I don't even know if I can truly put into words just how thankful I am for Andie and her family of doulas at Little Blue Elephant... but I'll try.
Being a new mum to a beautiful little girl, living on the other side of the world with no village, support or family and a husband that travels weekly for work - it's easy to feel overwhelmed, tired, anxious and honestly, a little bit lonely at times. My husband hiring Andie to help postpartum, has been the best decision we could've possibly made.
I often tell Andie that she is a real life angel. Watching her, and honestly, her whole entire family, be so calm, nurturing, attentive and kind to my daughter at every single interaction, always makes me feel so at ease that she is being cared for by the very best while I get a restful night's sleep.
The way Andie has held and continues to hold me and my family during postpartum has been nothing short of amazing and I will be forever grateful for her. From advice on c section recovery, feeding, burping, pumping, reflux, gas, bathing, diaper rash, naps, schedules and more - she always goes above and beyond and has always offered a wealth of knowlege, without judgement, while confidently answering any question or concern I may have.
Washing and sterilizing bottles and pump parts, folding baby girl's laundry, labeling bottles, feeding and soothing my daughter to sleep throughout the night, changing diapers, administering medicine or cream if needed and taking the time to really check in with me mentally each visit... The care is truly second to none. Andie and her family have become my villiage and I couldn't be any more grateful for each and every one of them.
Andie always arrives early and is willing to do an extra shift or stay a little longer or start earlier at short notice if needed... I know that I can always count on her which can be really rare to find. She's super accommodating, incredibly reliable and has amazing communication skills - sending overnight reports via text as soon as she leaves in the morning so I know exactly how my daughter's night went and when she is due to wake, feed and be changed next.
Andie truly is just an all round wonderful human to be around and her care extends well beyond just getting a restful night's sleep.
I always look forward to having a chat with her when she arrives, not just about giving her updates on my daughter, but as a friend catching eachother up on how the week's been and what is going on in our lives... something that has really been invaluable for my mental health postpartum and living so far away from home and family.
Andie is our regular postpartum doula each week but I have also had the pleasure of meeting and working with all the doulas from Little Blue Elephant - Jamie, Ali and Aleks... all of which have been just as wonderful, and I also feel like it needs a mention, that every single one of these ladies have been incredibly kind to our animals too.
I will never forget Jamie's kindness the first night of having overnight care. She was warm and kind and sat with me for almost an hour talking about my birth and genuinely wanting to know how I was feeling mentally. She gave me comfort and reassurance when I needed it most and she made me feel so safe that I genuinely felt like I was chatting to an old friend. In between taking care of my daughter and loving on her, she also took the time to make me a personalized Amazon store front so that I could easily look at items to purchase that she felt might help me and my daughter. Since then, Andie has also added to the store front with many other great reccomendations. I appreciated this so much as being a new mum, I didn't have the time to do this myself, nor did I know what I should be looking for. Jamie still checks in every now and then to ask about how my daughter is doing and wishes me happy holidays - and every time it makes me feel so special to be thought of and cared for. She has an incredibly kind heart and what a joy it is to be around her... what a joy it is to be around them all.
I cannot sing the praises of each one of these ladies enough. If we get so blessed to have another child, I've already told Andie that I want her by my side for the entire journey - from prenatal to the birth to postpartum.
I value and trust Andie and her wonderful family implicitly, and would not only highly reccomend their postpartum doula service, but also every single other service they have to offer.
Thank you for absolutely everything, Andie.
I literally don't know what I would do without you.
- P.H L.
