great expectations

Two posts in one day!

I have been sharing my recent postpartum doula experiences on Facebook and the blog, but a friend of mine was so intrigued by the steam ironing that I did last night until 2:30am that she requested more stories. Thus, I titled this post....Great Expectations.

To get you up to speed...

I had a woman call me about four weeks ago inquiring about my postpartum doula services. She was a referral from the lactation consultant at one of the area hospitals. Her first daughter is 14 months and she was going in for a scheduled c-section for her second daughter. Because of the surgery and not having much help from family, she was wanting to hire me to care for her children during her c-section and recovery. Last Thursday she went in for her surgery and I cared for the 14 month old for four days. I stayed at the hotel attached to the hospital at Baylor Dallas. Now that they are home, I am working at nights caring for the newborn so she can recover.

The work of a postpartum doula can include: taking care of the newborn and other siblings, light cleaning, baby laundry, breastfeeding support, and so on. I have done this type of work one other time last spring when caring for a newborn baby boy as the parents adjusted to their life with a new baby. I am grateful for the knowledge and mothering intuition to be able to support these families in their postpartum time. Most postpartum doulas are older women who no longer have children in the house. I know that once I have my own family that I will not be doing postpartum doula work as much, if any. I cannot justify leaving my young family to care for another. But, back to this situation I have gotten into.

May I just highlight a few of the random and interesting things I have observed and experiences I have had to this point:

At the hospital...

• 14 month old weighs at least 30 lbs. First day, I thought I my back was going to give out on me. She drinks 3 cups of whole milk a day!
• Baby has a $880 Bugaboo Chameleon stroller. I fell in love with it and it would be so nice to have one, but I'll settle for hand me downs.
• The 14 month old has lesson plans and a curriculum that she routinely does each day. Normally she has a teacher that comes to the house to work with her three times a week. While we were in Dallas, I was given an itinerary/schedule for her day. This included waking, eating, bathing, bottle, Baby Einstein DVD and a lesson plan to go along with the DVD, nap, snack, bottle, cat nap, dinner, play time, sleep. Um, well, most of that did not pan out each day since she was not in her element or familiar surrounding and she was hanging out with a stranger....ME. I didn't even try and stick to the itinerary. I tried to keep baby happy, fed, played with, and changed. Instead, I took her on nature walks, read books, played puzzles and blocks....She is still alive and happy.

Back at the house...

• Everything from the kitchen cabinets to ALL of the light switches in the entire house are labeled with what is in them or what they go to.
• They have the latest new thing for each baby. From hydraulic high chair to 42 different kids of bottles and pacis to ensure happiness. (Funny how I just wrote "happiness" and rethought that one for a second...)
• At nights I have been steaming and sterilizing bottles, pacis, and other baby items. Last night I steam ironed baby clothes for two hours until Baby R told me to go to bed at 2:30am. The steam iron is definitely a cool invention, but not so sure that bibs, pj's, and socks need ironed. Do you iron your baby's every day clothes?
• Baby and I are occupying the downstairs main floor for now. I am sleeping on a three inch foam mat on the hard wood floor. Baby R is unsure of that one as well. Can you say chiropractor at the end of all this?!

I have to say, though, that I really enjoy doing it all. The baby is such a good baby and she is so precious. She likes to sleep on my chest to fall asleep. I know she can hear my heart beat. Although, I believe "breast is best" and that it is too early to introduce pacis, I put my opinions aside and I feed her a bottle each time she wakes, swaddle her tightly and she goes right back to sleep at night with her white noise machine. Sometimes when she has a hard time going back to sleep, I talk to her and tell her all kinds of things. I know she would rather that it be here mommy there with her than me though. I tell her that I am only temporary, but I am there to take good care of her while her mommy recovers.

Once the mother recovers from her surgery enough to care for the baby at night, my work will be done.

I'll keep you updated on my bazaar and crazy adventures!