I had so much birth trauma from my first birth and just the whole pregnancy experience in general, it is not fun having to deal with difficult medical practitioners who feel like they have a right over your body and medical decisions.
Birth can be very unpredictable and very intense, the last thing I wanted was to advocate for myself like I had to do during my first birth.
My husband and I knew that we needed the extra support this time around and Codi fit all the characteristics we were looking for in a doula.
She is very knowledgeable, resourceful flexible, easy-going, she is holistically-minded and has great interpersonal relationships with other birth workers.
During pregnancy, she was always there to answer any questions or address any concerns I had, even going the extra mile by contacting the midwives on their personal phones when I couldn't reach them.
The way she came through during the birth, we knew we had made the right decision by choosing her.
I had to be induced via foley bulb at 41 weeks to avoid more aggressive interventions on the 42nd week.
She informed me of all the possible outcomes, reminded me of my goals and supported me through every one of my choices and she trusted my intuition which was very important to me.
I was scheduled the very next day to go into the hospital, but when I arrived for my appointment, it kept getting pushed back by the hospital staff because hospital birthing rooms were full, if Codi had not made a phone call to the midwife on call that day, I would have given birth at some parking lot, I had a room within 30 mins of that phone call.
Contractions were progressing very, quickly, I requested a birthing tub to ease the back labor, but the midwife was pushing back on it for some reason, Codi arrived shortly after and quickly requested the nurses to bring me a birthing pool and a birthing ball, she helped fill it, and she prepared my birthing space, her presence totally changed the panicky atmosphere.
She quickly calmed me down and we got straight to business, we worked through various breathing techniques, comforting measures and positions to try and shift the position of my baby and to make back labor more bearable.
Within an hour I was in active labor and an hour later I was giving birth.
Because Codi intervened for me, we dodged Pitocin (which was protocol) and Codi pleaded for the midwife to be patient with me and asked her not to puncture my amniotic sac which she had intended to do.
Codi kept me grounded the whole time and I shed all my anxiety which I believe was one of the biggest factors to an easy birth, compared to my first.
To everyone's amazement, I birthed a 10 pound baby with minor tearing, with the amniotic sac still in tact, no pain meds, it was a natural/vaginal birth, just as I had wanted.
I will forever be grateful to Codi for supporting me through all the ups and downs, during pregnancy, birth and after.
I couldn't have asked for a better doula.
If you are looking for a doula who truly cares and who will go above and beyond for you, she is your girl. read more