When we brought our preemie home from the hospital after a bazillion days my sister gave us a card. The front had some baby feet and the inside read, "Heard there are some new little piggies at your place!"
Those little piggies don't belong to one of mine, but I was fortunate to witness their arrival in this world today. Since that sweet baby's mother is a dear friend and like a sister to me, this also means I get to look forward to future snuggles with a gorgeous new girl.
Once again things fell beautifully into place as I got the call that they needed me, raced over (literally running across the parking lot since we didn't know how fast this girl was going to arrive) and dashed in just as the OB also came running across from her office! I already knew wonderful things about this OB but I've not witnessed her catching any babies - she was fantastic and I was laughing at one point (there was a lot of laughter at this birth!) because they really didn't need me as a doula with such a strong support team and an OB like this! She was compassionate and caring and creative and patient and this laboring mom was surrounded by prayers and cheers as she worked so hard to bring her baby into the world.
It was beautiful.
I stayed about two hours postpartum then headed home to nurse my baby and then went back. The siblings were coming to meet their new sister and I was able to capture those photos as well and still be home in time to tuck kids into bed and nurse my own baby to sleep. It was perfect!
YES, I did some doula stuff, too. 🙂 I'm not a photographer, but I love snapping photos when that's what a parent requests and when I'm not needed to assist with other things. I put down my camera several times to grab things from my doula bag or go grab things we needed but I was also taking LOTS of photos - and it was so fun.
Only one more birth to attend and I will be a certified birth doula. I am daily humbled by the honor it is to witness these miracles.