UC San Diego Lactation Educator Counselor Course Review

I chose the UC San Diego Lactation Educator Counselor course for several reasons. I needed an on line course, and since it was attached to a university, I figured there would be resources for making the materials accessible for use with my screen reader. If anyone who doesn't know me is reading this review, I am blind.

Although I needed an online course because of Ian, I really do not like online classes. I miss the face-to-face interactions with classmates and the instructor. That, however, would be a problem in any online class, and was a necessary evil.

This is a 10 week class that combines video recorded lectures with homework assignments. Beyond the start and end dates, the class is self-paced. There is a textbook that you use for references on the homework, but there is no official reading beyond what is needed for the assignments. For someone used to graduate level work, I felt there was something lacking without extra reading, and I had a tendency to over think the assignments. I had to remind myself that this class is geared to a range of backgrounds, and as the material is straight forward for the most part, straight forward assignments were appropriate.

Over-all, this is a very good class. The instructor is knowledgeable and has experience working in a range of settings. Both the instructor and teaching assistant were very responsive to email communication. I definitely feel like I learned a lot of information!

I have a few critiques of the class, however. The video recorded lectures are from an in-person teaching of the class. Since they have been teaching this class online about 4 times a year for years now, I feel like they could design a version specifically for the online students. I realize that this requires resources, both time and money, and that those resources might not be available. I did expect a class designed for online, however, and so I was a bit disappointed.

Additionally, the instructor focused a lot on post-partum in a hospital and WIC clinics. This is important information to know, but I felt like she could have spent a bit more time on how to teach a breastfeeding class. It was discussed, but not as much as I had hoped. I still have some work to do on my breastfeeding class curriculum before I am actually ready to teach.

I’m glad I took this class, and I feel prepared and knowledgeable to teach so it was definitely worth the money.

Ian’s first birthday

I’ve wanted to write a blog post for the past several weeks, but life around here has been very busy.  Between family visiting for Ian’s birthday; a crazy scramble to finish my lactation educator class (review in the next blog post); and an out-of-state baby shower…there has been no time for writing. 

Ian’s first birthday was fun, exciting, sad, and somewhat surreal.  The past year went by so quickly, and it was hard to believe he was really turning 1!  Our little infant turned into a toddler!  I’m proud of the little boy he is turning into; excited for the phases to come; but sad that my little baby is growing up. 

Beyond all of that, his birthday brought back all the memories of fear, grief, and lack of control surrounding his birth.  All of the negativity pared with the joy of actually meeting him as a separate being made for an emotional turmoil a year ago and somewhat of one in reflection and memory.  I had planned to go back and read my write up of his birth, but I still haven’t made myself do it.  I’m sure doing so will be an emotional process, and I need the space to feel comfortable doing so. 

Despite the emotional complexity, Ian’s birthday was a great day.  Bennett took the day off so we could all spend it together.  My mom was here as well.  Since Ian’s actual birthday was a week day, my dad just flew in for his party.

The day was relaxing and peaceful.  We played with Ian, watched him unwrap and play with a few presents, and relaxed mostly.  My mom made sure it was part treat Ian day and part treat me and Bennett day by treating us to both a yummy lunch and dinner.

Bennett and I took Ian to play in the park playground for the first time.  He loved going down the slide and checking out the playground equipment!  It was really windy, so we couldn’t stay out too long, but he loved it!

We decided to have cupcakes on Ian’s actual birthday since he was getting a homemade birthday cake from Erinn for his party.  Really it was an excuse for me to have cupcakes, but we decided to get him one to do with as he pleased…  We got vegan since he still hasn’t really had eggs.  We put the cupcake in front of him, expecting him to maybe play with it a little bit, but he grabbed it and started deconstructing it right away!  Once he got some chocolate icing on his face and tasted it, he discovered his chocoholic gene ;)  It was pretty funny!  He was really not impressed with the cake part however. 

His party that weekend was fun as well.  We felt incredibly loved as Ian had several of his aunts and uncles as well as my parents and Bennett’s mom to celebrate with us.  Ian, of course, got more presents then he can play with any time soon.  I’m guessing that most little babies have that happen. 

Erinn made an amazing cake for the party.  He played with it, and ate a bit, but sadly for everyone’s watching entertainment, he was much more tentative with his cake escapades than he had been on his actual birthday.  I think it was stage fright with so many people staring at him.