I am a breast feeding mother and I will forever be proud

I am a breast feeding Mother. I will.forever be proud. I breast fed my 1st child , Aubrey when she was born until only a.couple months old. I gave her formula and breast milk only for maybe two months. Then I went to straight formula. I was a new mom and I didn't have a good breast pump etc. I was confused and uneducated about breast milk and breastfeeding. I mean come on..... Do you ever really see alot of people breast feeding at my age? Or really that much anymore? If they do they keep it on the down low like they are kinda embarrassed. So I thought anyway. When I got pregnant with my son, mr. Ham. I educated myself big time on breastfeeding. Woo... I was researching. Reading, asking and googling. All kinds of stuff. I was determined! After I gave birth to mr. Ham ,I instantly put him to the breast. He latched on and was going to town. This mama was proud! From then on we've been going strong. Mr. ham is a what they call feed/nurse on demand. In other words he's constantly latched to me. It was so rough at first. He was feeding every two hours. It took him 30/40 minutes to nurse both breasts. So what does that mean? Yes, this new mom of two was up every single hour day and night feeding her newborn infant. (breastmilk digests quicker but easier and more gentle for baby tummy) so if you want to breast feed it's hard for the first three or so months give or take but becomes so much easier. No washing bottles or extra weight in the diaper bag etc.... I had two kids. Aubrey was only 1 1/2. I needed easy. Breast feeding is easy! Graham is now 8 months and although nursing him is super easy breezy the support I had was super crappy. Not only was I getting downed by never being without my kids I was also getting downed by breast feeding my son. I became angry at everyone. Didn't want to be around anyone ESP. Family. BC the ones that I thought would be my supporters weren't. It hurt. It hurt alot. In this freaked up world you can have all the nudity and sex every where but when it comes to nursing your child in public you get talked about or disgusting looks. It's down right just stupid. Ive never been the time to flash a boob to anyonr noy even the man i am with. I usd my boobs for what they are made for and thats breast feeding.When that's happening to you, encouragement and support is what you need the most at that time. (I find it awful that you.have.to go through so.much.for giving your child the best milk you could give.) So to find my support I found breast feeding support groups. From those, I found encouragement. When I had a question or concern I got help through other breast feeding women in the world. I educated myself so much I wanted to share and spread the word and knowledgement of breastfeeding powers! There's so much good that comes from it. Not only good for your baby but also yourself. I tried to spread the word to young mothers and uneducated people but they were very negative. You should hear the things I have to hear. "you are going to embarrass graham when he gets older" "you should be ashamed for breastfeeding him" "do you have to breast feed beside me? It's making me uncomfortable" " that's just plain nasty" "stop taking pictures of yourself breast feeding" "don't tell someone they need to try to breast feed a child" " you need to pump instead of nurse him every time" I can go on and on all day. Those are just the ones that cut the deepest. Esp. When you know you are doing what's best for your child and he gets so many benefits from it. You should have seen and heard what people say when they ask me how long I plan to breast feed my son. I first ask them " do you really want to know" they look at me with confusion. I hesitate at first because I know what the reaction will be because I get the same reaction from my family. But then again I just gladly blurt out " my goal is two years and if we make it two years or more that's what we will do. It's just to him. We are going to self wean." Oh my gosh the cruel hateful reactions and words begin..... " that's nasty" "you shouldn't do that" "you are going to embarrass yourself and him" blah blah blah blah blah! It hurt to hear these words then I started getting even more angry with everyone. Still do ,actually. I don't expect them to understand. They are uneducated. Some ,even selfish. But I keep my head held high. For I know the power of a breast feeding mother. The power of breast milk. The good it does for my child and myself. I will be forever proud of myself and mr. Ham. Breastfeeding gives you this special bond with your child that is unexplainable. I look down at him while he's nursing and I just begin to cry. Tears of happiness, joy and pride. There's something so incredible about knowing that you can give your child so much through breast milk. By nursing you give him comfort that only you can give. It makes you proud to be able to do all these things yourself. Gives you the courage to stand up for what you are doing for your child. Despite all the negative.we don't give up nor do we give in. I cherish all of our frequent nursing times. I already dread the day he will someday self wean..... 8 months going strong! Here's to many many many more months!