Just wondering how many of you ladies are currently working with a client?
I am working with a mom who has twins and a 2 1/2 yr old. The twins are now 7 weeks old and I have been working with them since they were 9 days old. I am having a blast, but am so afraid that the job will be ending soon as they are all doing so well. Right now I am going only when mom needs a break and then Saturday nights so mom and dad can sleep
Hi,
Just finished up with a client we had been supporting for 9 weeks - we have just transitioned her out of our support. She was a wonderful client - first baby, never planned on breastfeeding but we suggested it didn't need to be an all or nothing thing and the baby took right to the bfing. Mom ended up loving it and although she is introducing artificial BM now she is still breastfeeding!
It was a wonderful experience because it reminded me so much of how just being there for moms can make all the difference in the world - she really just appreciated our prescence and having us there helped build up her confidence. She is a wonderful mom!
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Shawna Lewkowitz, M.Ed., CD (DONA), CPD(CAPPA), LCCE
and
very proud mama to 2 amazing little girls
Hi,
Just finished up with a client we had been supporting for 9 weeks - we have just transitioned her out of our support. She was a wonderful client - first baby, never planned on breastfeeding but we suggested it didn't need to be an all or nothing thing and the baby took right to the bfing. Mom ended up loving it and although she is introducing artificial BM now she is still breastfeeding!
It was a wonderful experience because it reminded me so much of how just being there for moms can make all the difference in the world - she really just appreciated our prescence and having us there helped build up her confidence. She is a wonderful mom!
That is so great, and you are so right. Having someone there to help out and assist with the transition into becoming a mother or family can be such a wonderful gift. Just having someone there to guide or to even say "hey that is great" can make such a difference.
I finish out my teaching contract in June so I am running a special for June, July and August. I need to pick up clients so..... Here's to hoping.
Good luck - I hope that you find yourself with several really great clients. I know the feeling though - I am afraid this current client is going to run out and I don't have anything lined up. I never really advertised for pp doula work and never really did much of it, but now that I have I LOVE it.
i have a client starting next week, it will be for a couple of months. mom is home in the middle of nowhere and her partner returns to work on monday. she doesnt drive (yikes) and also writes, so she needs time to do that and errands.
really nice people.
The question couldnt have come at a better time. Just finished the BEST clients ever, 1st time parents and then I started with THEM.... twins, 2 boys, a 2 year old boy, a 5 year old dreamy girl and a 6 year old boy.
I know that isnt a lot compared to the amount of children I have seen moms have on this board. However, these kids are out of control ! And the house was a wreck.... they didnt even have a bathroom that was usable on the main floor, the dishwasher was broken and I couldnt find my way around the mess on the floor. It was my first day there, I went in at 3 and just got home at 9:30. I dont want to go back..... but I will be there for a month.
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Debbie Rotunno, CD(DONA), CPD(CAPPA)
Mom of Ken 16, Alyssa 15
Happily married to Ken for 20 years !
Doula Network of Long Island www.doulanetworkofli.com
President: Long Island Doula Association, Inc www.lidoulas.com
The question couldnt have come at a better time. Just finished the BEST clients ever, 1st time parents and then I started with THEM.... twins, 2 boys, a 2 year old boy, a 5 year old dreamy girl and a 6 year old boy.
I know that isnt a lot compared to the amount of children I have seen moms have on this board. However, these kids are out of control ! And the house was a wreck.... they didnt even have a bathroom that was usable on the main floor, the dishwasher was broken and I couldnt find my way around the mess on the floor. It was my first day there, I went in at 3 and just got home at 9:30. I dont want to go back..... but I will be there for a month.
I am sorry to hear that this working situation is so hard. Did you interview with the family first? Did you meet them? Go to their house? I can't imagine that everything fell apart that quickly - from interview to now.
It is because of situations like this that I would insist on interviewing and meeting every family member before I took on a job - no one wants to be miserable for an entire month and it sounds like you are going to be working and working hard.
(Is this where I should mention that with seven kids, a mom, a dad and sometimes others I do not have a dishwasher???? Actually I do, but we removed it from our kitchen a few years a back and put it in our garage and haven't used it since. We simply hand wash the dishes and for us it isn't so bad.)
As for the mess on the floor - is it dirty or just toys and stuff? If it is toys and stuff that is to be expected of a larger family, especially with little kids.
Perhaps you might want to give it a few more days and if it is still too much find another doula who might be able to take over.
Michelle, you need a dishwasher!!!!!! Just kidding--but kudos to you for doing it by hand. I don't have one, and it drives me nutters just washing mine and dp's dishes--i can't believe you do your whole family's by hand
I knew someone who used their dishwasher as storage--winter clothes were kept in there
Growing up, I always asked my dad relentlessly for a dishwasher, as washing the dishes was usually a task for my sis and I. He would ALWAYS reply, "why, I made two of them."
