If you’ve ever picked up anything that is ‘true’ from television or movies is that the parenting journey that you are on is ALWAYS chaos. There are a million books about preparing for pregnancy, birth and parenting. Everyone has a good point or two, but the thing that is true across each is that growing your family is not a one size fits all option.
As a doula I come into the first intimate chaos, it is my joy and privilege to help support you through and create a foundation for the rest of your parenting journey. This starts with helping you write up your birth plan.
For the last 11 months my husband and I have been training for a weekend backpacking trip. It started with me trying to get back into shape and feel better about myself. We walked the steep neighborhood. I did strength training. We dusted-off old gear and purchased some new stuff. We read up on the trail we would be taking.
My husband had backpacked before, but I had not. I relied on him for what to purchase, rent, or do in regards to preparation. This was a journey that was, in reality, 15 years in the dreaming. We had purchased our backpacks from Mystery Ranch in Bozeman Montana in 2008, while on our honeymoon, with the intention of using them frequently over the years. 
As a lot of journeys go, our packs hung patiently waiting through 2 kids, 3 career changes, and 2 houses. Over the last few months, Stuart and I have worked hard, changed our diet, and each respectively lost between 35-45 pounds. We are each down 2-4 clothing sizes. I am still not as strong as I was in my twenties, when I was hiking and rock climbing daily, but I am working on it. I am committed to rebuilding the strength that I know my body possesses. About 2 weeks before our trip, we started doing our hikes with weighted bags, we tried out our backpacks and refitted them to our current bodies that are better than they were, but nowhere near what was fitted in 2008. A heavy loaded hike in our neighborhood gave us confidence in our abilities to continue this journey.
We enlisted friends to help us out with drop-off, and gear meet-ups at the halfway point. My sister-in-law even drove 6 hours to spend the weekend with the kids while we took this journey. The weather started looking questionable a few days beforehand, so we modified the outlook with some contingencies, in case we needed to change time frames so that we did not risk dangerous situations on ridgelines.
Working from home, Blessing, or curse?
I realized the other day that as of August first 2022 I have been a fully work from home self employed Mama. It has been so wonderful in so many ways for me, but also SO challenging. I adore my kids, but it is very hard to actually work and manage kids as well as balance the household. There is SO MUCH TO DO. I have the utmost respect for you all out there doing this.
For anyone that knows me personally, organization is not my middle name... my middle name is more like chaos. Get me focused on a goal I am pretty good at staying on task and getting it done... But if you need me to keep up with multiple avenues of focus, I fail pretty hard. The edges of each focus kind of go 'blurry.' Meaning I get it done, but maybe not up to my potential.
A current trend in the way today’s clients gather information on pregnancy, labor, and birth through social media. Their reliance for information regarding what they will ultimately choose or feel about their relationship with their care provider, and the place that they will give birth. When we are solely relying on social media, and opinions of others we hold their hurt, trauma and disappointment as part of our story. Over the last few years I have watched this become more and more a defeating cycle. When you go looking for hurt, you will feel it.
