May 28, 2007 by veronica.

On Friday, I, along with 2 other doulas, were interviewed by one local TV station. The story finally aired on tonight’s 6pm news. You can catch it again on Fox 47 tonight at 9.

I did tape it, and I’ve posted a link below.

http://www.kttc.com/News/index.php?ID=15490

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May 19, 2007 by veronica.

One baby down, one to go…This labor took 3 hours from beginning to end. I get to sleep in my own bed tonight…unless baby #2 decides to come.

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May 18, 2007 by veronica.

I Hate to wait for anything.  The only thing I hate more is being late.

I am now in that insane holding pattern that is waiting for a baby to come.  But for 2 moms.  Yes, I was crazy enough to take 2 clients at once.  I’ve spoken with both of of them in the last 24 hours, and labor could hit for real at any moment.  So what do I do?  Repack my doula bag so that the universe knows that I’m serious and these babies can come at any time now.  Do you hear me, universe?  ANY TIME NOW!

sigh

The bummer part is that I have to stay in town and keep the food supplies stocked in case I have to leave the house in a hurry.  No real fun-ness for me. This also means I am missing my baby sister’s graduation from college.  Congrats, Anna.  I am super proud of you.  We’ll party when you get home.  Maybe we’ll even have a reenactment.  I’m sure you don’t get that reference yet.  Maybe you won’t for awhile.  I’ll fill you in later.

All that’s left to say is…come on, babies!  I can’t wait to help bring you into this world!

Posted in The doula journey, Life | 1 Comment »

May 15, 2007 by veronica.

I tried to put in a link to our web page for the SE MN Childbirth Network, but it looks like the button is being crabby and won’t let me do it.  So our website is www.semnchildbirth.net

Check it out.

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May 14, 2007 by veronica.

First, the Good:

Chris and I are suckers for Charter On Demand Movies.  I am lazy and this requires no driving and no walking through a store arguing over movies.  We just have to sit on our couch and scroll through menus and argue over what’s on the screen.  So easy and nobody else has to witness it.  So this weekend, I decided we had to rent Stranger Than Fiction.  I’m not sure if I put Will Ferrel on that list of actors I don’t like, but he should be there.  He’s annoying and loud and, well, annoying.  But I have to admit, I loved him in this movie.  I loved this whole movie.  It has to be one of the most beautiful stories I have seen in a very long time.  Thete’s a whole slew of famous actors in the movie with him– Dustin Hoffman, Emma Thompson, Queen Latifah, Maggie Gyllenhal–they are all awesome.  If you have not seen it, go out and prepare to be blown away.

The Bad?

This weather.  I hate it.  It’s just not supposed to be this hot yet.  When I went to my workout class tonight, I walked in sweaty and it only got worse from there.  My roses are wilting, my car is steaming, the A/C is working steadily…It all SUCKS.   I want a normal May.  Not July in May.

So what’s the Oh No?

NBC released its fall lineup, and no Studio 60.   No Crossing Jordan, either.  Somehow they had to keep ER and Law and Order, though.  But I guess these are the kind of decisions that come from studio execs who can’t run a network that gets higher ratings than Fox.

I miss Matthew Perry already.  Excuse me while I cry in a corner…

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May 12, 2007 by veronica.

There were rumors life would be simpler after I passed my Series 7 exam. I am here to say that those rumors were 100% false. I’ve been just as busy, if not busier. If it’s not one thing, then it’s another; I’ve had a doula-related commitment 2 or 3 times a week for the past few weeks, Throw a birthday in there, and it’s a recipe for..well, a recipe for a whole lot of busy.

I had to put off my doula volunteer day at Woodwinds until the end of April so that I would have a chance to take my test. To catch everyone up, I have now been on call 3 days, and I have had no births. I guess if you want a quiet hospital, have me on call. I was on call for the month of May just 2 weeks after that. I have 2 private clients due this month, so I needed to get my monthly shift out of the way early on. I’ve been spending the nights at my grandmother’s apartment in Hastings, which ends up being pretty cool, since we have a good time together and I just don’t see her enough. The only down side (other than having no births) is that those shifts pretty much wipe out a whole weekend, and even without a baby, I still come home pretty darn exhausted.

The other half of the doula story is my work in Rochester. I have acquired more private clients (now I even have paying clients!!!!), which is great. However, all of my clients require meetings. And emails. And phone calls. It’s kind of nuts. Some nights I’ll come home from a meeting, just to call a client and talk to her while emailing someone else.

What’s really my largest accomplishment , though, is getting the birth network that we’ve been trying to form since November off the ground and running. We’d been struggling for awhile, but the departure of our leader and the realization that May is Doula Awareness Month (yes, everything has a month) really lit a fire under all of us. We had a display at the Healthy Baby Fair and Babies R Us today, but in order to get ready for that, we put up a website, created brochures, and built a display from scratch. These are 5 of us, but we all worked our butts off to get it put together. Our next challenge is getting on the local news stations, but we’re confident that someone will put us on the air. We’ve got big plans and dreams, but it’s so thrilling to have a group of women to really rely on. And the best part is knowing that we’ll be able to have a positive impact on the lives of local families, one birth at a time. So thrilling!!!

And yet, I do still have tests to pass for work. I finally got my textbooks for my Series 66. I need to hit those puppies pretty hard. I am afraid to schedule the test before my May clients have their babies, though. And once that’s out of the way, I have to get my Life and Health Insurance licenses (which will be easy), and Oh Yeah, I have Lamaze training in Chaska at the end of this month.

See? Not better, just different.

One of these days when I have free time, I need to post about Lily. She’s changing so quickly. Some people scrapbook; I blog.

However, what will keep me going is knowing that, now that I have paying clients, we can go ahead and plan for our very first family vacation right after Thanksgiving to Disney World. Yes Beane, that means that, if you and your family don’t mind, we may see you for a couple of days in the great state of Florida. I love planning for Disney vacations. Once I’m done studying my investment books, I can move right on to Disney guide books. This is one time when it’s not just different; it’s definitely better.

Posted in The doula journey, Life | 3 Comments »

May 2, 2007 by veronica.

You know what?  You know how in a previous post I slammed Grey’s Anatomy?  Well, here’s the funny thing.  Back in March, when my sister was visiting, she got me hooked on it.  Now I’m sad I missed out on 2 and 1/2 seasons…  I just love it.  And I decided it’s sooo much better than ER was, even in its heyday.  I mean, really, we only watched ER for the personal stuff, not the medical stuff.  And Grey’s Anatomy is like that, but the focus is on the personal stuff.  I’ve only been able to make it through some of the past weeks by knowing I’d get to watch it on Thursday.  See?  I can change my mind about things.  Just don’t hold your breath when it comes to talk radio.  I’ll always hate that garbage.

 In a side note, I added a plug in that makes you do a math problem to post.  I’ve had too much spam lately.  I hope it works out OK.

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