You know you're a lactation consultant when...

I'm an IBCLC (International Board Certified Lactation Consultant). If you are thinking about breastfeeding, or you are breastfeeding, or someone you love is breastfeeding and you find yourself in need of assistance, I highly recommend finding an IBCLC to work with. Unlike various other "specialties" (breastfeeding nurse, lactation specialist, "the one who knows all about nursing", friends, grandmas, a large portion of nurses and doctors, etc...), an IBCLC has extensive education specific to breastfeeding. This is what we do and we've spent YEARS studying this small subset of information. The exam to become an IBCLC is only offered once a year and for 2009, it's tomorrow. In honor of that, I've compiled a short list:
You Know You're a Lactation Consultant When...

• ...you get very excited over poop. Specifically, yellow poop with "seeds"
• ...people regularly send you emails with pictures of their baby's poop
• ...you've just about memorized what an 8% loss is for every birthweight from 6.5 to 8.5 pounds
• ...you understand, and have an opinion on, the "yeast vs. bacteria" debate
• ...you know that adoptive moms can breastfeed
• ...you also know that (while uncommon) it is possible for men to breastfeed
• ...you start to feel like you just might be more anxious than the mom eagerly awaiting baby's birth date
• ...you find yourself staying up late waiting for just one more call or one more email from a client
• ...you grieve and rejoice over every setback and achievement of countless preemies
• ...you have a collection of photos of babies that don't belong to you
  
• ...you've learned the supreme importance of supporting a woman in reaching her goals, not your own

Good luck to everyone sitting the exam this year!