mothering — Blog — Bright Birthing

I am so excited to be working with the amazing women of Bright Birthing! We have supported one another through so many of life’s sweetest moments from belly blessing ceremonies to attending one another’s births to helping to care for one another’s children. We have laughed together and cried together and drunk a few margaritas together. We have created a beautiful village for ourselves and our precious families. We work hard to share our village and shine our love on the community around us. We accomplish this through our work with expectant parents during prenatal education classes, belly blessings, abdominal massage and prenatal care; through our limitless love and energy during the birthing process; and through the tenderness we feel for and show to new parents during postpartum visits, birth story sharing and village circles.

With all this love and support we already give one another and the community, it only makes sense that we would add another layer of support by providing care to our families with doula teams. Working as a doula team will allow us to provide the best possible care to expectant families while allowing us to do the very important work of caring for ourselves and our own families.

You know we've got your back because we have each other's all the time!

What does having a Doula Team look like? Well, families will have TWO doulas and will benefit from the wide variety of skills each doula possesses. Families will have ample opportunity to get to know both of their doulas during prenatal visits and, together, we will develop a unique plan for each family. During labor and birth one or both doulas will be present depending on the length of the labor and needs of each family. Also, as we become more and more aware of the importance of and need for postpartum care, we are excited to include two postpartum visits as part of our Doula Team package.

I am thrilled to continue to work with Gwen, Hannah and Sara integrating the concept of doula teams into our options for care. These doula teams will allow us to provide even more love, support and exceptional care to our community, our clients, each other and ourselves. Could it get any better?! I don’t know but we continue to look for ways to enhance the services provided by Bright Birthing. We look forward to sharing these services with our entire birthing community.

With all this rain in the forecast I’m thinking about a similarly weathered week, probably just about this time last year. My sweet little two-year-old reminded me of two invaluable lessons in the same storm and I’m excited to share them with you on this grey day.

The first lesson was this. It had been raining for what felt like days. I was very pregnant and sick of being stuck in the house with my toddler. So, the second the clouds parted, I packed up the stroller and walked to the gym. I was feeling pretty proud of myself for getting moving until, as I was collecting my little one from the childcare center, I glanced out the window and watched as the next storm cloud rolled in. It seemed to just be drizzling so I went ahead and loaded up my sweet child. Like a good mom, I added another layer of pants so she would be warm enough and made sure I covered her as well as I could. As we walked away from the gym and it started raining harder and harder, my self-talk was something along the lines of miserable self pity. I was grumbling in my mind about poor pregnant me, walking up the hill with my “freezing toddler” in the rain when I happened to glance down and saw the happiest little hands and feet reaching out from under the stroller canopy doing what I can only describe as “dancing in the rain”. I stopped and asked her if she was having fun and she said “Yes! We’re having an “ABVENTOOOR’ mommy!!!.” And my mom heart swelled and overflowed and even broke a little bit with the incredibly beautiful sweetness of it all. She changed my whole perception of that moment and reminded me that life is an adventure if you allow the beauty and excitement to seep in.

And here is the second sweet lesson from a two-year-old. As we sat down to dinner that night. I was feeling tired and was very much looking forward to tucking my babe into bed and having a break from parenting. She was taking FOREVER to eat her dinner and asked for me to turn her chair around so she could watch the rain through the window. I took a deep breath, turned her chair around and looked out the window with her. Suddenly, I was a little girl back in the living room of my first house, kneeling on the couch looking out our big window, watching the lightning. In my memory it is unclear which parent is with me, perhaps they were both there or perhaps they each shared a moment like that with me at different times. What is very evident in this memory is the calm, warmth and protection of my home and family and the shared experience of awe at the world around us. And in that moment I was able to slow down and be present with my precious child.

I have learned over these last few years that these little humans are very wise and have much to teach us if we’re able to pay attention. Sometimes I am able to pay attention and the lessons are immense.