A New Adventure- CBE

Today was fairly normal but I do have one exciting decision I've made.

I realized this last night actually. With all the knowledge I've learned about birth and how I continue to learn everything I can and share all I can with every woman I meet. I have decided I am going to become a Childbirth Educator (CBE).

During my pregnancy with E our CBE made a huge impact on Michael and I. I wish I'd had her class before my first pregnancy even. I've discussed the possibility of me becoming one as well several times with hubby and other family members but yesterday I decided for sure I'm going to do this.

I realized how much all I've learned and gone through this past year has changed me. Even with all I went through with C and J's births before E's pregnancy and joining ICAN of Atlanta when people told me they were pregnant I just said "Congrats," reminisced about my pregnancies a little and moved on not thinking about it again. Now I feel like I have a responsibility to share my knowledge and support to help every pregnant woman (and their partners) I meet in the future. I want to celebrate their pregnancies as women and as becoming parents and give them some of the tools and knowledge they need to have the best birth possible.

I truly believe birth is one of the most amazing things we as people experience in our lives and I want to help parents and their babies get the absolute best experience they can and the thing that can make the biggest difference in how a birth goes in the knowledge the parents have.

I know I may have to put off actually beginning this career path for a bit with hubby and the kids schedules right now, but I also know it's definitely something I want to do with my life. We have a lot going on in the next months with hubby finding a job and potentially moving this year so this is a life goal and I don't feel I need to rush it. Our current plan is I will begin my certification program after we figure out Michael's job plans and potentially move. Certification takes about a year and requires teaching, mentor ship, and attending a couple births so I want to make sure we're all settled in before I get really into my training. I will be adding several of the curriculum books to my reading in the meantime though.

I also know I want to eventually be a doula as well, but I feel I need to wait till I've had another child (or two) and they're at a point it will be okay for me to leave them with someone for long periods of time.

I am so excited just imagining all this and having made this decision in my life, so I wanted to share. I feel no matter where I go in life from this point forward, I know this is part of that destiny. It's a pretty awesome feeling and I'm so excited to work towards this goal in the future.

I love that this will allow me to put my passion about all this to good use and hopefully I can make a difference to many people. It's also nice that this will not conflict with me staying at home with the kids as well during the weekdays.