Doing workshop with Penny Simkin next weekend

[Joyce in the mts.]

I am so excited!

As far as I know, Penny Simkin has been in the field for a long long time. Her Physical Therapy background and many years of research for all the books she has written really brings another dimension. 30+ years as a Doula also speaks well- at least I think so.

So I am driving to Albany from up here in the boonies each of the two days for the workshop next Friday and Saturday. I am very very happy to be doing it. And I am praying for relatively clear weather for driving, coward that I am, when it comes to driving and March weather, though so far, so good.

I needed some action. Where I live things are very closed, the hospital is very techno-oriented from what I have witnessed, and I don't know if I will be able to break through the invisible but very real wall there. I have been doing the distance Postpartum Doula training with CAPPA and am progressing through that, now, with the reading and writing, soon to do other required work, when this workshop came up out of the blue! I figured it would be easier to go into homes and help out with the adjustments and so on, than to try to infiltrate the hospital scene. Of course, all remains to be seen.

Anyhow, not knowing if another future training opportunity with Penny Simkin would be located as close by as this upcoming one, I just figured I had better take advantage of the opportunity now whether or not I decide to certify as a Labor Doula. It sure can't hurt.

I am really glad that this opportunity came to me, just by chance, and also glad I can follow through on it. I am doing it on a hunch, and so far, so good.

Joyce in the mts.

[HeatherE]

I did my training with her last year, and I love love love love love that woman! She is the sweetest, kindest, classiest laby around. It was the best weekend- I wish I could do it again! Have a great time.

[loved]

You won'd regret it Joyce. She is a beautiful person, very courageous and powerful. I did my doula training with many years ago as "doula" was just starting to become a 'real' word. It was a gift I cherish deeply.
Peace and Love,
Lesley

[doulamomvicki]

:banana Penny Simkin is the coolest:thumb

Joyce, you will be inspired by her, I know I was.

[Joyce in the mts.]

I want to thank all who have responded to my post! You all state the things I have intuited about Ms. Simkin. And I am glad to have the opportunity to meet and learn from her.

Hugs to you all for your kindness...Joyce in the mts.

(wow, I really can be brief if I put my mind to it!)

[stafl]

How cool!!! Be sure to let us know how it went!

[Joyce in the mts.]

You betcha!

Joyce in the mts.

[Joyce in the mts.]

I am so upset...

Today is all sunny. Tomorrow it will snow...all day long and potentially be dangerous enough that I won't even make it out of my driveway. And Saturday too. My dh was even ready to take tomorrow off and drive me, and then it was supposed to be sunny and nice on Saturday, but nope- it's going to be snowy also. That's March for you.

I don't know when I will have the chance to study with Penny Simkin again. I can't afford to take the time or money to go to the DONA conference in New Orleans either...that was the only other training she is doing this year specifically at the level that I need.

I am heartbroken.

Joyce in the mts.

[SoHappy]

NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I kept looking at that photo of her on the last page of the newest Mothering and thinking, "Hey, Joyce is gonna get to see that face in person, how awesome!" And now, this? Can you leave right now and stay an extra day?

[Joyce in the mts.]

Hi again...

Upon looking into more weather details....my dh is still rather determined that I will go tomorrow. Barring several inches by 5 AM which is not likely, but who knows?...I will be going after all.

It's not supposed to be much accumulation at all, but will be very messy throughout the day.

DH says that is nothin to him because he drives in that pretty often to work...see I had a very bad very near miss kind of winter driving experience...I spun in the middle of the road very near home, and i was nearly hit by a logging truck coming in the opposite direction, which even in my big old safe Volvo, would have been fatal. Timing is everything and had I regained control only a minute later, I would have been toast. I have never been able to get past that freaked out feeling when confronted driving in questionable winter weather. It's a weakness I know. That is why my dh was having mercy on me.

He also knows how much this matters to me...and it matters to him because it's a rare opportunity that won't come up again so nearby...alittle over 100 miles away.

How lame I feel...but how grateful for my dh...I really HAVE to get over this winter driving thing. I can't keep letting it control me. I am such a wuss. I know.

Love ya...and keep your fingers crossed for me...

Joyce in the mts.

