Farewell

Have you met my sister? She’s so cool.

I’ve known her for 30.5 years, but the last four have been some of my favorites with her. In the last four years, we each became doulas. We started and grew a business together. We ran a pregnancy support and education group. She added more children to the family with harrowing tales to tell, and we’ve supported so many wonderful humans through their own pregnancies, births, and postpartum experiences. We love y’all.

She wants me to write a farewell post, because I am moving to another state, and that means we will no longer be running The Birth Babes together. I have been putting off writing this post, because it makes me sad - sad to separate from this business we love so much, but mostly sad that I won’t be living a couple of miles from Taylor or gallivanting around town to meet clients with her. So, screw your farewell post, Taylor. This is a love letter to you, seester.

Taylor J. Ficht. TWO YEARS AND TEN MONTHS. I like to yell that when people ask the difference between our ages. Despite the minor age gap, we often joke that we are really twins, because we say the same things at the exact same time, share a freaky amount of interests and feelings, and somehow make the same big life decisions, i.e., to become doulas, at the same time without even talking to each other about it. It’s weird. But where we are not similar, we complement each other. She operates from a place of logic, whereas I am more perceptive, and she’s organized in ways my messy mind could never imagine without copying her. She brings stability, and I bring spontaneity. She processes her emotions deliberately in real time, but I have to do it in private, after the fact. We work well together.

Taylor is so supportive, yet quite skilled and gentle when it comes to pointing out the flaws in my plans. She’s always willing to provide solutions to the flaws she identifies. If you knew how shrewd and dedicated she is when researching every interest of hers, you’d be so impressed. I’ve learned so much from her and her research. And she’s so efficient, even when she’s exhausted from staying up all night doing her other full-time job and breastfeeding her youngest and teaching and entertaining her other wild children. She’s introduced me to some of my most-consumed music and movies, and she’s brought some of my favorite people into the world. I think she’s been doula-ing me all my life, honestly.

Observing how she supports our clients has been an honor and a privilege. She’s quick to respond and quick with the knowledge. So. Much. Knowledge. And so much personal experience that she should share with us all more. I haven’t been at a birth with her at the same time to watch her do birth doula stuff in real time, but the feedback she’s received from clients gets me all dewy-eyed. She’s the best.

She’ll be making some changes we’ve been discussing for a little while now, so get excited. I am. I may no longer be directly involved with The Birth Babes, but trust I’ll be talking to Taylor about it all the time and cheering for her from afar.
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Go, Taylor.

- Shelby