A New Path on my Journey

Well, I am not going to do the doula job with the Mother Baby Center. On Friday a new offer was made to me and I simply can't resist.

The midwife who delivered my youngest child, someone for whom I have a universal amount of respect, asked me if I would be interested in birth assisting. She said that the midwives are in desperate need of assistants and she will pay me $200 per birth.

I was absolutely floored.

I was nervous that it was a dream that I would soon awaken from.

I was nervous that she would change her mind.

I was nervous that I don't have the skill set necessary to be such a significant part of the birth process.

However, she told me that really all I need to do is take a Neonatal Resuscitation (NNR) course and the rest, either I already know or will learn along the way.

The only thing that was holding me back from knowing that this is definitely going to happen was the money. That's a shitty thing to dictate what my path will be, but it's an issue. We just bought a car and now have a $300/month car payment and I need to bring in some money.

But she called me this morning and offered me $200 for each birth, which will be plenty of money considering how busy she is. So I am off to Portland at the end of this month to take the NNR class and coming back ready for the parade of laboring ladies!

I will still return to midwifery school because, ultimately, I want to hold the reins. I want to offer other baby midwives the opportunity to make their dreams come true. I think my return is somewhat unpredictable at this point, and is looking more and more like January of 2009.