<3 Gratitude
Five weeks post birth with our third baby and I have yet to even open a document to start recording his magical birth story. But this thank you letter to my doula has been on my mind constantly, writing and editing inside my mind, trying to think how to do justice to the gratitude my husband and I have for her.
As a doula myself, I knew as soon as we started planning our birth that I wanted a doula and a photographer there. To me, your birth days are just as important as your wedding day, and the people you surround yourself with, and the memories you take from that day, will stay with you forever. Which is why I felt extremely blessed to know right away who it was that I wanted at my birth, and even more blessed when she agreed.
I've known Catherine for several years as parents, and was lucky enough to take a doula training course with her last fall. Since then we have acted as backups for each other, and it has meant the world to me to have her as a doula sister, knowing that she held the same trust and awe in birth that I did, Catherine truly understands not just the basic mechanics of birth, but the holistic reality that birth is a spiritual and deeply emotional event as well.
With this being my third baby, I didn't have many questions or concerns about the physical side of pregnancy or birth. I knew my body could and would birth a baby successfully, and I felt confident in the team my husband and I had surrounded ourselves with. But I was surprised in the last weeks by how much I still leaned on Catherine, and took comfort in her wisdom and encouragement. And when the time came to make calls for the birth, it was the one to her that I was most excited about.
We were able to have a wonderful waterbirth at home, and Catherine’s sure, calming presence throughout kept both my husband and I centered. And the photos she took of the occasion will be treasured and revisited countless times over the years, of this I am sure. Catherine was able to switch seamlessly between acting as my photographer, and holding space for me as my doula when she could see that I needed the extra reassurance. I absolutely cannot imagine my birth experience without her.
I urge you, if you are on the fence and considering a doula and/or a photographer. Get one. Take the plunge. Do what it takes to ensure you are supported as well as I was on one of the most important days of your life.