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Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Hope you had a wonderful day with family and friends!

Just had my second baby at home last week! It was also my second homebirth and was a wonderful experience. It was different from last time... always new things to learn! In the afternoon I started getting some contractions, but I didn't think much of it because I've been having lots of contractions off and on. After several hours they were still coming though, whether I was sitting or standing or laying down, so I started to wonder... is this it? There was an event at church I didn't want to miss so I went. I kept having contractions but they weren't getting stronger. When we got home I showered and that still didn't take them away, but they still weren't getting stronger or closer. Then around midnight I woke up from a more intense one. I showered again and that still didn't take them away. I woke up my husband and we timed them at 7 minutes apart lasting 1.5 minutes. I got in the shower again and swayed my hips and it felt good. While in the shower they went to 3 minutes apart lasting 2 minutes. We called the midwife at 1:30 and she arrived at 2:15. While I was waiting for her, my contractions got pretty intense. I was hands and knees on the kitchen floor while my husband pumped up and started filling the birth pool. (We have a very small house so the kitchen is the best option for the pool.) I got in the water when there was only a few inches in it as I was really hoping for some pain relief! Contractions were strong and frequent, but manageable. I moved my body and with each contraction would open my mouth and focus on relaxing my face and jaw. Eventually I was hanging onto my husband for support. At 2:30 I asked the midwife to check me. I was 6 cm and my cervix was very stretchy. I felt really encouraged because at my last birth, I went from that point to holding my baby in about an hour. So I looked at the clock and thought, "At 3:30 I'll have my baby!" But it was not to be. One nice thing about this labor was the breaks in between the contractions. It really helped me to catch my breath and relax again. My first labor was like one long contraction, I think because I had induced with castor oil.

When my son was 2 months old my husband had to have rotator cuff surgery so we considered having a post Partum doula to help us out during his recovery phase. Now, my first 2 months of postpartum were a combination of elatedness and utter despair and overwhelm (turns out I had an insane thyroid issue making my already wacky hormones be even more wacky) Anyway. A certain pandemic totally threw everything off and we ended up not hiring a postpartum doula so I was left to handle it ALL!! And let me tell you! It is ONLY by the wonderful Grace of God that everyone in my household is still alive, LOL! I was a total and complete emotional mess. On top of having a decent tear that was stitched up wrong and causing all sorts of problems and pain.. oh did I mention it was in the middle of winter in New England too?? Yeah, so looking back- we definitely needed a postpartum doula. The incredible hard situation I found myself in after giving birth is what really fueled my fire to become a post Partum doula myself. I wanted to help other moms feel their best and enjoy that 4th trimester without the stress and overwhelm! ⁉️Have you ever had a birth doula or post Partum doula for any of your pregnancies? If not, is that something you are curious to learn more about⁉️ ⁉️What are some questions you have? Do you know what a doula is/does⁉️ I’d love to hear your thoughts… 👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻

This book The Mama Natural is a great audiobook to listen to for some natural childbirth advice. If you have audible- Check it out! https://www.audible.com/pd/B06XPD7ZKP?source_code=ASSORAP0511160006&share_location=player_overflow