cue Tom Petty

"...the waaaiting is the hardest part..."

I'm waiting to hear back from a client in labor today.
I try to manifest patience, really I do. But the life of a birth doula includes a lot of waiting by the phone. It's not like my pride is on the line, waiting for a boy to call me as a teenager - I know my clients will eventually call. But until they do, I'm on endless hold, only with better music playing and more adrenaline pumping.

Once I know someone is in a little bit of labor, but not ready for support, I'm on pins and needles waiting for THE call - the call to join them. Until it comes, I'm a bit of an OCD juggler, going over my plans for childcare and pickups and backup doulas (oh my!). Should I sleep or have more coffee? Is my stuff ready? Any more calls to make? Has my phone rung? Is the ringer even on? OM.

Sometimes I try to invoke Murphy's Law and start a recipe or project that's involved, so hopefully I'll get called at an inopportune moment, which is actually what I wanted to have happen in the first place.

But mostly I just wait, trying to practice what I preach and trust that it will happen the way it's supposed to.