By Kylie P.

When my first child weaned, I experienced a bit of postweaning depression. By the time my second child weaned, I just felt so proud and really wanted to celebrate the experience. I know some parents who have made breastfeeding jewelry, painted their pump golden and put it on display, or had a pump smashing ceremony – both are valid ways to find closure! – or journaled about their experiences. As for me, I made my nursing scrapbook.

My process was as therapeutic as the finished product. I spent time looking through the photos from the first few years of my motherhood experience. Some days were dark, especially having a newborn during the early days of the pandemic. Some days were beautiful. I included it all. I wanted to look back on my journal as a whole experience.

There are photos of my husband reading La Leche League books by the side of the pool as we prepared to become parents. I love that one and featured it as a full page in our album. There are photos of my daughter when she was a newborn, and I had no clue what I was doing. My hair is a mess, and I look really, really tired. I can feel the fatigue just looking at the photos. I found photos of me nursing in a restaurant, without a nursing cover. I have photos of us nursing on vacation, at the beach, at Disney World, and a lot of selfies just nursing on the couch.

I captured the silly moments, too, like when she’d stick her fingers in my nose and mouth while she was feeding. I have photos of nursing gymnastics and wild sleeping positions. I watch her grow through the flip of the pages, and it is really bittersweet every single time I look. I see her move from a tiny baby to a big toddler, nursing over my very large pregnant belly, as baby number two, her brother, came to join us. I see lots of photos of her and me napping on the couch, nursing and resting, during difficult pregnancy days. I remember how sick I felt and feel grateful for her patience during that season.

Then, of course, a new character joins our story: my son! His photos feature heavily our syringe feeding journey, trips to the lactation consultant, and all of the challenges we faced dealing with his feeding issues and oral restrictions. I remember feeling really defeated and lost during those days. There are photos of me where I look like I am drowning in motherhood. I took many photos of my family with me behind the cameraphone. I love the photos of my husband and daughter giving my son a few milliliters of breastmilk via syringe. Those were sweet moments, and it reminds me of everything we overcame.

There are lots of photos of my children together, such as me nursing my son and my daughter nursing her baby doll beside me. There are pictures of my babies snuggled together, my older daughter rubbing my son’s head as he nurses. I have photos of my babies eating breastmilk popsicles and trying solids for the first time. My toddler daughter, who was jealous of her little brother nursling, is pictured drinking breastmilk out of a cup on many of the later pages.

I have a “famous” (within my local La Leche League Group) photo of my bottle-refusing son who went on a nursing strike, and the only way I was able to get milk into him that week was with one of my giant silicone smoothie straws. The photo captures a feeling from that day I remember so well: I was running out of ideas and feeling so frustrated, then I felt like a genius once the final straw, literally, worked. It’s a funny picture looking back on it. He’s standing against the edge of the couch as I hold a bottle with a huge straw, and he has just one little tear sliding down his cheek. I remember thinking, “you know, you did this to yourself, son! I am right here and ready to nurse you whenever you are.”

I also included a lot of the La Leche League breastfeeding badges that I earned. I love flipping through them and feeling the pride of all we’ve overcome. My kids are now eight and almost six and have been weaned for a while. I love looking through the album. I take it out and look at it often. If you were looking for an idea of how to commemorate your nursing journey, maybe you’ll want to try a scrapbook too!

Send your story ideas to [email protected]

Supporting Breastfeeding Families–Today, Tomorrow, Always

Please consider donating to La Leche League USA.
Your gift helps support this blog and the website!

Donations of any amount are gratefully accepted. Thank you!

Follow us on:

Facebook