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It’s the pictures you don’t take…..
“Do you want me to take pictures of you nursing?” ….sure? Why not? My son was five weeks old and we were doing family pictures. Of course, that meant it was boob o’clock, right? Our photographer asked if I wanted pictures as I settled in. He wasn’t wearing the diaper I…
Read MoreSelf-Care
“You can’t serve from an empty vessel.” ~ Eleanor Brownn This was one of the most profound things I ever learned as a doula. The idea that, to take care of my clients, I had to take care of myself, was a total revelation. It took me a long time to figure out exactly…
Read MoreNew Year’s Resolutions
Photo By Leland Francisco Do you have one? Do you know the origins of resolutions? New Years has been celebrated for at least 4000 years, although not always on January 1. The ancient Babylonians celebrated on the first new moon after the spring Equinox. Their celebration was religious and lasted 11 days, with a…
Read MoreThe first time…
The first time… …the test had two lines, I heard your heart beat, I saw you on the sonograph, The first time… …I felt those little flutters, those flutters turned into a solid right jab to my bladder, I felt you poke me back. The first time… …I realized those contractions were real…
Read MoreThe Heart of a Home
We’ve all heard the saying. We all have an idea of what it means. Many of us have a picture in our minds of what we want it to look like. “The kitchen is the heart of the home.” Many pictures lots of cupboards, shining appliances, a bowl filled with colourful fruit, the smell…
Read MoreThat Time I Dropped the F-Bomb
Do you remember it? The first time you dropped an f-bomb in front of someone you shouldn’t? The horror, as the word flew of your mouth before you could stop it. Maybe it was your teacher. Maybe it was a neighbor. Maybe it was your mom. Your dad. Your grandparents. What about the first time…
Read MoreI Couldn’t Have Done It Without You
“I couldn’t have done it without you.” Every doula hears that sentence at some point or another. Birth or postpartum doula, it doesn’t really matter. We are with our clients during some of the most meaningful, intense, and exciting moments of their lives. Regardless of what is happening, what kind of birth, what goal…
Read MoreWrapped in Love
I remember sitting on a birth ball, bouncing, my hook going in the hole, pulling the yarn through. Stitch after stitch. And with every few stitches, I could feel you move. Hook in. Catch the yarn. Pull it through. Kick. Only days away from my due date, I was frantically trying to finish the blanket.…
Read MoreIt’s Not Easy to Say Goodbye
It doesn’t matter when it happened; days after the test said “pregnant”, a breath never taken, a morning where bright eyes didn’t open. It can cut you so deeply, it feels like your heart will never be whole again. Pregnancy and infant loss affects 1 in 4 women in Ontario, possibly more. It…
Read MoreHappiness and Light
My first child was born about an hour before Hanukkah began. It was snowing hard and after two days of early labour and one very long afternoon of intense active labour, my daughter Alyce was born to welcome the start of another holiday season. Two hours later we found ourselves at home, a family…
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