“I felt like she was kissing the ground I walked on it was wonderful!”

When I got pregnant I knew I wanted a different birth from my first, (I had a pandemic baby) because literally every intervention I could have had done to me I did, and I had no one there for me! So I knew I wanted a doula with my second and planned a birth center birth! Well I reached out to Alaina and was planning with her from the start, but long story short my pregnancy was high risk and I had to transition care to the hospital early on. I was terrified that I would have a million interventions again so I expressed that concern to her and she not only calmed my nerves, but assured me that I was able to stand up for myself and make informed decisions! She really helped me believe that I was strong enough to make those choices for myself. Throughout the pregnancy I was really interested in getting my body ready for an unmedicated birth and my mind ready for an unmedicated birth but I honestly had no idea where to start so she would send me resources constantly and like tons of YouTube videos because I had a birth ball and didn’t know how to use it lol! So I went into labor at 6 AM on a Sunday and texted her and she was very prompt to reply! My labor went super fast and she got to the hospital literally like 10 minutes after us because she lives like down the street from our hospital. During my labor she helped me with different positions to get him to drop and into a better position, and what I really loved is she helped my husband help me. That was one of my concerns that I expressed is that he wasn’t gonna be involved so she basically helped him help by showing what she was doing! She really got him involved and we both loved it. Another little perk which I don’t think is normal with your typical doula was (Unfortunately it wasn’t in our budget to hire a whole birth photographer) so she took it upon herself to help in that area as well and I have pictures that I will forever cherish thanks to her. While pushing, my son ended up getting stuck. I was about ready to give up, literally crying and out of breath and I can truly say that it was because of her words of encouragement that I didn’t just give in. Then after once I was all cleaned up she stayed for almost two hours, she even took some pictures of my husband and I with our son. She checked on me every few hours after he was born and literally I felt like she was kissing the ground I walked on it was wonderful! She also checked in for the few weeks after when I was dealing with some real postpartum hormones. She reassured me that it’s all normal and was really someone I could confide in about how I was feeling. Which I truly needed! So I felt like her care really went beyond just the day of birth itself!

-Brenna M