A List Of Important Things To Do Very Soon

1. Schedule our first “real” prenatal visit with our doula.
2. Schedule a tour of the labor and delivery facilities we will be using.  
3. Figure out what the hell we’re going to do with the k9s while we’re out for Phish and the shower thrown by my family.

Add comment May 28th, 2009

Doula Search Update

We have 2 doula interviews scheduled shortly.  CHOICE called me to reschedule today, so we’ll be meeting with them in early March.  Our friends had an interview with Jenn Elfner last week and loved her.  They were thoughtful enough to ask and discovered that she is available around our due date, so we’ll be talking with her tomorrow.  We have to get our questions in order!

Add comment February 17th, 2009

Second Trimester To-Do list

I spent most of the day in bed today resting and icing my back from a hard day of ice fishing.  As I was falling asleep, Tori was my stand-in secretary, jotting down the beginning of our second trimester to-do list.  Here’s what we have so far…

• Investigate and Research Doula.  I posted about the search before, but it’s time to get down to work and start interviewing.  We’re still on the fence about pre/labor/post doulas.  I’d like to find someone we like in Clintonville that does all three.  
• Budget.  We’re going to be spending some serious money on lots of stuff we know we need, but what concerns me more are items I don’t/won’t know about until they come.  I despise MS Excel, but it’s my secret best friend for finances.
• Look Into Furniture.  What the hell do we need?  I have no idea and I’ve yet to see a definitive list in any of the myriad books I’ve thumbed through.  A crib, a changing table and a dresser are all must haves, and I’m thinking a nice comfy adult chair for nursing and the like.  Ikea, here we come!  I’m sure I’m missing something, but what?
• Ready the nursery.  This will be an actionable item in a few months, but the second trimester should be good for plotting and planning.  Again, we have a good idea what we want to do, but I’d like to be able to start gathering items now for the baby’s room.  There are a few handyman type things I’d like to get done in there before we begin decorating, too.
• Investigate Baby Gear.  I’ve always said that if I had a kid, gear would be my favorite part.  Turns out that I enjoy the love and anticipation more, but any time you get a geek in gear-buying mode, a happy geek you will have.  Strollers, car seats (but it seems that most strollers are car seats? WTF?), bassinets, boobie pumps, pack and plays…. this is going to be fun.  And expensive. And confusing.
• Register For Classes.  Should we take classes at the hospital we will deliver at?  This would ensure a very thorough understanding of how they do things, but we’re thinking classes at CHOICE might be re educational and give us more…umm…CHOICEs.  I’m also hearing some rumbling about how Catholic hospitals have certain “rules” about some of our birthing choices.  We’re looking into this and you can probably look forward to a long post about it.

What am I forgetting about?  Do you have any insight into getting a shopping list together?  We’re really not sure if we will be having a shower or not, so most of this stuff will be out of pocket.  If you have any tips or tricks, let us know in the comments, K?

3 comments January 25th, 2009

Doulas and Midwives and More, Oh My!

Driving home from a long work week the other day, I wrapped up listening to Pregtastic, episode 4 (BTW, lots of good pregnancy/parenting podcasts out there…I’ll do a roundup later).  Doulas were the topic of the day, and Deanna Barberino was on hand to answer questions.  The biggest takeaway for me was the urgency in her voice when she spoke of starting to look for a doula early.  

Oh, wait… some of you have no idea what I’m talking about, huh?  From Deannas page:

A doula is a childbirth professional who understands the natural process of having a baby. The doula accompanies the woman in labor, provides emotional and physical support, suggests comfort measures, and provides support and suggestions for the partner to create the most positive, healthy, and enjoyable experience possible. Whenever possible, the doula provides antepartum and postpartum emotional support, including explanation and discussion of practices and procedures, needed.

In essence, a doula is a baby pro.  They help, make suggestions and give support through the whole process.  I think the resurgence in doulas has a lot to do with the geographic separation of families in the past few decades.  The role would have been handled by the grandmother-to-be back then, but with a few hundred miles separating both of our mothers from us, a doula makes more sense.  We’re pretty settled on the fact that we will pay out of pocket for a post partum doula to help us get into the swing of being parents, and maybe a labor doula to help out with delivery (most insurers do not cover doulas).

Here’s where it gets tricky, and I start tumbling over my own thoughts and notes.  A couple having a baby chooses a doula: they’re not affiliated with any hospital or doctor, like a midwife often is.  It feels a bit like trying to find that perfect Mary Poppins babysitter!  She needs to be kind and gentle to ease Tori’s mind, with a lean towards science and practicality to make me happy.  Dona.org, the “big” national doula registry, has a few in our area, but I’ve also found some certified freelancers.  Now the hunt begins.  I’m waiting for Tori to come out of the first trimester blahs, and then we’ll start the interview process.  If you have a recommendation for someone in the area, please let me know.

3 comments January 10th, 2009