Sunday, 11 November 2007

• Currently Listening Who We Are By Lifehouse see related

  Whew!  It's been an intense week, to put it lightly.  When I walked in and they handed me 500 pages of notes and said, "Where is your homework?", I knew it'd be a challenge.  We had class from 8-5:15 every day, and by Friday, I was sure my muscles had atrophied and my posterior had permanent chair marks imbedded.  Nights at the hotel, I'd study while sauntering on the treadmill at 1.2 mph simply to stay awake and MOVE.  My routine became rather monotonous: rouse at 5:30 or 6, exercise if I was lucky, class all day, dinner, study all night, and go to bed after midnight.  Missy (another girl from work) and I managed to visit the hot tub twice, Kohl's for ten minutes, and Target for five minutes to buy pencils.  The sad part was, our hotel was smack dab in the middle of a shopping center!  Anyway, it really was a good week.  The instructors were super people and oh-so-very knowledgeable.  To say I learned a lot would be an understatement, but at this point, don't ask me what I learned because I'm still trying to process it all (I'm sure you'll hear more in the weeks to come).  One snippet I remember and found amusing: You know the myth that breastfeeding women have to avoid certain foods?  Well, it's not true, and lots of people think you can't have chocolate.  But the AAP lists chocolate under their "over the counter meds" for breastfeeding women and aren't concerned unless a person consumes "over one pound of chocolate a day."  It's nice to hear that we're all in agreement that chocolate is medicine!  At the end of the week, we took a test.  I passed, so you can now call me a certified lactation specialist. :)  Whatever that means.  It basically means I have all the classroom education I need to sit for the boards, but I still need about 2000 hours (out of 2500) before I can become a registered lactation consultant.  If I don't get those 2000 hours in the next 3 years, I have to re-take all 45 classroom credits.  Needless to say, I have a feeling I'll need to endure many more classes before taking the exam.  (They're so picky!  It's 200 questions long, offered only one day a year, and you don't find out the results for 2.5 months!!!!  And you have to re-test every 10 years to maintain a license!  Thank goodness they don't do that for nurses...) 

  The class was held at a pastoral center in Charleston, and I managed to take a few snapshots of the serene and peaceful exterior.  Through it all, I got the same feeling I did in my college anatomy class, being completely and overwhelmingly amazed at the mind of God in creating every little intricate detail and knowing precisely what He was doing.  Some people are disgusted by breastfeeding, perhaps even repulsed at the thought, but my mind keeps hammering on the idea that if God is God, and God knows best, and God made mommies with food for their babies, then why wouldn't I want to at least try and breastfeed? ..........Ok, I'll stop being a lactivist for now.  Have a great week!!!!

         

                         

  

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