My First Pregnancy:

Being pregnant with my first in my early 40’s already felt daunting! My friends had babies years ago and in all honesty I never cared to be around their babies and neither my husband or I had ever cared for a baby. I spent the last 20 years being ultra career focused and I knew that I wouldn’t be able to have much or anytime off and my husband would be lucky if he had an actual day off. We wanted a baby for a few years, but could not wrap our heads around fitting a baby into our busy lives. This was an obstacle that we couldn’t get over and it was making us feel defeated.

I spoke with a friend who hired a live-in doula from Chicago Family Doulas. She was raving about her doula, the company and Anna. She felt like a successful mom and her businesses did not suffer after she had her baby. She shared that her doula was ready for her the moment she arrived home from the hospital and was a perfect combination of professional, supportive, kind and intuitive.

I Decided to Call Anna

I could not believe that a service like this existed and immediately connected with Anna. I sent an inquiry and she replied within a few minutes. She arranged for a call with one of her family coordinators, Nicole. Nicole shared about all of the incredible offerings a postpartum doula could provide my family. She was so kind and reassuring. Everything felt tailored to my family. Anna arranged for me to meet with a live-in postpartum doula via Zoom and my husband and I immediately knew that she would be perfect for our family. Emily was warm, gentle, so incredibly knowledgeable, a strong listener and seemed to know exactly what we were feeling and how to help. She checked in with me throughout the rest of my pregnancy. My husband and I could tell she truly cared about us. Once we had our induction date we shared that with her and she was ready for us when we arrived home from the hospital. We planned for her support for 3 months, but ended up having her stay with us for 6 months, until we transitioned to a live-in nanny.

While Emily was with us she was so helpful and her flexibility was truly amazing. I was honestly never tired or overwhelmed. I know that seems hard to believe, but it is the truth. We were able to sleep through the night from the moment we were home from the hospital. I could rest during the day and resume some normal outings and activities within a couple of weeks. So unexpected!

My husband and I frequently had to travel for business and she was always ready to travel with us. When our baby was a little bigger we felt so comfortable having Emily stay at home with our son while we were away. I had never imagined that we could still have the flexibility that we had prior to our son joining our family. We are so excited to be welcoming another baby into our family next month and thrilled to have Emily back with our family. I honestly would never have a baby without having this support.