Our breastfeeding journey began on October 17th, 2010, the day our first son was born. It was a rocky beginning, but with much love and support we met our original goal of breastfeeding for one year. When he turned 1, the thought of “cutting him off” didn’t make much sense to us and so he continued to nurse…and does to this day! We have full intentions of allowing him to self wean. And if you’ve ever had the pleasure of being around a toddler that means he may do so today, or next week, or next year, or the year after that!
The more we immersed ourselves in the culture, science & politics of breastfeeding, the more we became fascinated & passionate about it. In April of 2013, I received training and competency verification in breastfeeding support from Healthy Children’s Center for Breastfeeding and am now recognized by the Academy of Lactation Policy and Practice as a Certified Lactation Counselor.
Throughout my second pregnancy, I breastfed our first milkie monster and on August 17th, 2013, we welcomed another. I am now learning, from experience, all there is to know about tandem nursing.
I know that my practices and beliefs vary from others and for that I am grateful…what a terribly boring world we would live in if we were all the same. My mission is to educate; to be a tiny part of the huge movement to make breastfeeding a “norm” in our society and help other Mamas meet and/or exceed their own personal breastfeeding goals, regardless of their duration.
The Galactagoddess 
I stumbled onto your blog by reading a different blog about crockpot meals that linked to this site; I specifically came here because I saw that you are a CLC. I was wondering what your background was prior to motherhood and CLC… were you a nurse or in healthcare in some way? I, too, have wondered about being a CLC (I’m a high school teacher, actually, so it would be a career change). Thanks for any info you can provide.
Hi Maureen –
I took the Certified Lactation Counselor class through Healthy Children’s Center for Breastfeeding http://www.healthychildren.cc/ which is recognized by the Academy of Lactation Policy & Practice. It is much less intensive than an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) which more often than not have a healthcare background but is more intensive than the training that most doctors and pediatricians receive (sad but true). I’m happy to talk to you more about the program. I can be reached at thegalactagoddess@gmail.com
~Jill