My Own Birth and Why I Became  Doula

I got pregnant fairly quickly with my first. I was over the moon with joy and already, so in love. Of course, when you get pregnant one of the questions people often ask is "Are you going to get an epidural or go natural?" I don't know about you, but after getting pregnant I watched more birth videos than one probably should have in a day. I was not educated in any way on childbirth except for the very basics like "yes babies come out of your vagina!" But, everyone knows that. I thought to myself often that my mom gave birth to two children without medication, I could too.

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Below is a gallery of my birth with my daughter. I had a very easy and fast Labor and Delivery. I was able to successfully give birth without medication and without needing stitches or anything of the sort. Though it was fairly easy and I gave birth to a beautiful, healthy, 6lb 4oz baby girl, here are the things I often wish I could have change. 1. I was on my back the entire time. Talk about fighting gravity. I pushed for an hour and a half. 2. No skin to skin after birth. in the photo they immediately put a beanie on her, wrapped her up and then gave her to me. 3. No understanding of how important the "Golden Hour" after birth is. 4. Having no information or understanding of when she would need to eat. Did I latch her myself when i thought she was hungry? Would she cry until she could eat? Would someone be there to help me latch her correctly? Or did she already know how to do that? 5. I didn't even realize how soon her cord had been cut.

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So. Much. Confusion. There was no one to blame. No one to be upset with. This is why, I became a doula. 

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I did not want anyone else to ever look back on their birth and think "What in the world? Why did that happen?" I quickly began to educate myself, reading books, searching for reliable articles and sources, then I ran into Stillbirthday. A local woman on my page announced that she was enrolled in the training and I went to the website and was immediately hooked. I pondered for months on if I should pay the fee and just do it or not. Checking the website constantly. I took the plunge one day while driving to the store one day with my mom. I pulled out my green credit card and it was done. Here I am typing this out for my website and my excitement to help other women is out of this world. 

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I am not perfect. I am not a birth genius (though I would Like to be ;] ), but I am a Doula, and I would love to help you and your family have an amazing birth and postpartum experience.

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