After changing plans several times over several months, we finally met up with a potential doula last week. She is in training, so she is charging me a very reasonable sum of $150. Normally her package would include a prenatal appointment, the day of labour and a post partum visit. Since we live in Leduc (she's in Sherwood Park - 20 to 30 minutes away) and she's giving us a bit of a discount I am waiving the prenatal appointment. We can do everything over email and phone. I may end up waiving the post partum visit as well if everything is going well.
What will Abby's role be as my doula? She basically explained to us that she will be there for us in anyway we need. My goal is to balance laboring at home as long as possible to save my energy and be comfortable with getting to the hospital in time to get an epidural.
With Dexter, I went to the hospital way too soon - six hours before they would admit me for active labor (3-4 cm dialated). In retrospect I wasted a lot of energy trying to get my labor to progress when it was the middle of the night (midnight to 6am) and I should have been trying to sleep/rest as much as possible. When I was ready to go home and go to sleep for a while, that's when they admitted me and my long journey "began".
I am hoping that Abby will be able to provide support to Tyler & I with how to labour 'comfortably' at home and then direct us when best to head to the hospital. She has a variety of positions that we will practise before hand to use, said she would draw me a bath if I want and hopefully just keep me calm and focused.
Once at the hospital, if all goes well and the epidural is effective the whole time, she will take pictures for us of the delivery (all PG for public viewing or less than PG if we so choose) and our experience which will be a great memento to have. I am also going to do the placenta encapsulation, so she will be one more person in the room who can keep an eye on it and make sure we get it 'to go' without any intervention on the medical staff's part (i.e. they usually throw them out &/or put them in chemicals). She said she can even deliver the placenta for me to the encapsulator if I would like.
If the epidureal isn't effective, or for some reason we can't get one, then I will rely on her to help us through. All in all, I think the value is definitely there and Tyler seemed pretty excited about booking her too.
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