How to Do What You Love

    As most of you know, I recently discovered that my calling is to help pregnant and breastfeeding mothers. It did not take me long to come to this conclusion. Anyone who knows me well enough knows how passionate I am about it. I have enrolled in Childbirth International to become certified as a Birth Doula and Breastfeeding Counselor. For those of you who do not know what a Doula is, I will give you a quick quote from the website... "A doula supports a woman and her partner during pregnancy, birth, and the early weeks of parenting, with reassurance, practical assistance, and information."
     There is a list of things one must complete in order to obtain certification. These things include, A communication reflective paper, A series of physiology tests (multiple choice tests that examine your knowledge of the physiological processes of pregnancy, labor, birth and the early postpartum period), Practical skills, Evaluations of attending real births and providing support to nursing mothers, and one must also read a number of books off of the CBI required reading list and then submit a book review. Whew, sounds like a lot huh? Well, CBI is one of the most comprehensive Doula training programs in my opinion. Something that makes all of this easier to swallow is that you go at your own pace and the time limit to finish, which is a whopping 3 years I believe. It will not take me that long.

  I purchased some of the books off of the required reading list ahead of time and have been flipping through them. I cannot decide which to read first! I am sure glad I love to read so much, or this could be an extremely daunting task. I also love studying and doing the work in the online classroom, it is so convenient!(And the crunchy tree hugger side of me is super pleased that they have an option of online workbooks). I thoroughly enjoy learning every little bit of information I can grab onto. I am for the first time in my life hungry to learn and excited for the future of my career. I just have to remind myself sometimes to slow down, take a deep breath and take each step slowly, so I don't end up tripping myself. 

And just for fun, here is a cute picture of Ceaghan with watermelon all over his face. What can I say, I love him just as much covered in sticky juice.