Birth Dance Doulas

My husband and I were so thankful we had Tessa as our doula. We delivered a beautiful baby girl after almost 40 hours of labor and we would do it all over again, with Tessa's help. This was our first baby and we wanted a natural childbirth experience. My midwife recommended we have a doula for support. My husband thought he could handle it on his own, but I knew he would need help. We found a doula, Christin, through a friend of a friend. She was fresh out of training and had not yet attended a delivery. She recruited Tessa to be her "mentor" for our delivery. At our first meeting with Tessa and Christin to discuss our birth plan, Tessa provided us with a very useful packet of information. She seemed very knowledgeable about childbirth, and my husband and I took an instant liking to her. She kept in touch with me after our first meeting and wanted weekly updates after each appointment with our midwife. I was impressed with Tessa's dedication to my pregnancy and upcoming labor. Ater a false alarm on a Saturday afternoon, a couple days before my due date, I was very discouraged that I was not in labor. Tessa encouraged me to try some "tricks" to encourage labor. Sure enough, the next day, I went into labor sometime between 6 and 8 in the evening. We labored for a few hours on our own and then called the doulas once my contractions became more intense. Tessa came over at around 2 a.m. and was very happy and prepared to help support us, despite the hour. It is very obvious that Tessa loves her job. She massaged and applied heat to my lower back, had me get into different positions, and supported me through each and every contraction. She was so efficient in her techniques to help me through contractions while encouraging me to rest, eat, and drink in between. I never felt any anxiety or fear with her there to help us through the labor. She was aware of my husband's anxiety and helped him to feel more comfortable and get involved in the laboring process. I could not believe Tessa's endurance, being pregnant herself, to help me labor for so long. I do not feel like my labor was all that bad, because I had such great support. Not only did Tessa help me, but she taught Christin and my husband to be good support to a laboring mom. Tessa is a very dedicated and caring labor support person, she even came to visit us a week after our daughter's birth to make sure everything was going well. We could not have made it through the laboring process with such a positive outlook for our future birth experiences, without Tessa. Thank you Tessa!

 

 

Tracy May, 2010

 

Let me start off with a mini story of my first pregnancy, labor and delivery of my oldest son, whom I had with no help of a doula. I struggled with morning sickness, massive weight gain and at the end pre-eclampsia which in turn lead to induction. 58 hours after being induced I finally had my son Keagan, but because the experience I had was so intense and scary for me, I was terrified to have another baby. My husband and I started trying again just after Keagan's first birthday. When we finally got a positive test, Tessa was one of the first people to know! I was so nervous that I would have the same problems this time around as I did last time. Tessa was always so reassuring and eased my mind that this time would be different. She came with me to many of my Dr. appointments and I loved every minute I spent with her! She saw how nervous I was getting about half way through my pregnancy due to the hospital having so many midwives and me not knowing which one would deliver my baby. I felt like the only stable person I had was my husband and Tessa. She introduced me to the women at CMBC and I instantly fell in love. She took every phone call, no matter how busy she was or how silly my question may have sounded, and made me feel like I was so amazing, brave and strong. I never went more than a day or two without talking with her. The day came for me to have my son Elijah and I called her in the middle of the night to come over. She played soothing music, gave me the most amazing lower back massage to help with contraction pain, and told me positive affirmations the whole time to help me feel like I was superwoman! When we got to the birth center she helped show my husband some tricks to help ease my discomfort so that he could be an active part of this very important time in our lives. Never once did I feel like I couldn't have my baby naturally. I don't know what I would have done without her help, love and nurturing along the way. Tessa was there with my family and I as we welcomed my beautiful baby Elijah into this world at 8:13am on July 21, 2010. She helped me to learn how to nurse my son with ease, checked on me daily to see how I was feeling not just physically, but emotionally as well. I knew that I could talk to her about anything, no matter how silly or gross it might seem to be. If I had it to do it all over again, I wouldn't hesitate for a second to have her right there with us every step of the way. I love her like a sister, respect her like a mother, and cherish her as a friend. It is wonderful to know that I shared this experience and have an unbreakable bond with such an amazing woman :) She will always be part of our family! 

 

Brittany July, 2010