Emily Poe - Postpartum Doula

11/21/2024

The craziest thing happened last night in my sleep

I halfway woke up, then WOKE UP my 7 year old who was sleeping next to me and said

“I can’t believe my body just MADE you! This is a miracle, I can’t believe it. It’s so amazing!”

🙈🙈 I do not remember what he said back, but he was awake for like an hour after that. 😂 so what was I SO excited about deep down that it woke me AND my son up out of our sleep?!

🌸 the miracle of motherhood 🌸

The fact that in a moment, life was sparked in my body and created this incredible human

The fact that during pregnancy a cascade of hormones magically repatterned my mind and body for attachment and caretaking

The fact that I’ve survived my HARDEST days WHILE loving him, cooking for him, sleeping with him

The way my body created breastmilk, moved him down my birth canal without my having to *think* about any of it

It’s all a total miracle. And it’s one that’s worth waking up in the middle of the night and celebrating!!

Okay maybe not 😂 BUT it’s worth remembering, over and over, that the baby in your arms is nothing short of a total miracle

YOU are nothing short of a total miracle

The days might be hard, really hard. I know, I’m in it with you

But even on our hardest days, sink into the absolute magic that is your kiddo. 🤍

10/08/2024

Hundreds of hours clocked helping DFW mamas survive night feeds and get more sleep and I’m ready for more! 🤍

I ESPECIALLY love working with breastfeeding moms, crunchy moms, and spiritual moms, but my arms are open to all!

Do you need someone to add to your referral list for overnights, or know someone in need now? I’d love your referral! DM me for more details like rated and availability. 🤍

03/23/2022

Hey friends!⁣✨
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I’ve been really quiet on here, so let me give you some updates! ⁣
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I now only offer overnight postpartum doula services. Helping new parents fall into healthy overnight habits and get the sleep they need is my gig. ⁣
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My Yoni steaming services are about to get suuuuuper dope!! Im going to be producing 5 more steam saunas that will be available for rental for all kinds of cool services like labor preparation and 30 days of absolute postpartum goodness+steaming. I’ll be working with a highly trained peristeam hydrotherapist through this, so please stay tuned for the new offerings in the coming months. ⁣
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Love to all of you amazing birth workers and people. Happy spring!

03/04/2022

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“Put them in water or take them outside.” It was the first useful parenting advice I ever got. “Sleep when the baby sleeps”? I think the polite word for that gem is poppycock. But this particular axiom has saved me many times over.

I don’t remember how old my son was when I called my mom in tears because I couldn’t stop his, but his age was probably measured in weeks. Maybe days. “Nothing is working; I don’t know what else to try,” I sobbed. “He’s not hungry or sleepy or wet.” “Try giving him a bath,” she suggested. “Or bundle him up and take him outside for some fresh air. I always say to take them outside or put them in water, and usually, the grumpiness goes away.” It worked that day, and it’s worked many times since. We’ve done baths at 10 a.m. I’ve paced our driveway with a baby in my arms at 2 a.m. And today, at 5:15 p.m. when my children were fighting for the 17th time since they got home from school and I was about to lose it, instead I put one in the bath and I sent the other outside and now maybe all three of us will survive until Dad gets home.
Almost nine years later, it still works.
I can’t give you advice about sleep schedules or feedings or Montessori-approved toys. I don’t know what we’re gonna do about Tik Tok and Snapchat in a few years. But when they’re falling apart at the seams for no apparent reason, take them outside or put them in water.
Oh, and it works on grown-ups, too."

Beautifully📷+📝: By Jenn Batchelor https://www.instagram.com/jennbatchelor/?hl=en

02/25/2022

Padsicles are a popular comfort measure for the perineum post birth. However, I don’t recommend using them! Here’s why. ⁣
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After a non surgical birth, the perineum has lots of healing to do. It needs warmth, not cold, so blood can flow to the damaged tissues. When we slow down the blood flow with coldness, healing is harder. ⁣
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Pelvic steaming is a wonderful alternative to comforting your perineum postpartum. It can help avoid infections, relax your pelvic floor, and bring warmth and a good blood supply to heal those tissues. ⁣
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02/24/2022

Today in Black History Month we honor Anarcha Westcott. She was a 17 year enslaved girl who underwent roughly 30 operations without anesthesia for a vesicova**nal fistula ( abnormal connection between va**na and bladder= urine coming through your va**na).

