Yesterday, I had my first experience as a postpartum doula.
It was fabulous.
I packed up my temporary "doula bag." I included my own personal ring sling, a notebook, a spare burp cloth, hand sanitizer, and of course, my personal belongings (wallet, etc). I also packed a batch of homemade lactation cookies that i baked myself the day before, and included a few "Mother's Milk" tea bags. I brought along my camera, and my baby scale, too.
I had a horrid time getting there, got lost, etc etc. But i made it, and that's all that matters. I felt awful though, i was almost 30 minutes late! But to my defense, it was in a new development, and the road it was on and the roads leading up to it are not even in the GPS yet!
I stayed with her from 2:30 until 6pm. I played with her older son, who had a great time with me. I kept him happy and entertained until he went down for a nap, all the while checking on her and making sure her new baby was nursing, was comfortable, she was comfortable, etc.
While her older was sleeping, I was able to spend time with her. Made sure baby was nursing well, changed a few (cloth) diapers, ran down to pickup pizza from the delivery man, chatted with her about birth/nursing. Made sure she was drinking water, sitting comfortably with baby. Asked about her physical/mental/emotional wellbeing. Then, i was able to hold and get new baby asleep for TWO HOURS while i held and rocked him. She was able to eat dinner, pump, play with her older when he woke up, etc.
It was a great experience. I even snapped a few shots of her nursing the baby, that i want to send to her, too.
We didn't have a contract, i wasn't officially "hired." We have chatted through twitter for almost a year, so i had offered to go help her.
She paid me anyways. $40 for 3 1/2 hours.
I'd say it was a win all the way around. :)
Loading comments...