Notes from the Something

Working Girl

Squee!!! Today I am off to my VERY FIRST ever OFFICIAL doula job!! Where someone who doesn't know me from a hole in the wall is having me come help out with her 5 day old TWINS!! I am SO excited!! And she said I could take photos of the babies as well -- actually she said she'd love it!

Bugging my pregnant friends to "let" me doula for them has been effective, but not really the most textbook of doula experiences. Enlightening, for sure, but I have noticed (with this and other stuff) that when you offer to do something for someone they sort of act like they're doing YOU a favor! 

So it will be SO refreshing to really get a feeling for what being a postpartum doula is all about!!

And hopefully in a few days I'll have some fabulous photos to show off.... 

Just a quickie share!

I finished this adorable little set for Melanie last week -- just in time for the birth of Declan Knight M.!!

The fabric really seemed to match the yarn in the skein, but I don't know how well it goes with the longies. Oh well, they're both cute separately anyway!

Pattern is Perfection Pants, Yarn is Carys BFL in Aiden from Three Irish Girls (can you believe it's the first time I've used BFL?? scratchier than I expected) - Channel Island Cast On, first time trying it -- I like the stretchiness and the cool edge it creates! T shirt is Organic cotton from Dharma Trading - so soft!

I'm hoping Mel is too busy babymooning to read blogs... and that she gets it soon!

Speaking of Babymooning, I might be diving headfirst into my new doula career sooner than I thought! I have no idea how to do marketing, and networking sounds scary but I think it just means chatting to people, which of course I am awesome at LOL! Plus, I'm from NJ, the national capital of "I know a guy" so I think I've been networking my whole life. 

If you have any suggestions on networking, marketing, or referrals, feel free to pass them along!!

But mostly, think good thoughts for me!! I can't wait to get started!

Doula-what?

I decided recently that I want to become a postpartum doula, and true to form, I am attending a workshop next weekend! In Pennsylvania. On days after I will be working the night. But it's fine! Wish me luck :)

It came about in a quite interesting and flow-y way, actually. I have been thinking about becoming a baby nurse as a step-up from nanny, but I am pretty much philosophically opposed to the whole idea of baby nurses, plus the schedule (24-6 for 2 weeks at a time or more) is not exactly conducive to a life.

So I've been pondering, and mulling, and like the Universe always does, it started throwing the word "doula" at me. I always knew of birth doulas, of course, but I wasn't familiar with postpartum until just now. Kris said she always thought she'd like to be one when I mentioned the baby nurse thing, then Erika (my new *boss-mom*) talked about hers and told me they get paid A LOT per hour. The kind of money I deserve, LOL!!  There's definitely an upper limit to what you can earn as a nanny, no matter how overqualified or experienced you are. 

I started looking into certification... there are quite a few online programs, but I wanted something in person like DONA. I don't really believe you need a 3rd party certification to do something you want to, and are qualified, to do, but I like to attend workshops (lots of knitting time!) and I wanted to make some connections. And this woman in PA LITERALLY wrote the book on postpartum doulas!

So that's that. I am really excited about this!! I think it will be a great thing, if not my *forever career* - I still plan to start a school! and maybe a bookstore/wine bar - then something to fall back on between jobs, when I have a small baby and don't want to work full-time, etc.

I'll keep you posted on how it goes!