Tuesday, August 23, 2016

Life On Call

One of the biggest adjustments to life as a Birth worker has been life on call. I feel like our family has finally settled into our groove of things but it has undeniably been an adjustment for our friends and extended family too. 


A little bit of what my life looks like as a birth worker over the last 6 months 
(I'm sure there will be more fun tales in the future)...

Getting your doula clothes gathered and laid out because it's beginning to storm (storms really do bring babies!)

Answering text messages and calls at all hours of the day and night.

Keeping a well stocked snack stash in your doula bag, and car, and purse because you've skipped a meal (or three) while with clients.

Driving around with your doula bag and on call bag of clothes every place you go, just in case!

Asking for the check and a box at dinner as you're placing your order, because you know the odds of making it through the meal aren't great.

Taking two cars to church, or to my Dad's or to the store because your client is "warming up". 

Having friends and your sister-in-love "on call" to host a birthday party because your client is past her "guess date". 

Going to so many births back to back that you remember what you did on Monday but now it's Friday and you're just not sure what happened to the rest of the week. Honestly you're impressed when you know the day of the week! 

Waking every 30 minutes for an entire night because you know your client is in labor and it's just a matter of time until you get the call to come.

Being half way home from the grocery store with 2 asleep kids and a trunk full of frozen food when you get called in. 

Perfecting sleeping sitting up and feeling re-energized and ready to concur the world after a quick trip to the bathroom and washing your face after 15 hours of giving every ounce of yourself. 

It's saying "I know" and "you can do it" when it is the absolute truth but doesn't help the exhausted laboring woman. 

There isn't a single thing about this job that is 9-5, unless you count trying to jam all the back office work into typical office hours while being the best work-at-home mom I can be. 

Being a birth worker is more than a job, it's a lifestyle. 
It is exhilarating, exhausting, beautiful, unpredictable, hard, and bittersweet. 

Saturday, August 20, 2016

Long Days, Short Years.

The saying is true. These days are long, so very long; but the years are short! I can hardly believe that my sweet baby is a year old and my big girl is almost three!

This year has been a bit crazy. Well, absolutely crazy.
To recap:
Ada was born at the end of July
at 2 weeks postpartum I started training to be a Birth Doula
at 4 weeks postpartum I started a new job teaching 2 days a week at a Mothers Day Out program the next town over
at 5 weeks postpartum we started suspecting that the limp Cora developed at 2 weeks postpartum was something more serious and she was later diagnosed with Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Until almost December every time someone would ask how old Ada was I would respond 6 weeks old... because I felt like we were in survival mode 100% of the time. God is good, and I'm not complaining, that job was an answered prayer and it was a year of hard work in school but it's paying off now that I'm running my own business and I love it!

In February I finished my training as a Birth Doula and went to my Certification Workshop for a weekend (that weekend was a hoot - if it could go wrong it basically did!)

March through May I worked diligently on getting my business off the ground while still teaching two days a week. In May I had turned down 4 inquiries for doula clients because I couldn't be on call while teaching. I took a leap of faith, literally trusting God that this was His plan for us and said I would not be returning in the fall to teach.

In June I was really worried I'd made a big mistake by giving up my "day job" because I didn't have a single inquiry for doula services. God is good and he had a plan! I was contacted about training to be a Midwife Assistant at a local birth center. It's been a busy summer, I've learned more than I could ever imagine and as of today I have finished my training as a Midwife Assistant and I'm booked for doula clients through the New Year!

I really think the theme for the past 12 months is God is Good, God has a plan and trust God!!

I have really missed blogging. I think about it at least once a week but I just couldn't justify taking taking the time to sit down and write when so many things needed my attention. Life is still busy but I feel like we're coming out of survival mode and learning to live our new normal. Tonight I sat down on the couch and didn't know what to do with myself, I literally finished training as a MA this afternoon when I passed my skills check off for neonatal resuscitation and CPR so I don't have anything to study for the moment. So, blogging it is. I really hope I'm able to keep it up.

I'm glad to be back - how are you?!?