The Nitty Gritty about me....

I'm the mom of two fantastic little boys and a beautiful baby girl.  I have been married to my fabulous husband for seven years.  Besides pregnancy, birth, and babies-- I love to cook, bake, plan and host parties, and dabble in a little sewing.  I like to be outside with my family for walks or play.  I like watching Tiger baseball (way to go Curtis Granderson!!!).  I enjoy reading--a few of my favorite authors are Harlan Coben, Perri O'shaugnessy, and J K Rowling.  My music collection includes everything from Jack Johnson and Michael Buble to AC/DC and Red Hot Chili Peppers.  I even love my kids music like The Sippy Cups, Laurie Berkner, and They Might Be Giants.  Tv shows I like include Brothers & Sisters, The Office, Mad Men, Two and a Half Men, & My Boys.   

Why I wanted to become a doula...

I was one of the first in my circle of friends and family to become pregnant when I found out in Jan of 2004 I was with child.  At that time, I hadn't really heard a lot of stories or knew much about what maternity care was like.  I didn't put a lot of thought into which doctor to go to, I just went on a recommendation from a friend.  As most mothers do, I read a slew of books, mostly the typical "What to Expect When You're Expecting" sorts.  I would ask questions at each prenatal apppintment and most of the time walked away feeling annoyed that my questions weren't taken seriously or disappointed that things that were important to me for the birth were not important to the doctors.  But, by the last month of my pregnancy, I felt prepared for the birth of my first son.  We'd done the hospital tour, taken the hospital offered prenatal classes, taken the hospital offered breastfeeding classes.  I had my game plan all worked out as for how I wanted to labor and deliver the baby.  The day finally came...or night actually!  My water broke about 9pm and the contractions just started out 5 minutes apart.  Everything I had learned and had planned on fell out of my head along with the fluid from the bag of waters.  Excitement, anticipation, and some fear took over.  I suddenly felt like I didn't know what to do.  The contractions were managable, but "my water broke," that was a big deal.  So we went to the hospital.  We spent a couple hours in triage and it was determined, I was at 4 cm and 'officially' in labor.  I was admitted to a room where a nurse asked me, "Do you have a birth plan?" I said no...not one on paper at least, and she said, "Good!"  I was very surprised by her response.  Everytime the nurse came in to our room, she asked me if I wanted pain relief yet.  I had explained when we came in that I wanted to have a drug free birth.  I felt annoyed by her total disregard for my wishes.  But after a while of laying in a bed, attached to mulitple cords, the pain finally took over, my game plan out the window.  I decided to try some relief in the form of a narcotic injected into my iv and later an epidural.  The nurse had zero suggestions for pain management other than the drugs.  My husband & I were so overwhelmed with excitement and anticipation of our son's arrival, we just couldn't focus on things we had learned in our birthing class. One intervention lead to another.  I was hooked up to fetal moniters, IV fluids, and pulse oximeter upon arrival.  After I consented to the epidural, I was given a catheter, and eventually internal monitering of the contractions and baby as well as a blood pressure cuff and oxygen for me to breath.  As labor progressed, I was still in a lot of pain. I felt that the epidural had only really worked on one side of my body.  Finally, after laboring all night, at 9 am I was told I could push.  I was told to hold my breath and push while someone counted to 10.  I pushed for 3 hours.  I was given an episiotomy in the form of, "We're just going to make a little cut here, to help get the baby out."  Even after that, I was threatened with a c-section if I didn't get the baby out within the next few minutes.  Finally he was born at 12:16pm and was immediately whisked away from me to a warming table for all the poking and proding they do while I was sewn up by a resident.  I had an audience of 4 people in the room that I did not know, that included medical students and residents as well as the doctor from my practice that I was least familiar with.  My son's birth was not this beautiful, joyus event that I had expected and dreamt about for 9 months.  I felt I had zero say in any choices of how it went.  It wasn't so much that the overall experience damaged me in any way (other than the horrible recovery of the episiotomy!!) but not having much say it the process was a huge disappointment for me.  I knew there had to be a different way.  By the time I became pregnant with my second son, I had heard lots of stories like mine.  I knew I had to seek out a different doctor that was willing to work with me and my choices.  I was able find one who was open to much more of the choices I wanted and honored the use of a doula during labor and delivery.  Again, my second labor didn't go 'exactly' as planned, but I walked away from it with a much more positive view of it. I had continuous support and was involved in the decision making process.  In the past few years, I have thoroughly enjoyed talking, listening, and supporting my friends through their pregnancies and experiences.  When my best friend delivered her baby, I finally realized that I wanted to really do this for a living.  I feel so passionate about helping women understand their choices and feel they should make decisions that are right for them.