On Doula-hood and Chickens

Well, I've had an epiphany.

Everything is coming together just right, and all signs point the same way.

• I'm moving back to Omaha.
• Smoochy will no longer be traveling much. (After October)
• Both kids are old enough.
• I am not pregnant, and can stay that way.
• I have a network of friends to support me.
• I am already involved with the birth community.

I am going to become doula.
I am going to make it happen in Omaha.

I have Smoochy's blessing and I am so excited I can hardly think of anything else right now.

I know many of you have been listening to me talk about moving back to Omaha and homesteading. The truth is, I still want to. And I think I can pursue both. Why can't I have a garden, chickens, and doula clients? OK, maybe I will wait on the chickens. (See Dad, I'm listening to you finally after all these years!) But, I do have to say I think I'd rather live within Omaha when it comes to my doula career. So maybe the hobby farm is out. In fact, today I returned my library books on chickens and picked up a few childbirth classic that I have some how managed to miss.

So, I have brushed up and updated my old doula website, and I hope to get back into posting regularly on my birth blog again soon.

Birth really is my first passion. I feel so electrified that after YEARS of it being the wrong time, the right time is almost here. To be honest, I had put birth on the back burner the past six months or so that we have been here in Ilinois. With Smoochy always training; knowing we'd move again soon; and with Georgia nursing it felt like I was never going to be able to be a doula. But, time passes and here I am. I am standing before a dream I have the power to make a reality.

It hit me yesterday while I was jogging. A couple of things were rolling around in my head. A friend of mine made a comment on a chat-board when I announced I was coming back to Omaha. She said that she wished I could have doulaed at her recent birth. That thought collied with the new blurb I recently wrote describing myself for the blog. I wrote that someday I wanted to be a doula when it fit my life better. Eureka! That time is NOW! (Well, coming soon anyway.)

I know you are going to want to go read my "about" now. but, I'm about to go change it again. so this is what I wrote:

"Have you ever thought to yourself: “Self, I’d like to learn how to ______.”? Well, that’s me. I am forever dreaming up something new to try. Sometimes I do it and sometimes I just keep dreaming about it. Other times, I buy a couple of how-to books, all the essentials to begin, then don’t follow through. I am the definitive jack-of-all-trades, master of none. I love to knit and to cook. I’m just learning how to sew. I want to start gardening… maybe next spring? And SOMEDAY when I grow up (and it fits in my life a little better) I’ll be a doula. My mom thinks I should be a writer… but this blog is about as much writing as I can squeeze in. Heck, I haven’t even managed a Christmas letter two years running. My two kids and my Smoochy take up most of my time, and are the main recipients of all my handmade stuff. My profile picture is how I want to see myself: with limitless potential."

I feel all lit up. Like a horse chomping at the bit. However, I know there is a lot that has to happen still... you know, like actually moving to Omaha. So, I'm tryig to stay focused on the present. And presently I am going to go read Childbirth Without Fear by Grant Dick-Read! Well, after I clean the kitchen.