So I was talking with my mother over this past long weekend, about someone new that she’s heard about. Here’s a little bit of context, she had me quite young being just a baby herself. I men I’m just a few years away from the age when she had me. I could never imagine becoming pregnant now, right in the middle of my studies!!
Thankfully that’s not something we have to worry about now, but my mom does have some interesting conversations with slightly younger colleagues at her work. My mom is also really supportive of the new-ish trend of waiting till your older to have your babies. Some of her colleagues are even older than 40 and they are trying to conceive! Which also seems ridiculous to me too… I could not imagine having kids really at all. Not at 21 or definitely not at 40! Anyways I digress.
One of her colleagues was talking about hiring a doula and my mother had no idea what she was talking about. When I was born, mom had an OB and went to the hospital and then three days later brought me home. She doesn’t like talking about the experience, but when she heard about all the support that you can find for birth and postpartum, she really was taken back.
I think it’s because for the first couple years she was a single mother, and from what she’s telling me those years were very difficult. I had problems latching and nursing and there was some issues with my weight in the first few months. I don’t think it was a fun time for her.
But her colleague mentioned the doula she’s hired for her birth, someone who is also a wellness coach here in Toronto. When she told me about her colleague who will have so much support for the birth of her own daughter, there was a hint of sadness in her voice. Which made me feel sad too. I know I am not responsible for my birth story, but no one wants to make their mother feel sad.
So apparently, this coworker is hiring a birth doula who will also do a couple of postpartum visits. I didn’t know such a thing existed. I will definitely keep this in mind for later, but I really have no plans for myself and kiddos. I’m just too focused on my studies.
What I really want to do after this program is to look at graduate school for design. Currently I’m looking at OCAD, but there top program in Vancouver, at Emily Carr University. It’ll be a tough conversation with my mother about the potential of moving away, but gaining some independence might be a good thing.
