October 7, Meeting our Midwives

So, as a student midwife, doula, and birth junkie in general, picking a birth team often comes before or right after pregnancy. I chose to use my doula from Finn's birth because, well, she's awesome. I hired her the day after Erin and I had dinner. She was also the first person I hired for Finn's birth. Hey, doulas are important!

Hiring a midwife was a bit harder. I LOVE my midwives, Sarah and Gina, from Finn's birth. They walked with me through my HBAC journey with so much love and support. It was hard to think about never birthing with them again. However, I also apprentice with another awesome midwife who I also love. And, really, one of her students, Jayme, is mega awesome. Like, watch out DFW, she's going to rock your socks when she's a CPM! Who do I hire? My amazing midwives from my last birth or the amazing ones I work with and learn from??

Erin made the decision easy. She felt most comfortable using the midwives I had with my last HBAC. I agreed that was a great choice (really, I couldn't go wrong either way). Plus, this provided a more middle ground for us all. And, I love my sweet midwives.

I found out that sadly Sarah would still be on maternity leave with her adorable babies, so Gina alone would be my midwife. I love Gina. She was a doula for years and is now an amazing midwife. Besides being insanely skilled, she's emotionally invested in her mommas, and that's especially important in our case.

Gina works closely with a local doula and student midwife, Kaitlyn. After spending a day texting back and forth about all sorts of stuff, I decided she was best as our birth assistant/second midwife. She's the sort of person who radiates warmth and love. If you ever see a photo from a birth she attended you can feel the love through the pictures. She really, really cares. It was a no brainer that she should also be apart of our journey.

Now that we decided on midwives, it was important that Erin meet them in person and that they get to know her, and her story. I wanted her to feel safe with them, to feel loved. To know that they were also invested in this journey we are on.

We sat and talked with them for about an hour. Erin shared her story. Gina and Kaitlyn shared their backgrounds. It truly felt like we had made the best decision.

We left with lots of hugs and a promise of a group text when my next cycle starts! haha