Meeting the Doula

We finally met our doula the week after Christmas.  She came highly recommended from a friend who had a pitocin induced labor.  She delivered a 10 lb baby without pain medication.  Mary Anne (www.tender-beginnings.com/) is a homebirth midwife who also serves as a doula for clients wishing to deliver in a hospital.  She is also an RN and has much experience with twin births.

When Mary Anne came to our house for a consultation, I immediately knew she was the one.  She had such a calm about her.  She was direct with information she had for us.  She didn't sugar coat things, she was realistic. And to top it off, she made my husband comfortable.  An added bonus was that she is not only a doula, but a monitrice.  This means if I go into labor on my own, she can actually monitor the baby and me at the home, and help us decide when is a good time to go to the hospital.  That service could have made all the difference in the birth of my son, as I had a long, long labor with him.  With this multiple pregnancy, as soon as I get to the hospital, I will lose much freedom of movement, as the babies and myself will be required to be 100% monitored. 

It was a tough decision to get a doula at all.  With the c-section risk much higher for me, I was torn as to whether to "waste" the money for a doula, when that money could be used toward baby supplies.  But after discussing with other moms, she will be helpful not just in delivery, but the entire pregnancy.  And in the case of a c-section, she can be with me in the aftermath, while my husband stays with the babies.  She has already proven to be a big asset.  She has given me really good diet information and advice.  And when I told her about an upcoming ultrasound, she gave me a list of questions to ask about the babies.  The knowledge she has is vast, and she is much more accessible than an ob/gyn for questions.  And she can give me all sides of the medical story, to help me and my husband make an informed decision about OUR birth.

Making this decision was huge for me.  I felt so good after deciding on our doula.  I was beginning to resent my babies less and less.  I now looked at them as something to conquer.  I am so looking forward to the opportunity to bring them into this world.

Baby A:  please be head down!