I looked forward to Lanie’s visits every time.

Lanie is a very warm and caring person, and was a great source of support after the birth of our third child. I have 2 year old twins, and I was worried about balancing time with them while still getting bonding time with the new baby. Lanie was very helpful with this, switching between helping prepare the toddlers’ breakfasts (and mine), entertaining the toddlers, holding the baby so that I could have hands free, and helping with house duties such as laundry, cleaning up after the toddlers, and dishes. She was flexible and followed my lead, but was also proactive in finding things to do to help. Having Lanie’s support as a doula helped a great deal with my confidence in balancing the needs of all 3 kids, and I was surprised to find that the toddlers transitioned to a new baby much better than expected. As our family started to settle into a routine, I was also able to take advantage of the time that Lanie was here to have some much needed shower and rest time, which was an unexpected perk. I looked forward to Lanie’s visits every time.

Lanie also provided emotional support and was there to listen or to offer ideas in a nonjudgmental way. She’s kind and helpful, and turned to her doula community for help with some challenging questions around feeding. Another surprise benefit of having a doula was the amount of knowledge she had – I had forgotten so much in the 2 years since I last had newborns. It also made me wish that I had had a doula after my twins were born when everything was new and overwhelming – I think it would have been a huge benefit, as it was this time. I’m so thankful to Lanie for the help in adjusting to new motherhood again, and for making it a much smoother experience than I had pictured.

-Michelle