Chasing Dreams & Empowering Women

 

Hey, Hey! Lookie here! I created a brand new blog for my brand new website for my brand new doula business! I am so excited for 2017 and the ideas I have for Follow Your Arrow Doula Services! I have already accomplished so much more than I ever imagined possible and I'm so excited for all the goals I have set for not only 2017 but for the coming years!

Becoming a doula has been a dream of mine for quite some time. After the birth of my first, I became very passionate about pregnancy, birth, car seats and beyond. My first pregnancy was smooth and joy-filled. I had a very easy pregnancy with very minimal discomfort and no complications. But, at 37 weeks I was given an ultrasound due to my fundal height consistently measuring bigger than my baby's gestational age by 2-4 weeks. But, instead of hearing that I had a "big baby" or that I had too much amniotic fluid, I was told I had "low amniotic fluid" and a "small baby" (IUGR). I was told I would be scheduled for twice weekly NST's and that if I hadn't gone into labor on my own by 39 weeks that I would be induced. At this point in my life I was pretty uninformed and I was easily feared into making decisions I wouldn't have made had I been properly informed. When you're a first time mom and you're told that your baby is small for his gestational age and your fluid levels are low, you tend to just trust whatever they have to say and you don't always question them and therefore you don't go forward to do your own research.

At 39 weeks and 1 day, I was induced. I will share his full birth story at a later date here on this blog. For now I will leave it at this. I found out after my failed induction that my fluid levels weren't actually low and my baby wasn't actually too small for his gestational age. He was actually right on track and my fluid levels were completely normal for being 39 weeks pregnant. My induction turned in a C-Section to save my child from all the medical interventions put upon us.

After his birth, I knew instantly that I would be going for a VBAC for our next child. That moment sparked my entire journey and helped mold and shape me into the passionate mother and advocate I am today. I went on from his birth, educated myself and armed myself with a doula for my second child who was born via unmedicated VBAC in 2013. Again, I will share her birth story at a later date here on this blog as well.

While I believe things could have gone completely differently for my first child's birth had I known about doulas and their benefits, I'm also thankful for his birth experience because I don't believe I would be as passionate about helping women become empowered in their ability to make informed decisions based off evidence and helping women have the confidence to advocate for themselves, their birth and their babies.