DoulaMamaWolf

Yet again, just another for-video post, but still useful! Here is everything I have packed just in case for my labour/hospital stay, complete with videos to see all the various items along side my big belly. Please let me know if I am missing something! I know I packed a lot, but you just never know ;) Hopefully this all just gets moved into the living room with us for our peaceful, natural homebirth though. Sibling Bag (To go with whoever is watching them) {Link to video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zVEFapwNi8} Diapers Wipes 3 Shirts 3 Shorts 1 pair of socks 2 Books Sippy Cup Toy Blanket Sheet Pack n Play  Meeting The Baby Kit Big Brother book Babydoll Receiving blanket Colouring book & crayons (optional)   To Grab in Labour (Last Minute Packing List - Keep in your labour bag!)  {Link to video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPZOacPgPQs} Phone/Wallet Husband's Phone & Headphones Charger and wall plug in Husband's Wa

Hi and welcome to The Pregnant Doula blog, where I apparently only post when I need to include a document in my videos ;) I am 33 weeks and 3 days today, which means I am nearly in panic mode to get everything ready for little Evelyn's birth. I have yet to complete my hospital bag, labour classes or really emotionally prepare for labour, but I have finally pretty much completed our homebirth preparations so that's something! A video will be going up on my channel today showing all of these items and I talk about the cost, reasons and safety of homebirth, see that video here: In the mean time, here is a physical list (mostly from the handout from our midwives) of the supplies I have rounded up for our planned home water birth: {Medical Supplies} 10 blue (puppy pee) pads 5 sterile gauze sponges Depends underwear Maxi pads Always Infinity Overnights & Regular flow (will last through recovery) peri bottle 2 large garbage bags 2 plastic sheets/shower curtains h

Of course, I have taken forever, yet again, to update!  As you can expect, lots has happened in the past several months, including.... Seeing Our Baby for the First Time... Again at 19 Weeks.... Finding Out She Is a She... Revealing Her Name... Practicing for Tandem Nursing... ... And Getting Married (at 30 Weeks Pregnant)!! I am now 31 weeks pregnant and gearing up for the birth of our little girl - a planned home water birth! I am almost prepared, supply-wise, and am getting ready to prepare emotionally for the beautiful marathon that is giving life. As I again approach this huge undertaking of love, I expect I'll have a lot of emotions that will relate to my doula journey, so I hope to update here more in the coming weeks. In the mean time, please enjoy my Youtube videos, including my Birth "Wishes": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvHeuROAta4 Also can be found on my Pregnant Doula blog: http://thepregnantdoula.blogspot.ca/2015/06/28-weeks-my-birth-plan.html And my rel

I cannot believe the day is (almost) here - how did we get here so fast?? Dress Drama So, my beautiful dress came - and it did NOT look anything like the photo!! Well, so be fair, it actually did look very close, it just was a bit wonky proportionately (it had to be, from the measurements I gave them, so mostly my fault) and she had added these ugly fake pearls along the bust line for God knows what  reason. When I tried it on, it was a bit heartbreaking - mostly because it just didn't look or feel right, as it hadn't been altered for me yet. I basically just felt like a giant, chiffon blimp. It. Was. Awful!  Thankfully I have an amazing seamstress who got right down to work and began pinning and altering right away, so I began to feel better about it. After a few tweaks and 2 fittings, it was MUCH better, and I actually ended up adding a few details from each of the dress options I showed you earlier to create one beautiful, unique, perfect dress. We had to be a bit creative t

Of course, I haven't written in FOREVER! I am 28 weeks and 5 days today, and can't believe the time is already here - I've hit the 3rd trimester, and that means birth preparations! In other words, my Birth Plan . ~ Watch the video that goes along with this blog post here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvHeuROAta4 ~ I had a birth plan with my son, which I am very grateful for as I did end up having a hospital birth and I feel that my Birth Wishes helped my birth team be all on the same page and support me in the way that I needed. I absolutely needed to do another birth plan with this baby, as a few things have changed (including having a partner present this time), and being more knowledgeable on how I personally cope with birth & the usual practices at the hospital required some tweaking to make my birth plan as accurate as possible. 28 weeks is a great time to start thinking about your birth plan, as well as beginning putting together your hospital bag (wheth

Welcome to the Married Doula! I have been meaning to do this update FOREVER!! And am only finally getting around to doing it now - at least I'm doing it at all, right?? My last update was in FEBRUARY, and it is now the end of APRIL - oh boy. Thankfully I have made several big decisions, so at least there has been progress. This update is all about the bridal party attire, because that is basically what I have completely done (minus shoes for me & the bridesmaids). My Dress I have found "the dress"!! I made a post about my 3 options, and did end up picking one of them - the one most people liked, actually, and the first dress I ever laid eyes on & couldn't get out of my head. My dress will be... Dress #3!! I had so much anxiety about making the "final" decision, especially not being able to try them each on before sending away the money. I finally decided to just go with my gut, and I really think the cut of the waist will be really flattering with my

So sorry for the late update. of course I should have updated at least the gender as soon as we knew, but everything has just been so CRAZY these past few weeks! The biggest news, of course, is: We're having a.... GIRL!! The party was a great success, here's a few photos... \ It was an emotional roller coaster after cutting the cake, but I'm pretty proud of myself for keeping calm in the lead up and party set up (completely against my normally OCD freakout pre-party tenancies). I loved that I was able to film all of our family and friends' guesses on the gender, the votes were about tied but I think we were ALL surprised when the cake was PINK! Most surprising to me was my reaction, as I had really expected and was excited for a boy, but instant tears sprang to my eyes when I realized I was having a little girl - a daughter! I think every little girl dreams of her own daughter to bond with, dress up and have that unique conn

I am apparently horrible at blogging - between journaling to the baby, updating Facebook, filming/editing/putting up videos, and trying to update my 3 blogs, all while caring for a crazy 19 month old and a growing belly, my days are long and busy!! I am 19 weeks 1 day today, and let me just say, it's been a great week <3 One think I've been loving this week is a new photo editing app, PicLab, where these beautiful babies were made: And waiting in anxious anticipation for our anatomy scan, which was on Wednesday, March 25th. The things I felt most while waiting for this scan have been: 1) I can't believe it's here already, I remember beginning to plan the gender reveal and putting in the requisition for the scan, and now it's here! I feel like my entire pregnancy (and even before) I have been waiting for this stage of pregnancy, 17 weeks and beyond, where I begin to feel movement, my fiance could feel movement, we see the baby (so much bigger than at o

Hi, and welcome to the Married Doula! I am severely, SEVERELY behind. I need to get my butt in gear, but financial things and just too darn lazy (pregnant) are always getting in the way. On the bright side, I do have the most amazing bridesmaid/maid of honour (if my mom counts as more of an "honourary maid of honour", as my fiance's sister will actually be doing most of the work!) to kick my butt to get going, like take me to a local bridal expo this weekend! I was 14 weeks 3 days, so of course I needed to take a few photos of my outfit for the "big" day... And we were off! I managed to get away for the while day, sans-toddler (that never happens), and we got to walk around and see all the different booths and companies offering things for your wedding. It was so nice to have a day to just be excited and get some ideas for how I want the day to look and those little details you don't often think of. For the most part, we will being doing everything (decor, f