Back to the Delivery Room

I can't believe it's been 5 months since I've attended a birth, WOW! I took the summer off after a very busy winter/spring schedule. I even passed 2 clients along and was very careful to guard my time off, I needed some time without my pager. Then came the fall. I missed my first birth in early September when a client delivered 2 months early and so quickly the dad wasn't even able to make it in time. I've had the opportunity to teach comfort measures at the prenatal classes here in Clinton several times in the last 6 months and it's been great! I really enjoy it, once I get past being nervous about speaking in front of a group :)

Since about a month ago my doula birth schedule has been filling up slowly and steadily, which has been awesome! What wasn't so awesome was the the sitter that I used to be able to call for watching my kiddies in the daytime said she was unable to do it anymore, so there was several days of sheer panic as I struggled to find someone who was willing to take my kids at a moments notice, have them dropped at their house at 6:30 a.m., get them on the bus & off the bus at the end of the day and care for them until Joel's dad could come and pick them up. Seemed impossible to me, but then a girlfriend said she would be willing to do it! I was so thrilled!! THEN I find out that the bus company will most likey not allow my kids to take the bus from her house to the school with her children because it's not their usual route. Major disappointment and frustration on my end. Not that I don't understand what the bus company is saying, but I was back at square one with no sitter.

Then one day this week I put "Melanie is Stressed" as my facebook status. I left the computer for a while and racked my brain trying to think of someone who would be on our bus route and may be willing to help me out on rare occasion. I thought of a girl that I knew (barely at all) who has a son in Lyric's class and is on the same bus. I worked up my guts to ask her and went to the computer. I just about fell out of my chair when I opened my e-mail and there was an e-mail from HER!!! She had seen my request a couple of weeks earlier for an emergency sitter and she was writing to tell me that day that she would be willing to help me out. WHAT?!!! I couldn't believe it, I was absolutely blown away by how God worked that all out. So, long story short, I have babysitting all lined up and ready to go and it feels GREAT knowing that I can do my job and not have to lose sleep worrying about who I can call if I need to go.

So, I look ahead at my busy schedule with excitement and anticipation, wondering what kinds of experiences I will have the honour of being a part of. What an incredible job I have, being involved in such an amazing and intimate moment in couples' lives. I never take for granted how incredible my job is and the magnitude of the impact my words and actions will have on a couple. I pray for the right words of comfort and a sensitivity to the woman's needs as I drive to every birth. I know that her labour and delivery will be remembered in vivid detail in her heart and mind forever, and I do my best to help her to have the best possible experience she can have, even if the labour doesn't go as she plans. What an awesome job, I still can't believe how fortunate I am to have found something I'm passionate about that I get to do it as my job.

So blessed,

Mel