When I first heard about night doulas I thought they were soooo extra.
Then I had a baby during early covid. We did really well for the first couple months. Then we got pretty bad “mild” covid when he was 2.5 months old, with symptoms and fatigue for 3 weeks. A week or two after that I almost dropped the baby because I was so tired – I woke up as we were both about to fall out of bed.
That’s when I called the night doula service. They came 3x/week for 8 weeks. Washed a million pump parts, did laundry, diapered, etc. I slept much better because I literally had more time, but also because I knew someone trustworthy would hear if the baby woke. In the final two weeks they switched to daytime and helped nap train.
For baby #2 we had more money so I set this up in advance, right away. They were here from weeks 2-8, 3 nights a week. I’m glad I planned in advance because I had such a rough birth/recovery, I couldn’t even sit upright in bed for an hour for over a month. Their presence allowed husband to cook food, hang out with toddler, bond with baby, etc.
The first doula was truly magical and the second one just Very Good. I’m grateful for the privilege and don’t regret either one. I do think that 2x/week would have been fine.
I didn’t at the time, and it is probably my single biggest regret from the early parenting days. Nemo did not sleep through the night for 2.5 years, and we also lived far away from family supports at the time. If I could go back in time and tell past me to not worry about stopping retirement contributions/savings, or even go into debt to prioritize my mental health and getting some sleep, I would.
However, some babies sleep! I am sure Baby D will sleep just fine But if it doesn’t, a night doula would be amazing.
I have been relatively not nauseous this pregnancy. I’m ~17 weeks so thought I was in the clear. Over the last couple of days I have been on a work trip and gotten super nauseous and threw up a few times.
Now I’m going down all of the internet rabbit holes wondering if the chicken sandwich that I had in my backpack for 3hours was bad and gave me listeria and I just ruined this child forever and I’m the worst parent ever. I smelled the sandwich before eating it and it smelled fine with my super sniffer.
I’m just grateful I have a dr appt tomorrow and can talk to them too.
This feels like normal pregnancy nausea but it’s a bit out of left field compared to my experience with the rest of the pregnancy which is why I’m spiraling. But I was nauseous before I ate the sandwich why can’t my brain be nice???
I’m sorry, glad you have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow to discuss this with.
Very slim chance but have you been screened for GD this pregnancy yet? I had it with my 2nd pregnancy though not my first, and after I was diagnosed I realized that some of the bad stomach/body feels were actually due to blood sugar levels out of whack.
This is about when my friend’s morning sickness kicked in! Sorry.
I’m sure you don’t need it anymore but a favorite reminder for me when something like that was going on is that if it were listeria, I’d be really really sick.
Dr. Said even if it is listeria there is nothing we can do, not sure I believe that but I’ll watch out for other symptoms.
I’m diagnosed with “pregnant!” And could have been food poisoning or turbulence or dehydration or stress and basically who knows. Or reflux could be causing nausea too.
Everything looks good with the baby. It’s so frustrating to not get answers but I’m also feeling a lot better today so I’m just gonna chill.
I’m still too early for GD screening but that could be a part of it? I think we do that test in a month or so.
But if it doesn’t, a night doula would be amazing.
We’re setting up interviews!