My big announcement...

No, I'm not pregnant! I know that's what you were thinking...

So apparently I have (inadvertently) decided to take a holiday from writing on the blog, not because I don't love you, my readers and friends, or blogging itself, but because I have been so busy--and no, I haven't been doing tons of Christmas shopping. (Thank goodness for internet shopping. I have made a grand total of two actual Christmas related outings, but I have gotten about ten packages in the mail.) In fact, I have been far too busy contemplating, deciding, planning, and putting into action preparations for my new (part-time) career. I'm training to become a certified labor doula! For those of you who may be unfamiliar with the term, a doula is a woman whose primary purpose is to provide physical and emotional support to a laboring mom (and dad!). If you read my blog about the perfect birth, you've probably already figured out that I have an intense passion for all things birth related. Although I've had this passion since I was a teenager, my own two births made me even more convinced that moms need someone at their births whose only role is making sure they have a satisfying birth experience. However, having the two babies as a product of my two births, I felt like there was no way for me to start anything new, and there wasn't, at least until recently.

About a month ago (pretty much the same time I started my blogging hiatus), I had a mental (or spiritual, or both) breakthrough. It was like I suddenly realized that I could start the process of becoming a labor doula right now. After all, why not? Daniel is getting close to weaning (I think), which has probably been the major roadblock. I also realized that although I am still one hundred percent committed to being the primary caregiver in my children's life, that doesn't mean I have to be the solo caregiver one hundred percent of the time. I don't want my children to grow up thinking that my life revolves around them (although, for now, it does). I want them to socialize, to learn to be independent, and be comfortable in a variety of environments. The great thing for my personal situation is that being a labor doula would still allow me to do another one of my great passions, which is to homeschool my children, at least through the early years. After all, homeschool is the ultimate flexible situation. So having mentally worked through a lot of the things that were keeping me from taking on this new challenge, I talked through the idea with Stephen and a few other close family members, and decided to go for it!

Anyone who knows me well knows that once I make up my mind about something, I'm going to make it happen. Unless Jesus or a freight train stops me, I'm going to find a way. With that said, once I made up my mind to do it, I was registered for training within two weeks. I'll get to spend an entire weekend in January fraternizing with my fellow birth nerds, and learning a lot of special labor-aid techniques. Then, bring on the births, and bring on the babies!