Show Me the $$!!

Well, I have completed my required births for my certification and read all the books I need to. I will start attending the Childbirth Education classes in 2 weeks and I still need to write my essay on the value of a doula. I feel like the end is near. But, I also feel anxious. Now, I actually have to find clients who find the value of a doula to be high enough to hire me :) I have invested money, lots of time and hard work to get through this certification. I just hope that it was all worth it. I would be a doula for free anytime if I could. But, I know that would not work out to well for my family. I am nervous and excited to see what the future holds.

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No, not 1 baby with 2 heads... 2 births back to back :)

Sunday afternoon around 2 I get a call from my client letting me know she is at the hospital and being admitted for labor. So, I get myself and my stuff together and head out. When I arrived she was having good, strong contractions that were fairly close together. She was waiting for a room to open up on the labor/delivery floor. While she waited, she could not get the epidural that she was anticipating. So, we started working hard on relaxation and focal techniques. It didn't take long for her to discover that she could work through this contractions in a productive way. After a couple hours, she was moved to the correct floor and her anesthesiologist was in the room in minutes. Once the epidural was in place, mom relaxed a little. Luckily, her labor continued to progress on it's own and by 10:30 that night she was ready to start pushing. She welcome her little girl into the world at 11:30 p.m. Mom did great work and both her and baby were healthy and alert. After getting cleaned up, baby returned to mom and she was able to nurse for the first time. I was able to assist in positioning and latching techniques and things to go very smoothly.

About 1:15 in the morning I was on my way out of the hospital.

As I was walking to the car, I received a text from another client letting me know that they were on their way to their hospital.

So, I hopped in the car and drove to that hospital and met my 2nd client for the day. She was already 5cm dilated and doing a wonderful job at relaxing through the contractions. She was moved to a labor room where she continued to work through the pain beautifully! By the time she got to 7 cm, she was ready for an epidural. Because of the excitement of what was coming, she was not able to get any sleep even after the epidural. Her body also progressed well without pitocin and she was complete by 8:45 a.m. However, baby was still fairly high up. So, nurse had her practice pushing a couple times and then decided to let her "labor down" for a little while since she had the epidural. She did this for 2 1/2 hours and contractions started to lessen in frequency and intensity. So, she was given some pitocin to help move the baby down. 1/2 hour later, she was ready to start pushing and within 30 minutes, she was holding her new baby. She was able to delay the cutting of the cord and had the baby laid directly on her chest as they cleaned him up. Within several minutes, mom had the opportunity to attempt breastfeeding.

I was completely exhausted by the time I headed home at 2 p.m. But, I truly can say that I do not wish it was any different. I loved every minute and I'm excited about my next client that was due 3 days ago.

My First Training Doula Experience

Well, I have completed my first birth experience that counts toward my training. About 11 days ago, I received a call from one of my clients that she was officially in labor. It was about 11 p.m. on Saturday night and I headed out the door to meet the couple at the hospital.

When I arrived, they were just checking into triage and she was having very regular contractions. Once she was checked by a doctor, they gave the report that she was 5 cm and transferred her to a labor/delivery room. I met them at the room and we got everything set up for the long night. The couple worked beautifully together and allowed me to get some "hands on" experience by massaging mom's back during contractions.

This continued until about 3:30 a.m. when mom asked the nurse for the epidural. After receiving the epidural, mom (and dad) got a chance to rest. They slept off and on and after several hours, mom was checked by the nurse to see her progression. Unfortunately she was still at 6-7cm and they suggested pitocin. After weighing the pros/cons she agreed. By 10:30 a.m. she was ready to push.

She had a WONDERFUL nurse that helped her try several different positions and did everything possible to help that baby move down. It took lots of hard work and over 2 hours of pushing, but she delivered a healthy baby boy.

It was another amazing experience and I LOVED being a part of it! It reminded me why I am doing what I am doing. I cannot wait for my next client to go into labor and to have the privilege again to welcome one of God's greatest miracles into this world!

A Couple Updates

Well, school decisions have been made and my kids are officially registered for next with the same school that they have been with. I am very relieved to have this one piece of "unsureness" settled.

My pastor's last Sunday was this past week. It was sad to him end his 20 year ministry at my church. It is difficult to imagine what our congregation will be without him. I am excited and happy for this new adventure in his life and I am slightly anxious about the new adventure in our church. I am excited to see how God will take this hard time and bring something beautiful from it.

House stuff... Well, still waiting. I have gone back and forth with this mortgage company for about 2 years now and it's always the same... waiting. I hate waiting. I really do. I am ready for this to be finalized and done and to know what our life will look like.

