Sustainable Mommy

I've been contemplating the past few months about what I'd like to do - become a doula, a childbirth educator, a postpartum doula, a lactation consultant? Ideally, I'd do everything because I find it all fascinating and I have a desire to learn as much about this topic as possible (natural childbirth, breastfeeding, maternal health, etc.). There are so many options out there and I've been talking to different people trying to figure out how I should go about this endeavor. This is not something that has just surfaced - I've been wanting to do it for probably a year now, but I just now feel like I'm at a point where it's feasible. My ultimate goal is to help women be informed of their choices so they can have the best birth possible and hopefully have a positive birth experience.

So, where to go from here? For now, with a small child and hopefully another one soon, I think that childbirth educator and/or lactation consultant is the way to go. This way, I can set my own schedule and will not have to rush to a birth in the middle of the night. However, I'd still like to go ahead and get trained as a doula because I think that the experience and things that I learn will be invaluable to teaching other women. I still have some more research to do, but my goal is to get trained to be a childbirth educator and hopefully a doula before the end of the year. I have not decided if I want to teach a specific method yet (Bradley, Lamaze, etc.) - I'm still waiting on some responses from people about that. So, there it is.

We had a fabulous Memorial Day weekend. Saturday: Mama's Market in the morning and dinner with Sarah and Kyle. Sunday: Duncan's first visit to the Splash Park at the zoo, and lunch and dinner at mom and dad's house. My dad left on his trip to Colorado on Sunday afternoon - he won't return until June 19th. Please send good thoughts and prayers his way. :o) Yesterday was our most productive day; we cleaned up, did laundry, hung some things up (dish towel hook, miniblinds in the stairwell window, and towel hook in our bathroom), took some things down, and perhaps finally decided on a paint color for the hallway and stairwell. I'm ready for the yellow to be gone! In the midst of all that productivity yesterday, I think we decided to repaint our powder room and bedroom. Yaaaaay for projects. We still have a few things to do downstairs, though, like paint the bench, the kitchen table and the end table, and replace the ceiling fan in the living room. Oh, and replace the dark miniblinds with white ones in the living room. I think that's all. Maybe some day we'll be finished down here ... and then we'll move. Hehe. I didn't even add the hardwood floors to the list because it seems like it's not even in the picture right now, no matter how much I'd love for them to be.

Although my massage on Friday felt fabulous, it did not help my back at all. For now, I'm just trying to keep picking up Duncan to a minimum, and I'm using a heating pad when I sit on the couch.

Duncan is practically running across rooms now. He is fast! I am still in awe of how fast babies turn into toddlers, and though I love seeing him walk with those careful steps and seeing his toes curl to hold his balance, I miss his "baby-ness." I am going to visit with a friend and her new baby today and I am beyond excited!