Intro, herbal suggestions? MW assistants/doulas?

[IrelandsMama]

Hi quick intro...

I'm Savannah 23, married to DH for 5 years and we have one son, Ireland 17 months. He was a planned homebirth but born via c-section, I'm still working through that emotional wreckage. I'm currently doulaing, coordinating a childbirth education class for my natropath/HB MW, and was getting ready to take over her assistants position come this fall (we will have to see if or how that works out.) Anybody with advice on this? Anybody else working as a birth professional? Do you work through your pregnancies? If not, when do you go back to work? I'm thinking I can handle this thought because she isn't doing very many births per year yet and only one day of prenatal's. As far as my doula work goes I can pick and choose what I feel up to doing.

Anyways I will be HBACing, most likely with her, if she can agree to my terms, and I think she can.

TIA for any help,

Savannah

Also wanted to know if anyone has any suggestions on what I can do for some ailments that I'm having. We have had a bug that I keep expecting to go away but it's persisting. Loose stool off and on, sinus stuffiness and headache, sore throat, and lots of green mucus. Just when I think it's all going away, it starts bother us again (me and ds.)

[AmieV]

aha! Yes! I am a new doula too, and I have 2 clients scheduled in May/June so I will definitely at least be doing those. I'm going to see how I am feeling but I need one more birth on top of that for my ALACE cert so I hope to get at least one more.

I also just took on an apprenticeship with my midwife, so that should be interesting. It's going to be mainly just attending prenatals and through October so I think it will be fine. I am also finishing up my CBE cert and am hoping to be teaching for a local woman in town or that a hospital job will come up, so that kind of work would be fine since it would be scheduled, evenings. There is also the potential for a hospital doula position to open up but we'll have to just wait and see about that.

I have felt great through both of my other pregnancies, so my plans mainly hinge on that...however we all know how that could go. I don't know when I will be back at doula work post-baby, but I feel I could even teach classes an evening or two a week with a newborn.

[JoyofBirth]

I was an apprentice midwife when I got pregnant with my first. I kept with it six months into that pregnancy and haven't been back yet. I stopped because that month we had several first-timers and I was gone days at a time, without enough food on hand that my stomach could tolerate and I was just exhausted. My daughter was born and was quite high-needs. I just don't have the back-up for the kids I would need to be truly present with a woman for longer than 6 or 8 hours. I feel like I can't mother my children 100% and support a birthing woman 100% at the same time. I would alway be torn between the 2. We also have financial and transportation issues that make it even more difficult for now.

[LillyGrace'sMommy]

I'm a newly doula in training! I started my schooling with Birth Arts International in January because I couldn't talk my hubby into another baby yet- he wanted one, but NOT NOW was always his answer. I've been obsessed with having another one for almost a year, and decided that I needed a distraction to "get over it". So, I figured why not be a doula? I found the Birth Arts info and fell in love!! When they released their Childbirth Educator program, I knew that I had to do that as well, so I signed up for an additional course....and then about three weeks later, VOILA! Find out I'm pregnat! Total surprise!
I'm going to be intersted to see how this all works out.....My other two pregnancies, I was fine, and able to still teach dance, and be active, so I'm hoping that I can at least finish all my certifying work. We'll see!