2020- The One About You
dear indiana birth & parenting families,
Every New Year’s Eve has us spending some time reflecting on the year, the experiences that defined it, and life in general. For us, 2020 was challenging, heavy, and unpredictable. AND it was also unforgettable + joyous...because of you.
Both of us were in client’s homes when the first COVID case hit Indiana. We watched it unfold, together. We had 11 pregnant birth and postpartum clients to call that day- mostly to make sure they were okay and to be a reassuring + trusted voice. We pivoted quickly, and we were able to support most of you easily.
The first couple of months in quarantine were spent in two of your homes (Jordan in one, Amy in another). We spent more nights at your house than our own while the world was shut down. We spent hours watching the news and just talking about the fluid nature of the virus. We connected over toilet paper rolls and the best clicklist tips. We were each other’s small slice of normalcy, even though the topics of toilet paper and groceries were never in “normal” conversations before 2020.
As spring turned into summer, we listened to your voices crack on the phone as your due dates neared. The hope you had that things would be better when it was your turn deliver had faded. We listened to you breaking down- and grieving the birth /postpartum experience you imagined. We supported you as you collected yourself and made new plans. So proud of you!!
Month after month, we watched you birth your babies. And we felt the masks on our own faces becoming wet from the tears of joy we shed as we watched you hold your babies for the first time. We savored the hours spent together inside the bubble of your labor & delivery room...where things felt strangely normal.
Neither of us claim to be photographers (spoiler alert, we’re not!) but we ended up taking more pictures with our iPhones and with your cameras than ever before so you would have memories captured. And we recorded video of you as you made those precious/bittersweet first calls to your parents and older kiddos with the news that your baby was here...because they couldn’t be there in person. That’s the moment that tugged on our heartstrings the most.
We saw you advocate for in-person doctor visits for yourself and your newborn. Even though everything was different, the care you needed during pregnancy and postpartum was the same. Watching your inner Mama & Papa Bear emerge was magnificent!
You trusted us to come into your homes, knowing we were going above and beyond in our personal lives in an effort to keep your families safe + healthy. We never thought we would share our personal lab results with you…but every negative COVID result was something you needed and we were happy to provide it.
You welcomed our incomparable doula team into your homes + into your lives. If you’d asked us one year ago today if our solid partnership would grow to a team of six IBP doulas, we would’ve literally spit out our coffee & tea from laughing. It wasn’t even on our radar- yet here we are and we wouldn’t change a thing!
Join us in thanking Mo, Joy, Jacki & Tiffany- they were an unexpected + shiny highlight of this year. Collectively, we supported 38 of you in 2020- birth + postpartum combined!
We are humbled, appreciative, and changed this year in more ways than one…because of you. 2020 will forever be one of the most defining years in your life too...it’s the year you welcomed your newest addition(s)! Thank for choosing us to be a small part of it. Looking forward to 2021!
Always your doulas,
