Darcie Ell was our Doula when we had our first (and only) child, a daughter, 8 years ago (February 2004). As an ‘older’ first-time mother (38yo) with no previous experience of childbirth or babies, and no female family members or girlfriends in Longmont, my husband and I were pretty much going it alone after ‘we’ got pregnant. Of course we read “What to do when you’re expecting” and “…in the first year” along with many other publications, but we needed a little more human-touch guidance and reassurance. So we signed up for Longmont United Hospital’s Childbirth class. The classes were very informative but made me a little more apprehensive. So when we heard the term Doula for the first time we knew what and WHOM we wanted to help us. Several Doulas were recommended to us and we were diligent and called or emailed them all, but all roads lead back to Darcie and we were anxious to “Book her Danno!” before her schedule was full!
As the time neared, my mother came out from England to ‘help around the house’ (which really meant sitting around waiting for the baby to be born!) but as we went a week past our Due Date we all became a little more anxious. Finally, I went into labor Friday evening at 7pm (on the dot!) Darcie kept in touch regularly and then came round the following evening when things should have started to get going, but it was a slow process. We thought we’d have a drug-free birth, but after almost 50 hours in labor (with Darcie never making me feel anything was out of the ordinary or that she was tired!). Darcie could see I was nearing exhaustion and although she’s there to assist YOU in YOUR birthing plan she won’t hesitate to offer other options along the way. Of course it’s up to you what you decide to do!
Our beautiful girl, Grace, was born early Monday morning, 6lbs 12oz, 21″ long with an APGAR score of 9 – pretty impressive for being born a Mile High to an Older Mom and taking 55 hours to arrive! We could not have done it with less stress than with Darcie supporting us, and explaining things in easy terms when we needed to make quick decisions. She has always shown interest in how our daughter is doing, whether a baby or now as a second grader! Darcie will always have our thanks and be in our thoughts and prayers.