[SoHappy]

Joyce, I totally understand the driving thing. Once I was riding my mountain bike across the desert in Baja California on abandoned fishing trails. I wrecked. Got up, rode on and discovered a big steep rocky cliff around the next corner. Realized if I had wrecked there it would've taken my friends at least a day to ride to the nearest place with a phone and I'd have to get air-lifted out. I was very cautious the rest of the trip and have never fully regained my confidence.

I'm really glad your dh recognizes the importance of this and is determined to make it happen for you. What a guy!

[TurboClaudia]

sending you melting snow vibes...

warmly (hey -- I made a pun!),
claudia

[Joyce in the mts.]

Claudia...

My husband loves puns and that is a good one!!!

Thanks for the warm vibes. I really appreciate the good thoughts.

Joyce in the mts.

[Joyce in the mts.]

Hugs to all who sent the good vibes.

I went, I saw, I learned, I returned.

Here's the thing: If you EVER have a chance to go to a Penny Simkin event, just go. You will NOT be disappointed.

The weather was insane. Up here, it was fine, nothing going on by 6 AM on Friday when we left the mts. Ironically, it was down there that the side-blowing, ice-snow-sleet-rain mix began. Not 10 miles out from where I was going, it was crazy weather.

The first turn off the highway was wrong in the directions the facility sent out. It was very very frustrating to go in circles in that horrible weather. I felt so bad for my husband and I was kind of angry at the facility. We KNEW basically where we needed to be but the directions kept leading us in the opposite direction. Eventually we just ignored them and made that initial turn again, in the opposite direction and from that moment on things smoothed out.

The moment I got out of the car, there was a HUGE clap of thunder and one of the women attending the training said she saw wicked lightning! It was hugest clap of thunder I have ever heard. I thought something was going to fall out of the sky and land on me!

But the training was wonderful. Penny Simkin is in a place where her experiences have distilled down over time to rich and wise content. I cannot say enough about the way the material is presented, which for me with some slight ADD issues, means alot.

And the women there were nice, if homogenously caucasian. I was kind of disappointed that there was not more diversity. I crave that.

And HI Rebekkah, if you are out there reading this today! Nice to have met you.

Penny is a wee dynamo, with a heart as warm and as huge as the sun. Kindness is her way, and she shares her knowledge freely and with love. She's a taskmaster keeping things moving and yet she truly wants to hear what folks have to say and welcomes their contributions.

She helped each participant feel responsible for the success of the training and believe in themselves as loving, compassionate and supportive open hearts with helpful hands. Doulas all.

That is my experience of the training I attended.

Joyce in the mts.

[HeatherE]

Aww.... now you make me miss her! Isn't she sooooooo warm and sweet? i'm telling you, she is the sweetest, kindest, coolest woman I have ever met. I love her! So how are you feeling about becoming a doula now?

[Joyce in the mts.]

I came away, even as inexperienced as I am, with a sense of competence and some very firm (and surprisingly so) confidence as far as actually imagining myself applying what I have learned to real life experience. I am skeptical of my local hospital setting however. But that is admittedly based on a recent though limited personal experience being "drafted" into a doula-type role with my daughter's best friend's labor.

But as far as can I do this? YES!! I can. Do I want to? Yes, I would love to!!!

It's very funny too, since I am as crunchy a mama as they come, very pro-natural and homebirth. The birth I attended, as a loving friend, this Fall contained the whole gamit of cascading interventions from induction all the way to surgical birth. And I was able, as Penny charges us to do, to make the mom's values, my values. I don't know how I did it. But I did.

Not to say I didn't agonize, or feel angered or want to scream, but I kept that at bay till it was over and I was able to vent it out appropriately with others. And looking back with a critical eye to my actions and words, I wouldn't change anything I did- even though I didn't have a lick of training back then. I guess you never know till you get there, y'know? Go figure. I had worked out beforehand though, that unconditional compassion is probably the key to success. You just have to put yourself in the mom's shoes without the filter of your own values applied.

That's my theory anyhow.

Did that answer your question?...Joyce in the mts.

[mamabutterfly]

Joyce ~ Your weekend sounds wonderful! I'm so glad you made it safely... :hug

I felt the same way after my weekend DONA training w/Debra Pascali-Bonaro. I love her. :love It really reinforced all my passions & interests.
And I'm so excited too that the weekend increased your confidence & enthusiasm about labor support. Don't underestimate how we can win hospital staff over with friendly presence! Your local hospital will get used to you in time, lol :D

Your dh sounds like just the guy to have around in a storm, too. :)

mb