March 2020. Whew. That month changed the “essence of time”. -What it’s worth to us. Who we want to be around. How we wish to spend our days, or nights. Where value lives.

Giving birth to babies is No Joke!

Birthing babies that have to endure a whole entire pandorama (pandemic) isn’t either! Lord, take the wheel. This can be a challenge for the birthing person, their support system andddd the new baby.

This is exactly what happened with my family. My husband and I had our first baby in May, 2019. Everything was fine then, right? Right! We were busying ourselves picking up domestic flight miles with our new baby girl, getting a passport for International travel (which made for a successful trip to London and Barcelona in December 2019) and setting the calendar for the trips ahead. And then came March.

As a Registered Nurse, I had the flexibility to set my affairs in order and travel with my husbands’ job should the occasion arise - and we were looking forward to many of them.

…and then Panny (the pandemic) showed up. I found myself working tirelessly, endlessly in the hospital offsetting the surge of new cases and sick patients in neighboring hospitals while trying to maintain a level of sanity and safety for my OWN household. I was breastfeeding my then 8 month old baby girl at night, pumping multiple times a shift (I was so relieved for the pump breaks because I got the mental reset that many folks weren’t able to) and trying to remain safe/trusting that all the Lactating people who entered the pumping room were being as careful as I was. We all had people (especially little people) who were counting on us to remain well. Things were so new, we didn’t have all the facts and the CDC was so flip floppy at that time.

Our nanny temporarily resigned for her own safety since she was traveling by NY Metro Train at the time, which though it left us and MANY other families in crappy situations, was necessary for her mental health and her own family’s safety.

This brings me to the lack of support we had in Brooklyn after the pandemic hit. The friends we were previously hanging out with were literally living in silo and/or relocating outside of the Brooklyn area. Could you blame them? Absolutely not. We tried to keep up with the weekly/biweekly/monthly - you name it - Zoom calls in effort to stay connected but life took over for many. It’s tough raising a baby during a pandemic, far away from family and friends and during a lockdown. New York was definitely on that lock down life LOL.

Anyway, allow me to be your doula and/or lactation counselor, show up for you and your companion, emotional/physical resting place while you prep your body, heart and mind for pregnancy, as you’re enjoying your belly and assisting you in the after days - because days will come where a break is required for basic life functions. Allow me to connect you with groups and parents, facilitate food drops or help you pack your hospital bag/prep your home for your home delivery.

There are many things we have to do solo, but caring for yourself and your baby doesn’t have to be one of them.

Click on the link above to book me for your free consultation.

xoxo, 😘

Quanna