Drinking all the cups of coffee. Sharing all the drops of bliss. Creator of a cozy home & mama village.
Somehow, 2020 is closer to its halfway point than to its origin, and most of us have spent the springtime months staying home as the pandemic has swept across the United States. March and April feel like a blur in my memory. And while I can only share my own perspective as a doula and... Continue Reading →
Nights full of broken sleep. Coffee. Sore boobs. Half-finished sentences. Healing foods, supplements, and essential oils. Coffee. Newborn snuggles. Sibling snuggles. Coffee. Soaked nursing pads. Changing diapers. More coffee. These are a few of the things that currently fill my days and nights. But, it was not so very long ago that my sweet Micah... Continue Reading →
I won't share details from the past 24 hours because I vehemently guard my doula clients' privacy, yet I can say that I today I was stretched in this calling. Today a baby's first breathe was indescribably precious. Today, I've never been more grateful for the strength of prayers prayed for "tiny, but mighty" infants.... Continue Reading →
I'm planning a silent September. Limited Facebook interaction other than checking one or two private groups that I'm part of. Less busy and more intentional working and playing and resting. More reading. More thinking. Maybe more writing. More kombucha making. I'm still working these details out... I've watched nine mamas struggle and laugh and groan... Continue Reading →
As you all probably know, I am a birth doula. I hold a bachelor's in journalism. A master's in curriculum and instruction. Six+ years as a middle school teacher. But, yes, I call myself primarily neither teacher nor writer, but rather doula. In the Greek, "A woman's servant." Emotional and physical support. A nurturer. Someone... Continue Reading →
“That was the hardest thing I’ve ever done,” murmured a soon-to-be-dad, as he watched his fatigued wife briefly resting hours after her water broke. His wife had fought hard and long for her natural birth, laboring through transition-like contractions induced by Pitocin before finally needing something to take the edge off. Through those intense hours,... Continue Reading →
Cold hit with a fury this week, and our nearly 80-degree-temps fell in a day to below freezing. Snow continues to pile high in my backyard, and Abby felt the first flakes hit her face as she smiled in glee. The world entertains her so easily. Seven+ months postpartum, I find myself learning new mothering... Continue Reading →
I've been hinting that something big is coming. Some new revelation that breathes of life change and new direction and...freedom. It's not that I didn't love teaching. That wouldn't be true. I've sobbed over and over again about leaving my classroom, students, and colleagues (Read more here on how that came about.). On my first... Continue Reading →
Her blue eyes match the color of the evening sky, as I spin wildly, holding her above my head. She laughs, as I continue to spin and dance, marveling at the way the fading clouds capture the joy of my daughter's baby grin. We snuggle and run toward her Daddy across the park's green grass.... Continue Reading →
acupofbliss 