A Doula Story

I am preparing for natural childbirth. I know, I know - it hurts. For those of you who know me well, this really shouldn't come as too much of a surprise. There is a lot about natural childbirth that appeals to the hippy side of me. I am not kidding myself that it will be easy. In fact, know it will not be easy. The most important thing is that the baby is healthy and that I am healthy. If drugs are necessary for that outcome then that is fine too.

To support both Mike and I during labor we would like to have a doula with us. Mike and I have taken a natural childbirth class with a woman named Rita who was recommended by my OB. Rita is AWESOME. I just can't even describe her she is so great. As my OB says, she "gets it". Mike and I both really connected with her. She is very hippy, she is very spiritual, laid back, funny and just awesome. And she is a trained doula who has attended over 400 births. So naturally we wanted her to be our doula. Well the catch is the I am due Aug 17 which is a Friday and she was supposed to be going on a two week vacation Aug 17!

So after dealing with that disappointment we set off to find someone else. As I mentioned I have spoken to several doulas and one conversation leads to a referral for another doula etc. As you might imagine, there can be a bit of a political edge to a doula - frowning on medication, frowning on hospital births and preferring home birth etc. I am having the baby in a hospital - not my home. I completely believe in the wonders of western medicine and want every medical advancement at my disposal when giving birth. So I didn't see eye to eye with several of the doulas I spoke with.

I then spoke with two doulas who seemed to get me. Carrie and Barbara. Mike and I met with each of them last weekend. They each had their strengths and weaknesses, but I think both would be fine. But after each meeting, what kept hitting me is "but they aren't Rita."

I had called Rita earlier in the week to schedule a massage and she called back and left a message on Sunday. Then Sunday night before I had chance to call her back, Mike and I went to see Harry Potter and as we were leaving the theater, who did we run into - RITA! She wanted to know if we had found someone to work with. I told her not really and then she said that her vacation plans had change. So we made arrangements to talk in the morning.

I spoke to her Monday morning. Her husband is a police officer and was not able to get all of the time off that they wanted so for the last three weekends in Aug they are going away each weekend, but she will be here Monday - Friday. It still isn't the perfect scenario, but it's something. Assuming I don't know into labor Aug 17-19 or Aug 24-26. Murphy's law, right?

So Mike and I are going to meet with her backup doula this Sunday to see what we think of her and if all goes well, then I am going to try my darnedest to get this kid out on a weekday. If I go into labor on one of the weekends she is away then her backup would be our doula.

So that was a really long post! If you want to know more about Rita (I am sure I sound like a psycho by now) you can check her out at http://www.mothermeinc.com/contact.php

Busy Day

Today has been a pretty jam packed day. There was the surprise shower at work which I wrote about, the nursery got painted and we met with the pediatrician.

The nursery looks awesome! It is not too green and just soothing enough that it feels like a bedroom and a zen destination all at once. I figure between Mike and I, we will need to have as calming an environment as possible for the baby. Although Mike is pretty even-keeled. Me - well let's not go there. I'll take some pictures once the furniture is delivered and we have done some decorating. That won't be until after the baby is born though.

We met with Dr. Janice Salem. She is a pediatrician in Lakeview who was recommended by my OB and who we hope will be our doula (more on that later), Rita. Dr. Salem was very nice. Not really sure what I was expecting to get out of the visit to be honest. I guess I just wanted to meet her before the baby arrives rather than having a complete stranger come to the hospital and meet her there for the first time. The practice seems very supportive of breastfeeding and continuing to breastfeed once back at work which is important to both Mike and me. There are 4 other doctors in her practice, all female. If we have a boy we can decide later if we want him to see a male pediatrician.

Surprise Shower Today

My co-workers threw me a surprise shower today! It was so nice! I really had no idea. We had a 'Team" meeting scheduled for 11:00 today. There are 15 people on my team including me. My boss scheduled a 1:1 with me for 10:30 and we had a pretty serious conversation about my growth plan and some opportunities for me once I return from maternity leave. Then at 11:05 we walked downstairs to the conference room. I walked in and viola - my team was there along with a bunch of other colleagues that I work closely with on various projects. It was really wonderful. They gave me the cutest clothes from the GAP (something perfect to bring the baby home in), books, CD's and toys. Quite a wonderful surprise.

My team has also started a baby pool. Most think it is a boy, that I will be late and that the baby is going to be big (almost 10 lbs by some guesses!). No one has gotten the boy or girl name yet.

Nursery

So the nursery is being painted today. I am really excited that we are finally getting this done. It traditionally takes me a long time to pick out paint colors and this was no exception. When my sister in law Vivienne was visiting in June we went to the paint store and ordered some paint swatches. It took awhile for them to get delivered and once they did it still took me a while to make a decision. The bedroom is being painted Benjamin Moore - Spring Valley (green) and the bathroom is being painted Benjamin Moore - Weston Flax (yellow).

We have an appointment to meet with a pediatrician tomorrow so we are making some progress.

I guess you may be wondering how I am feeling - BIG! Actually, I feel pretty good. My feet and ankles get really swollen by day's end and I have a little heartburn at night, but I really don't have much too complain about. I know that the discomfort won't last forever (give or take 25 days actually!) so I am not going to be miserable about it and complain. No pain, no gain right?

The doc assured me that the little bugger if facing south so I keep telling Mike that I think we have a volleyball player in our midst rather than a soccer player because I get as many if not more jabs down below than I do kicks in my abdomen. Makes for lots of trips to the bathroom!

Baby Shower Pictures

So I can't believe I am actually going to post a couple of photos from the shower. For those of you who have not seen me - be ready - I am pretty much huge! I know I am carrying a baby and it shouldn't matter, but when I look in the mirror I do not see the round, chubby face staring back at me that is in the photos.

My mother in law Arlene, me and my mom.

The best hostesses EVER - Abbie, Lynn, Sara and Charlotte

A former co-worker of mine from Abbott, Tracy Steele (no relation!) made the beautiful cake and it tasted great too!

Baby Shower

My girlfriends, Charlotte, Lynn, Abbie and Sara hosted a shower for me today. It was at Charlotte's house and was absolutely lovely! It was so nice to see so many different people all at once. It is harder and harder to get together with everyone having kids and jobs and hectic lives. Both my mom and mother in law were there along with some family friends, two of my sister in laws, one of my nieces and lots of great friends! Sara took lots of pictures so once I get them, I will post some.

In addition to great baby items, we got so many wonderful books. Mike and I are both avid readers and can not wait to start our little one on the same path. The little tyke has a great library off the bat!

Our Anniversary!

Today is our 4 year wedding anniversary! It is hard to believe that 4 years have gone by already.

Only 6 more until we return to Greece! Mike and I went to Greece for our honeymoon and loved it so much that we decided we will return for our 10 year anniversary. And yes I do periodically countdown for 2013!

This is one of my favorite wedding photos. Definitely can't fit into that dress right now :(

Welcome!

Welcome to the Braun - Steele blog. The baby is due in four short weeks and we have lots to do in the meantime. I would say the biggest things are select a pediatrician and paint the nursery.