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"If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals". ~J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Michelle, you need a dishwasher!!!!!! Just kidding--but kudos to you for doing it by hand. I don't have one, and it drives me nutters just washing mine and dp's dishes--i can't believe you do your whole family's by hand
I knew someone who used their dishwasher as storage--winter clothes were kept in there
Growing up, I always asked my dad relentlessly for a dishwasher, as washing the dishes was usually a task for my sis and I. He would ALWAYS reply, "why, I made two of them."
- well we had one for years and years and I hated it. To load and unload the dishwasher was killing me and I found that the kids just left their dishes laying around and didn't put them in there anyhow. So after many years of frustration we took it out and put it in the garage. It was supposed to be temporary, but we found that it was more convenient to just wash them because then they got done right away.
Thanks Michelle,
I did interview them. The house was a wreck then and I dont mean toys. That could be handled. I have worked with large families before. This is pure chaos ! She was the niece of another client, that I loved, and I knew she really needed help. She does. The dishwasher thing doesnt bother me. Doing dishes doesnt bother me. It is just many things rolled into one. I was just venting.
That is what is wonderful about postpartum doulas. You know there is an end ! Pretty much I can tolerate just about anything for 2 weeks (or a month)
Debbie
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Debbie Rotunno, CD(DONA), CPD(CAPPA)
Mom of Ken 16, Alyssa 15
Happily married to Ken for 20 years !
Doula Network of Long Island www.doulanetworkofli.com
President: Long Island Doula Association, Inc www.lidoulas.com
Thanks Michelle,
I did interview them. The house was a wreck then and I dont mean toys. That could be handled. I have worked with large families before. This is pure chaos ! She was the niece of another client, that I loved, and I knew she really needed help. She does. The dishwasher thing doesnt bother me. Doing dishes doesnt bother me. It is just many things rolled into one. I was just venting.
That is what is wonderful about postpartum doulas. You know there is an end ! Pretty much I can tolerate just about anything for 2 weeks (or a month)
Debbie
Well, I am sorry that this family is going to give you a run for your money. All I can say is to look towards the end, use this as a learning experience too. That is what I do - for example, I worked with a family recently where the dog was a real pain in the rear so from that experience I learned that if I am going to work with a family that has a dog there needs to be rules one what I will and will not do. This little dog actually took a chomp on my hand - thankfully there was no blood or damage, but geesh it taught me that I will not interact with anyone's dog!!!!
Unfortunately when the chomp happened I was giving the dog a treat and mom told me the dog was very, very gentle and she would take the treat gentle, etc. I trusted the mom and the dog chomped me a good one. Mom thought it was funny and chuckled over it, but I saw nothing funny about it and now for those who have animals - I will not interact with them, will not feed them, and if I feel threatened in any way will tell them they must lock the animal up. This dumb little dog also kept jumping on the baby and mom saw nothing wrong with it - well, I did especially when mom was showering or napping and I was in charge of the baby and the dog (the dog went outside when mom wasn't around).
Its always interesting to see how other people live isn't it!
Maybe I am a snoop, but I just find it so fascinating, seeing how others keep their house, or looking in their fridge, or how they raise their kids. Some people can function in the total chaos and think nothing of it. ( where as I get exhausted just being in their homes)
Its always interesting to see how other people live isn't it!
Maybe I am a snoop, but I just find it so fascinating, seeing how others keep their house, or looking in their fridge, or how they raise their kids. Some people can function in the total chaos and think nothing of it. ( where as I get exhausted just being in their homes)
- I am jumping up and down here - chaos house, chaos house - well, kind of. Our house is so busy that it tends to make people insane with me trying to keep everyone's schedules going, keep everyone's needs met, etc, but I don't find it chaotic while others do .
I have a good friend who can barely handle her step son and she always complains about how she couldn't imagine having my house, but I find mine runs pretty smoothly, but she sees it as chaos. I really think that everyone handles things differently and ones definition of chaos might not be another persons
- and ones definition of chaos might not be another persons
Truer words could not have been spoken ! If I had to live the way this client does I would have to commit suicide, however, she is a very laid back person and really those kids walk all over her. Maybe she is too exhausted to argue, maybe she just doesnt care, maybe it doesnt bother her.
On top of it all was grandma, disciplining those kids in a way that they are not used to, so the kids were screaming, yes screaming full fledge tantrums. The thing is, she is leaving tomorrow and these kids will be right back where they used to be, so was it worth it?
It is fun to see how others live. I have to say, most of my clients have been wonderful. But you do get those doozies once in a blue moon. It is good for comic relief.
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Debbie Rotunno, CD(DONA), CPD(CAPPA)
Mom of Ken 16, Alyssa 15
Happily married to Ken for 20 years !
Doula Network of Long Island www.doulanetworkofli.com
President: Long Island Doula Association, Inc www.lidoulas.com
Quote:
Actually I do, but we removed it from our kitchen a few years a back and put it in our garage and haven't used it since. We simply hand wash the dishes and for us it isn't so bad.)
