.  How different she was after I cut out the wheat.  How much happier she was.  What if I had chosen formula?  I would have just thought she was a colicly baby, a fussy baby, a baby that no one could make happy.  How wrong would I have been?  I know that I"m lucky to know that wheat could be a problem.  DH has an allergy so I knew to be on the look out.  I hate to think of all of the people who never get a diagnoses and just suffer.  I hate to think of all of the suffering moms and babies.  I can't even image how hard it would be to have  child that can't be comforted.

So I breastfeed 'cause frankly I'm a control freak.  I need to know what my child is eating.  I can control my mouth so I can control her diet.  I breastfeed 'cause it is the best thing for Audrey.  She's a happy healthy baby.  Sure I'm off wheat til she weans but what is a few years without bread when I can see her happy and thriving. 

There are other women that may need help, who may need a helping hand, and who just need to know that breastfeeding is normal.  So I want to be there for them.  I want to be their support.  So the journey begins, how am I going to help women?