Wow, that postpartum period and that newborn sure can throw you for a loop…

You’re so in love with your baby that you’ve neglected yourself… You know the old saying, you’ve got to put your own oxygen mask on before helping others, right? Have you been doing that?

I know, the problem is, most of the time we haven’t even acknowledged that we are neglecting ourselves through the postpartum period and that makes it difficult to figure out what we need.

You beautiful selfless loving new parents, we see you. We see your bond and your joy. We see your hearts overflowing with love and gratitude. We see your excitement and your enthusiasm.

But we also see your exhaustion.

We see your frustration.

We see your cracked nipples and you full diaper pails.

We see your empty refrigerator and your take out menus.

We see the pile of gifts on your dining room table and we see they never ending list of thank you notes growing daily.

We see you in need of a lonnng hot shower and we see you in need of fresh sheets on your bed.

But what we see most clearly is your need to talk it all through. To find a sense of normalcy amidst the chaos of this transitional time in your life known as the postpartum period.

We know that before your sweet baby was born, you came and went as you pleased and we know how challenging it is to feel a bit trapped by an unpredictable sweet little wee one.

We know that you can get frustrated and even angry and we also know that that’s ok. In fact, we want to support you through it.

No one tells us what to expect once the baby arrives. I mean they tell us we’ll be tired and of course there are newborn care classes to teach us how to bathe, diaper and soothe an infant. There are breastfeeding classes and IBCLCs available and pediatricians are just a phone call away.

But NO ONE talks about the emotions you are sitting in right now and we, as doulas are your people.

We are the people in the trenches with you every day.

We’re talking and supporting and creating a safe space for you to dump those ugly emotions.

We are making suggestions for feeding positions, we are putting together breast pumps, making a meal, and listening to your hopes and dreams for your family.

The point is, this is hard.

Having a baby and recovering from birth is no joke and you, my friend are not alone. Call us, we’re here for you and we are ready to serve.