Although I have strong personal convictions about breastfeeding for my own family, I would never judge another mom for her decision on whether or not to breastfeed. This is a very personal decision and everyone has the right to make it on her own. If you have decided not to breastfeed your baby, don't be sad. Your breasts are still magical and you should plan to enjoy them regardless.

If asked, I would be more than thrilled to explain the many benefits of nursing, for both mom and baby. But it is equally important to respect the parenting choices of others. And to respect the fact that you may not know why another mother has decided feed her baby formula. There are myriad reasons why a mother who wanted to nurse may end up feeding her infant formula. I have a close girlfriend whose baby has a metabolic disorder. She wanted to nurse, but the baby needed a specific combination of fats and nutrients that only a prescription infant formula could provide. Another friend wanted to nurse but needed to be on antidepressants. Her antidepressant was not safe to use while nursing so she decided to use formula. There are babies who have sucking disorders, ankyloglossia or cleft palates. Some of these issues can be overcome, some cannot.

Every parenting decision we make is weighted with such grave importance and so many real life consequences that we should never regard the decisions others have made as careless or accidental. That said, if you are trying to decide whether breastfeeding is the right answer for your family, I would be happy to tell you the many reasons why I think nursing actually easier and more fun than formula feeding.

Breastfeeding is one of the most amazing experiences I have ever had with my children. I never felt so enamored of my own breasts as I did after I began to nurse. Before I had kids, I thoughts my boobs were pretty great. They were small but perky, fun to be around, looked great in tight shirts. But after having a baby, they were so much more. They were magic.

It was like watching a science experiment happening in your own body. You wake up in the morning and they are rock solid. You could be a porn star with such voluminous, immobile hooters. You strut around the bathroom checking yourself out. You look awesome. But unlike a porn star's silicone implants, yours are real and they are full of warm, sweet milk. They are sexy, but they are also uncomfortable, like an overfull bladder. Your breasts make you yearn for your baby. Wake up, baby, you think. Get up and empty these bad boys before I have to pump or wake my husband up for an early morning milk break.

Being able to feed your child with your own body is incredible. During the first few weeks after I began to nurse I become completely obsessed with my own breasts. I was constantly thinking about them, touching them, admiring them and talking about them. They were miraculous and I wanted everyone to know it. My friends and family tolerated my obsessive ranting about my boobs, but I'm not sure how random strangers felt when I cornered them in 7-Eleven to give them an impromptu lecture on the amazing capacities of mammalian breasts.

Watching my baby get so much pleasure from nursing was fantastic. I felt so important, needed, powerful and perfectly loved. Whenever my baby started bobbing his wobbly little head around and meowing pitifully, I felt like superhero. I knew exactly what he needed. No one else could save the world but me. Superbooby to the rescue! And instantly everything was A-okay in Babyland.

Of course, we all know about astonishingly long list of marvelous physical, mental and emotional benefits of breastfeeding. Even formula companies will admit, “Breast is best.” But what about day-to-day life? Many friends of mine (who are not yet mothers) have asked, “But isn't formula feeding so much easier?”

Not at all. Breastfeeding is not only a beautiful bonding experience, it will make you and your baby's life a million times easier. Here's why:

1) Breast milk is portable. You don't have to plan to breastfeed. It's always there and ready to go when you are. Trust me, I used pumped bottles with my second son because of special circumstances for six months and it was hard. There was a lot of planning involved every time we went somewhere. Breastfeeding is infinitely easier than bottle-feeding, especially when you are on the go.

2) Breast milk doesn't create extra chores. It is also always warm because it is inside your body. You never have to heat it up, wash it out of plastic containers or carry a cooler to keep it fresh. And speaking of plastic containers, I never appreciated, until I had to bottle feed by second son for six months, how much work it is to wash bottles. During that time, I felt like I never left the kitchen sink, and when I did, it was to go apply lotion to my hands because they were so raw and scaly from all that washing.

3) Breast milk is delicious and easy to digest. Babies love it and toddlers rave about. My five year old, who nursed until he was almost three, tells me that breast milk tastes like candy. Children who breastfeed don't experience as much colic as formula-fed infants do. Anyone who has had a baby with colic will tell you that you'd rather not have to experience that if you don't have to.

4) Breastfeeding is easier than formula at night. You don't have to get up to make a bottle. You can just roll over and feed your child right in your own bed, if you choose to do so. When I finally figured this out and stopped taking the long trek across the house to nurse my baby in a chair in the middle of the night, I slept much better and felt better during the day, too.

5) Breastfeeding is free. You don't have to spend all that extra money on formula. Just make sure you tell your family members to watch their plates. Breastfeeding moms are notoriously hungry. Since I started breastfeeding, my family has given me the nickname “the human garbage can,” as I have been known to finish off not only my own food, but the food of everyone else at the table with me.

If breastfeeding is going well for you and your baby, you will probably feel the way that I and many of my mommy friends did when we nursed our first babies. You will fall in love with your breasts. You will be amazed by them. You will be in awe of their incredible beauty and milk-making capacity. You will watch milk squirt out of them in the shower and think this is very cool. You will want to talk about them. You will want to throw parties in their honor and write sonnets about them. You will want to tell people how much your baby loves your breasts. Your husband will probably enjoy this. Your friends who are mothers will definitely enjoy this. But your other friends may not. They will likely think you have gone temporarily berserk and will probably try to change the conversation. Don't be discouraged. It's true. You do have magical breasts.