Wherever you are: my love will find you

Welcome blog visitors!

My name is Rory Earley and I am a Boston mom & new postpartum doula!  This is my first blog post ever (yes, it is 2013 & I'm a tad behind!) and I figured the best way to start this new adventure in my life is to tell you a little about me!  First things first, I promise you that I will always be REAL! I will always attempt to inject some humor and laughs into my posts, when appropriate!  Laughter is the best medicine -- honestly, I believe it's the only way we get through this amazing, incredible and exhausting gig they call motherhood!

My goal as a postpartum doula is to come into your home and just make your life easier!  I want to walk into the chaos that is spit up & blowouts & reflux & low milk supply & crazy hormones and reassure you that "Yes! This is normal and yes, it gets better!"  I want you to feel comfortable laying on the couch in the pajamas you've had on for two days while I'm there, and not care!  I want you to feel supported and cared for and know that your baby will be loved by me!

I like to describe myself as "a second you"- I am there to take care of not only the baby but the family as a whole.  I can't make a comprehensive list of my services as I could never cover everything.  Some families just want childcare so the mom & dad can take a break. Sometimes it's making dinner or going grocery shopping or washing bottles & pump parts and then sometimes a new mom just wants to be supported emotionally and talk about what she is going through!  There is NOTHING better than a supportive person who can listen to you when you're going through a tough time and say: "I understand, I've been there and you will get through this!"  I think the fact that I am a mom myself (to an insane (and adorable) marathon runner 16 month old boy) has exponentially enhanced my ability to be a great postpartum doula!  I get it!

My birth was crazy.  I planned a natural child birth for 10 months.  I dragged my husband (who will be the butt of many a jokes here) to mind/body classes during sunday afternoon Patriots games.  I read about and listened to CDs on hypnobirthing.  I was determined to wear that medal of honor after my birth that I channeled my inner amazingness and birthed a human without drugs.  I wanted that so bad, probably mostly just to say I did it.  Of course, it went exactly the opposite way I had expected!  At 10 days past my due date, my midwife suggested I be induced.  My blood pressure was rising and so I caved and said ok.  The nurses and midwives said it would probably be days until I actually delivered (seriously!?), so I told my two birth doulas that I would keep in touch, but I was pretty sure they were in for an uninterrupted night of sleep!Then all of a sudden the back labor started.  What a crazy & wild ride!  The worst pain I've ever felt & no way to relieve it - my baby was sunny side up and sitting on my tailbone!  I kept telling myself I was meant to do this and I could do it..... Annnnnd then a scene from grey's anatomy started to unfold in my hospital room.  Unbeknownst to me the docs were monitoring my baby's heartbeat from the nurses station & his heart rate was dropping dramatically!  A flood of doctors and nurses raced in to my room like It was a 'code blue- get out the shocker paddles' type of deal.  "We gotta get him out, we need to prep you for a c-section," were the words I heard.   

At this point I definitely thought Ashton Kutcher was in the next room filming an episode of Punked and I was his intended target.  A c-section was the worst thing that could happen to me!  This wasn't happening! Oh yes...Yes it was!  Oh and it gets better- I hemorrhaged on the table to the point of almost needing a transfusion and remained in surgery for about two hours getting all tied back together!!  (That will be the last of the over sharing, sorry!).  

Despite the rough road ahead of healing, supply issues & a baby that hated sleep, we made it.  I am so so crazy in love with my Oliver Patrick that I can't think about how much I love him without crying.  I literally cannot get through some of his books without choking up about how bananas I am about this kid!

Our favorite book of all time is Wherever You Are: My Love Will Find You by Nancy Tillman.   Such an amazing book and 15 months later, I rarely make it to the last page without the ole voice quivering!  Seriously, buy this book now!  This is the page that usually kills me:

And if someday you're lonely,

Or someday you're sad,

Or you strike out at baseball,

Or think you've been bad...

just lift up your face, feel the wind in your hair.
That's me, my sweet baby, my love is right there.

I love you for reading this chaotic collection of thoughts!  I'm sure my blog entry is too long, filled with typos & grammatical errors & blog faux pas!  That's the beauty of it though.  For the lawyer in the room (my husband), I will shamelessly plug my services here:  Hire me!  I promise to make you laugh, make you dinner and help you explore the magic of motherhood!   xoxo - rory