Doula, aka Labor GPS -- great personal support!

Another why-you-might-want-to-hire-a-doula article.

I remember the last time I drove without a GPS. It was a nightmare. I was alone with my boys driving to Atlantic City to meet up with my husband and friends for a work-related event. I considered bringing my mom, but I decided it would be too crowded once I got there with my husband and the other friends we were already meeting up with. So I did what we used to do. I went online, map-quested the route, printed it out both ways, and set out driving. But you know what? You can't drive and read directions at the same time. And you know what else? The printed directions didn't take into account that wrong exit I took. And another factoid, little kids who may be great at reading, are not so great at reading driving directions off a mapquest printout for mommy. 

It was supposedly an easy drive down, but I took that wrong exit somewhere in NJ, I was aggravated and losing patience and losing my mind. I had to stop at a few gas stations before I finally got the directions I needed and finally got on the right highway and got our derrieres to AC...five hours later, two hours wasted in lost-land.

In that frustrated moment I was cursing (in my head, kids in the car), the naivete and craziness of my not buying a GPS for this trip. Yes, I rarely drove and didn't own a car anymore. But so what. I decided next time I rent a car, and/or get behind the wheel for any reason going somewhere I've never been, I'm driving with a GPS. 

Since then, when I drive, I plug that baby in and get in-the-moment, on-location instructions. I've also had the luxury of not having to listen to backwoods directions from crazy gas station attendants. My GPS never judges me or complains when I take a detour, be it for pit stops or accidental wrong turns, she just recalculates. 

So next time you're on a journey to someplace you're not familiar with, to an unknown foreign destination, and you'd like to get there the shortest, smoothest way possible, maybe even upgrade and get the traffic alerts, take along a knowledgable, in the moment, non-judgmental guide. 

You just enter your destination and press Go! If anything changes, or if you just change your mind, your GPS quickly notices and recalculates the best possible new route under the circumstances. In the end, I did eventually get to Atlantic City sans GPS, but driving with one I am a much happier and calmer mommy!

xo
Maiysha