Your midwife can't be your doula too.

I've heard it said, when talking with women about their upcoming births with a midwife as their care provider, that they don't need a doula because their midwife will be acting as both a midwife and a doula. Now, I am supportive of everyones decisions regarding birth but I think it is important to know why there are doulas and why there are midwives. So here's a little chart that explains why this is so:

Midwives are absolutely amazing, there's no doubt about that. But no women (or man) that I've ever met has the ability to all at once support mom 110% and deliver a baby. Some midwives will stay with mom as she labors, which is an amazing benefit, but once it's time to push, the midwives' main job is to care for you and baby physiologically. A doula continues to support you emotionally the whole way through, and beyond. Doulas hold legs for pushing, keep mom focused, make sure that there is plenty of warm/cold water and washcloths, reassure dad and the list goes on. I hope that this infographic will help you in deciding who to recruit for your birth team and please give us a call or email if you have any questions. We can't wait to support you through your birth experience. 

The Lost Hours

'There's a time, between your baby being born and everything settling down, that I like to call "the lost hours." These are the hours you never hear about in the "preparing for labor" and "bringing home baby" blogs and books. These are the hours many of us don't really remember much about. They are often skimmed over in birth stories with "we cleaned up the baby and they stitched me up." or "I took a shower and ate some dinner." But, what is happening to our bodies during these lost hours? How have we just given birth to a human being and gone back to our daily realities so quickly? One minute the hospital plays a happy birthday song over the loud speakers and the next you're alone with a new baby that you have to care for. 

Oxytocin is pouring through your body at this point. The desire and need to snuggle, cuddle, nurse or feed your baby is strong and shouldn't be ignored. One amazing thing about having a doula is that we are there with you every step of the way and that includes these lost hours. If you're not able to have this time with your new baby, we will stay with you while your partner sees to the baby. We will comfort you, cry with you, rejoice with you or just be there for you, holding your space. There's no rule that says we have to leave right away. We want you to feel cared for, loved and comforted. Sometimes birth experiences don't go exactly the way you plan them and we are here to listen to the roller coaster of emotions you may be feeling. 

After you deliver your baby, much of the attention goes immediately to them. The Doula Girls are here to care for YOU. We are here to be at your beck and call. We don't want our clients to fall through the cracks. We want you to feel cared for and continue to have your voice heard. We want you to get off on the right foot and that means continuing this birth high and one on one care as long as you need. 

Don't let these lost hours be "lost" during your birth experience. Hire The Doula Girls today, to make sure that the first hours of your child's life are the best that they can be! 

Birth Story Saturday: No time for an epidural!

If you had told me at the beginning of the March Madness final game that I would have a baby before the game was over....ha! Here's how Monday went:

My mom flew in around noon and we hung out with Ben and Uncle Johnny. At 5pm we went to dinner (with Aunt Lindsey, too). At 6pm we went to Uncle Dan and Aunt Molly's house for Family Home Evening. Nick was at home because we had a great opportunity to get all the molding up in the basement. At 7pm we turned on the basketball game.

Around that same time, I started to feel cramps, so I knew those were contractions. They were about 7 minutes apart so we started timing them for awhile. By 8pm I was feeling uncomfortable and wanted to go home to get PJ's on and relax more. The contractions were getting stronger in the car and very uncomfortable. By the time we got home, I knew we needed to leave for the hospital. I threw some stuff in a bag (we didn't even have one ready yet, oops!) and Nick and I left while Mom put Ben to sleep.

I just laid in the backseat - contractions were now coming every couple minutes and my body really felt like it wanted to push. We got to the hospital just after 9pm. We came right up to the 5th floor (luckily I had pre-registered with the hospital) and checked in with the nurse there.

It took a couple minutes to answer a couple questions and sign something. She directed us to my room and I felt a contraction coming so I told Nick I needed to lay on the lobby couch for a minute until the contraction passed. As I tried to lay down, my water broke adn I felt Julia's head and the need to push (along with a lot of pain).

Nurses quickly showed up with a wheelchair. After I finally could get sitting in the wheelchair they rushed me to my room. I wanted an epidural so badly. They said they'd see, but there might not even be time.

They checked and said I was fully dilated and the doctor was on his way. Luckily he lives across the street and he just ran over and was there within 5 minutes. Until he got there, they told me to try as hard as possible not to push. It was very difficult not to.

Once Dr. Wolsey arrived they said I should now push. It hurt (no epidural remember) and I probably almost broke Nick's hand off (at least I didn't throw up on him this time!). :)

But after only 3 pushes, Julia was born!! She's sooo beautiful! It was amazing.

I got to my room at 9:15 pm and Julia was born at 9:35pm. And it's fun now to say I had her all naturally - no pain medication (though that was NOT by choice).

It's actually much nicer to be in more pain for a very short amount of time than to be uncomfortable and in a little pain for a long time (with Ben I was in labor for 10 hours, but was able to have an epidural).

We're just glad Julia is here and healthy (and that we didn't have her in the car on the way to the hospital!)

ood thing we didn't leave 5 minutes later! :)

Pregnancy Approved Sushi

ushi is by far my favorite food of all time! I could eat it for every meal. The downside to this, is that when your pregnant, you're urged to not eat it as its often filled with raw fish which can be detrimental during your pregnancy. I've always wondered if there was a better way and recently my family was invited to a "make your own sushi roll" dinner with some friends and oh.my.goodness. My life has been forever changed for the better!! So, heres how to make pregnancy approved sushi at home!

You'll need:
Sushi rice
Cucumber
Celery
Avocado
Orange Pepper
Carrot
Cream Cheese
Roasted seaweed "sushi nori" wraps

Make your sushi rice (found in the asian aisle of most grocery stores) about 30 minutes before you plan to eat! Follow the instructions on the container for best results. 

While your rice is simmering peel and cut veggies into thin and long pieces. You want them to look a little like this!

Next you take out a seaweed wrap and put it on your plate. Be gentle as these wraps are fairly delicate and will rip! Spread (carefully!) sushi rice onto the wrap. You want the whole thing to be basically covered up, especially the corners as this is how the wraps gets held together.

Next you place the veggies and cream cheese straight down one side of the wrap. Put on as much as you'd like but remember that you want to be able to wrap the roll. 

Roll the seaweed up to make a little sushi roll!

Cut the roll however you'd like and serve with a citrus dressing or soy sauce drizzled on top!

Enjoy your delicious pregnancy approved sushi! Feel free to play around with different toppings for your sushi. Not pregnant? Go crazy! Sushi is so versatile and delicious, I'm sure you'll find something for the whole family!