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Originally Posted by birthmommom  Ok mama your turn....
I see you are almost to senior member status...what is your title going to be?
What made you go into education?
how long have you been a doula? Are you planning on having your own doula?
What are your cats names? have they been acting weird since you have been pregnant?
We are about the same age...how long have you been married?
What's your fave non-ddc part of MDC and why?
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Oh wow, I can't believe it's my turn!
I had totally lost track of my posts and can't believe I'm almost senior status. That shows how much time I spend knocking around MDC!! I don't know what my title will be -- hopefully I'll be inspired by motherhood and come up with something good when the time comes.
I chose education in college because I knew I wanted to be a teacher. The trick has been figuring out what kind of teacher I wanted to be! I've worked in daycare and got my degree in HS English teaching, but when graduation rolled around I realized I wasn't ready to begin a career I'd have for the rest of my life. At that point DH and I applied to grad school and came to Iowa for PhDs in different fields of the humanities. But I then discovered that I hate humanities grad school and really wanted to focus on teaching, so I switched to a PhD program within the College of Ed that is geared towards literacy from birth to death. I'm really interested in adult literacy and college-level teaching, esp. working with non-traditional and at-risk college students. While in grad studies I teach a course for at-risk students here to help prevent failure. I'm soooo happy in my new program. Hopefully I can actually get a job with this degree!!
I started my doula training about three years ago. I don't know what really led me to it other than a lifelong love of babies and interest in birth. I read something about doulas online and it occurred to me that
I could do that!! So I found a training near my home and started reading like crazy. I'm really thankful for that because it's made decision-making during my own pregnancy super easy. Anyway, I attended my first birth in Feb '06 and a few after that. I have found, though, that attending hospital births is not really something I enjoy. I get stressed out trying to help people negotiate the rigid protocols in hospitals, and a lot of couples treat doulas like a magic device that will make their birth happen the way they want it to. So I haven't attended a birth in over a year despite being active in the doula community all this time. I'm not sure if I'll go back to it, honestly -- I may take a break, or focus on BF support and post partum work. We'll see.
I am DEFINITELY having my own doula at our birth. Since I know all the local doulas, I knew before I was pregnant who I wanted to be there! I actually hired her at 7w pregnant, before I even lined up a midwife. She's a really good friend and a very experienced doula. She is so peaceful and soothing and grounding. I know I will respond to her really well throughout labor. She and DH also get along really well and I think she will make a huge difference for him in terms of being comfortable at the birth and knowing how to help me. She was also our childbirth ed teacher, so she has been an integral part of our pregnancy. I just love her and am so glad I will have her there.
My cats are Tess (9 years), Simon (almost 4 years), and Mina (18 mos). Despite our best efforts DH and I have totally become cat people and are more than a little obsessed about our cats. They are such great little companions and bring us so much joy. I really expected them to act differently once I got pregnant, but they seem to not care at all. In fact I don't know if they have even noticed. They sit on my belly all the time and don't even blink when the baby kicks them (the baby seems to like them!). We'll see what happens when he comes out!
I'm 27 and have been married for 3 1/2 years. DH and I met when we were 20 and 21 in a college English class and were friends for several months before deciding to date. But as soon as we started dating we fell in love! We got married 2 weeks after I graduated in 2004 and moved to Iowa pretty soon after that. Like any couple we have our ups and downs but I think that because we were such good friends and were together for a few years before marrying, we have a really strong foundation and a great marriage. We're still each other's favorite people and I'm so excited to be having a baby with him. He is terrified
!
Finally, I don't know if I have a fave non-ddc area!! I sometimes pop into the homebirth forum and the student mama forum to ask questions or see what's happening. I have a feeling that the BFing forum will be really important to me later on! I really value MDC because I know that when I ask questions, I'll get informed responses from people who mostly share my values in terms of parenting, pregnancy, etc. Of course there are always some extreme voices, but overall I like that I don't have to explain why I want a natural homebirth, etc, so that my actual question gets answered rather than having the premise of the question challenged (or ending up having to teach the people I'm asking, which happens all the time on non-MDC boards where people don't know anything about birth, hospital or otherwise, etc). I really got a boost out of reading the Holiday Helper forum this holiday season!
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