the 12-month mark

the journey of breastfeeding is one filled with many little milestones. your first latch. the milk coming in. the first month. your first day away. the last night feed.

you strive for each, celebrate them all, and mark them with your emotions (sometimes pride, sometimes relief).

the many little milestones are important, because they mean you are you are doing it. you are moving forward, making it happen, meeting your goals. they mean you are rocking it.

so you keep doing it and then one day, you've been doing it for 12 months. a full year. over 1,000 feeds. just like that. all the worry, and waking, and pulling the car over, and intimate sessions with your pump become distant memories, part of a fading tapestry. 

you may pack up the pump, put away the boob and send your baby on to year two of life, or you may pause to eat cake and keep going, but either way, you will have done it. you will have survived year one.

we are pulling out the cake here at pumpspotting right now, too. because we have also reached the 12-month mark this week. we, too, have survived year one.

like breastfeeding, the journey of a startup is similarly filled with many little milestones. your first idea. the designs coming in. the first launch. your first thousand users. the last day of your full time job (which, for me, coincides with this anniversary).

you strive for each, uncertain about which milestone you'll make it to next, becoming bolstered as you check more and more off. 

the many little milestones are important because they mean you are doing it. you are moving forward, making it happen, meeting your goals. 

they mean you are rocking it, so that many other mothers can rock it too. 

one year ago, i was ending the breastfeeding journey with my own son but starting a new breastfeeding journey with all of you. i felt both excited and terrified, as new mothers and new entrepreneurs do, clear in my passion to make the world more connected for moms who nursed and pumped but a little shaky on the path forward. all i knew, was that we all needed this app, this support, and that it was time to build it. 

i moved forward, feed by feed (yours this time, instead of mine), and pumpspotting came to life. then the real magic happened, you all came together. the community grew, really grew. and grew. and what i saw taking place was more amazing than i ever could have hoped.

you came to bat for one another, when the milk wasn't flowing and the darkness was lurking. you popped out to coffee shops and Target and lichen exhibits while nourishing your baby and pumpspotted about it too. you shared emotional stories of kangaroo care and making it through life in the NICU. you made me laugh my ass off. you pumped in places worthy of accolades and a few that could use some improvement. 

but most of all, you showed up. 

for your baby and then for other moms and babies. what is more beautiful than that?

i am forever grateful. making it to one year is no small task, as you prove day in and day out, and that you've chosen to be part of this pumpspotting movement we've built means so much. truly.

i'm also as passionate as ever about what's next. we've really only just begun. we have so much more up our sleeves, and in our hearts, and we'll be looking to all of you to continue to help us build and shape the future of pumpspotting. 

to start, in just two weeks, we'll be launching our Kickstarter and the beginning of a roadshow tour you won't want to miss, so get ready and gather all your friends!

the one year mark has me weepy, as do so many of your emails and notes, but for good reason: i think it's crucial we embrace the 12-mark milestone both as mothers and as a company. one year of breastfeeding benefits everyone, and it's not easy, but i think we can help more moms get there. together, we can help one another make it to the next milestone, the next feed.

i cannot wait to keep this movement building.

thank you for an amazing first year...

x
amy

(and seriously, we're building this together, if you have an idea, need, desire to be part of pumpspotting, i'd love to hear from you.)