My husband and I had spent months and months reading birthing literature, taking birth classes, formulating a birth plan, and otherwise preparing for the birth of our daughter, but when the time came, there was absolutely no substitute for Katy. We had a plan, but the plan involved me going through “early labor,” and when I skipped straight to the middle part and sped quickly toward transition, my husband was left mentally still trying to follow our “early labor” plan – I think he was in the process of de-ribbing some kale to make me juice when Katy arrived at our house; she quickly and calmly assessed the situation and got us moving toward the hospital. Once there, she helped us navigate the hospital and acted as an excellent buffer between me and the staff, which allowed me to stay focused on the hypnobirthing technique I was using to get through labor. Throughout the labor and birth that followed, Katy was a calm, supportive presence.
Katy also helped us prepare, in advance, for the weeks that followed the birth – my husband and I had planned for everything leading up to our baby’s arrival, but nothing after. Katy talked through the post-partum period with us and helped us set some reasonable expectations for what we might be doing (or, as it were, not doing) once our baby arrived. Looking back, this was an enormous gift to us – Katy helped us carve out the space and time we needed to heal and be together as a new family. She was also a terrific resource after our baby was born – new parenthood is a scary thing, and Katy fielded several frantic calls from us and prevented us, at least once, from flying off to the emergency room with our perfectly healthy newborn. -Emily E