I am currently overrun with cookies, yes, cookies. I am a girl scout leader to 27 girls and it is cookie time around here. By the end of it all, our troop will have sold approximately 3500 boxes of cookies!! And, by the way, they all started at my house before being distributed out. What does that mean? O, just that I have not had a living room for a couple weeks :) It's fun, it's crazy, it's cookie time!!

Still plugging away at Doula stuff. I am looking forward to my first official appt. this Saturday. I am also scheduled to attend a training seminar the 1st weekend of March! Looking forward to have the training behind the passion.

Step 1 of Doula Training Down

Wednesday night, I spent about 4 hours online completing my breastfeeding training class. I am still waiting to find out about the Doula training in March. Hopefully that works out. Now, I just need to start reading some books!

I am also working on scheduling my first Doula appt. with my first client that will go towards my certification :)

Doula, Doula, Doula

Ok, NOW I am actually pursuing this. If you have been a reader of my blog, you might remember this post talking about me pursuing my dream of becoming a Doula. Well, as for most things in my life, my timing was not exactly on. So, now almost 2 years later, I am going for it. I am hoping to attend my DONA training in March (3 days long) and attend 3 births of friends by October. During that time I will also need to read 5 books about Doulas, labor, delivery and postpartum care. I will need to attend a childbirth and breastfeeding class. On top of all that, I am required to write a 500-1000 word essay on the value and purpose of labor support. It feels a little overwhelming to take on, but I am planning for most of the work to take place during the Summer when I won't have to worry about school or Girl Scouts.

I am so excited and I cannot wait to have this opportunity to be a part of one of God's greatest miracles.

Becoming a Doula

Well, I am finally pursuing a passion of mine. Since Cory is still out of work and my kids are getting older, it seems like the right time.

After having a couple of my own children, I started to realize my passion concerning pregnancy, labor, delivery and breast-feeding. I started asking around my friends to see if any of them would allow me to be present during the birth of their child. Lucky for me, I have friends that said yes.

Then, the baby boom started in my church and I started having the opportunity more than I expected. The more I attended/assisted labor and delivery, the more passionate I became. For several years I have known that I wanted to become a doula one day. I just needed to wait for the right time.

For those of you who may be wondering, "What the heck is a doula?". I'll just give you a brief description straight from the CAPPA (Childbirth and Postpartum Professional Association web site)

The following is a general description of what you might expect from a CAPPA certified labor doula. Typically, doulas meet with the parents in the second or third trimester of the pregnancy to get acquainted and to learn about prior birth experiences and the history of this pregnancy. She may help you develop a birth plan, teach relaxation, visualization, and breathing skills useful for labor. Most importantly, the doula will provide comfort, support, and information about birth options.

A doula can help the woman to determine prelabor from true labor and early labor from active labor. At a point determined by the woman in labor, the doula will come to her and assist her by:

• Helping her to rest and relax
• Providing support for the woman's partner
• Encouraging nutrition and fluids in early labor
• Assisting her in using a variety of helpful positions and comfort measures
• Constantly focus on the comfort of both the woman and her partner
• Helping the environment to be one in which the woman feels secure and confident
• Providing her with information on birth options

A doula works cooperatively with the health care team. In the event of a complication, a doula can be a great help in understanding what is happening and what options the family may have. The doula may also help with the initial breastfeeding and in preserving the privacy of the new family during the first hour after birth.

I am actually very excited to start this process. I will update as things progress.

New Baby and A Great Doula Experience!!

I haven't talked much on this blog about my obsession with pregnancy, birth and nursing, but I would like to share a little. I delivered my first baby at a hospital with an epidural and the next 3 at a birthing center (no epidural). I have always been pretty fascinated with the whole experience. I really wanted to be a part of a delivery that wasn't mine, so I started to let other women come and be part of my delivery. You know, kind of a "I'll show you mine, if you show me yours" deal. It worked. Soon afterward, I was able to witness the birthing process of a friend of mine. I loved the experience so much, I kept asking my friends if I could attend.
Well, it turns out that I actually was helpful during labor. I really enjoy helping the mother carry out her birth plan and remind her that she has choices in her medical care (you don't have to do everything they think you should). I also love being a birthing coach and assisting in the relaxation and focusing during the pain of labor. Amazingly, I started to gain a little bit of a reputation. This is good news to me because I just keep getting the opportunity to be a part of one of God's most awesome miracles!
Now that I realize what a passion this is of mine, I am planning on becoming licensed to be a doula once my children are a little bit older.
It is amazing to me how different and incredible every birth experience is.
Well, I said all that to say this, my most recent opportunity to be involved in this journey was yesterday with my friend Kelly. To read the whole story, you'll have to check out her blog and give her a big congratulations!! The baby is adorable and she did incredible!!