She healed after this surgery. James Marion Sim (we refuse to refer to him as doctor) was the racist man who performed these surgeries on her, and is denoted as the father of Gynecology.

However, we would like to say Anarcha is the mother of gynecology. Without her strength, grit, and bravery she wouldn't have survived those procedures. We couldn't imagine doing surgery on someone without some form of anesthesia. Black history is America's history. The story must be told even when it's not pretty.

02/21/2022

Some advice from my personal favorite parenting expert!

As the saying goes, “Hindsight is 20/20,” and that is certainly true for me as I recall life as a brand new parent. I adored my baby girl but was lost as to how to spend the day with her beyond what seemed obvious: breastfeeding, snuggling, making sure she had a clean diaper, keeping her … Con...

02/10/2022

When your client hires 2 doulas because Cheryl and I doula-d together! We love our job! ⁣
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02/09/2022

My handcrafted steam chair is made from beautiful cedar wood. It smells wonderful when being used, but its metaphysical properties boost the yoni steaming experience even more😍⁣
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✨promotes peaceful thoughts⁣
✨helps interpret messages from your inner self ⁣
✨builds spiritual confidence ⁣
✨grounds you to your earthly roots ⁣
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This mixed with the benefits of the herbs while steaming - Magic magic magic! 😍⁣
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02/08/2022

The postpartum body is in need of healing from physical wounds, spiritual journeys and emotional intensity. ⁣
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Healing can be achieved through lots of rest, nourishing foods and herbs, and plenty of unconditional love. This is how I care for my clients. Prioritizing postpartum healing can prevent needing repairs to the body, spirit and emotions down the line. ⁣
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02/05/2022

Beautiful!!

The ‘Baby Spit Backwash’ 💦🤱💦

According to Katie Hinde PhD, (biologist and associate professor at the Centre for Evolution and Medicine at the School of Human Evolution & Social Change at Arizona State University), when a baby nurses it creates a vaccum 🌪 in which the baby’s spit gets sucked back up into the mother’s ni**le, where receptors in her mammary glands read its signals...

This ‘baby spit backwash’ as it’s known, contains information about the baby’s immune status - such as bacteria and viruses - and is the way her breastmilk adjusts its composition, tailoring to the baby’s particular pathogens, by producing specific customised antibodies❣️💕❣️


Artwork by Alex Grey

https://www.sciencenews.org/blog/growth-curve/backwash-nursing-babies-may-trigger-infection-fighters

02/01/2022

You’re not meant to do this alone ❤️

It’s all fun and games
And sexy breathing exercises for birth
And romantic plans about how he’ll take the baby while you do yoga every day

Until you’re 10 days postpartum
Still bleeding and soaked in breastmilk
Riding a roller coaster of hormones and sleep deprivation
And your lovely partner forgets to pick up a smoothie on his way home from the grocery store

And you lose your sh✨t
Like sobbing into the bathroom sink
Like cursing his mother
Like wondering why you ever procreated with someone capable of such unimaginable selfishness

And then, when the storm has passed, and you’ve had a snack- you realize
Two shaky, raw, sleep deprived humans
Trying to be life rafts for one another
While sinking into the depths of exhaustion and stress
Keeping the tiniest, most fragile, precious being afloat
Is hard AF

We weren’t meant to do this alone
We were not meant to be sent out to sea on a tiny little life boat with no map
Even the most loving, stable partnership can sink under the weight of operating in survival mode while finding your footing as parents

So, if you’re out there, treading water
Buried in laundry and breastmilk
Surviving on freezer pizza and three hours of sleep
Thinking mildly unkind thoughts about the person you chose to parent with
Because he can’t seem to calm the baby or remember your smoothies or grasp the depths of the earth shaking transition you’re navigating
You’re not alone
And it will get easier
One sleepy, shaky day at a time

❤️ Image and words by:
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