What I Wore - Doula Uniform

This is what I wore last week to church. Simple and modest...seems like that's all I can handle these days!

Dress : Goodwill, $3; Mossimo

Belt : Goodwill, $3; Vintage

Shoes : Family Thrift, $4; American Eagle

Total : $10

{sorry, I know you can all do the math...}

About 23 seconds before leaving the house, I got a call from a doula client, but decided I could still make it to church with my family. We made it home, did lunch and settled kids in their beds for nap time, and I was off to birth land. Little did I know I would be gone almost three days!!

When I meet with clients, I'm in my usual frilly lacy get up, but I have a simple uniform I wear to most births. I have a few rules each outfit needs to follow:

1. Must be thrifted!! Birth can be a messy thing, so I never wear items bought from a retail shop that I'm attached to.

2. Say NO to crack! Not the drug, the plumbers crack! Being a doula can be extremely physical. I never want to be flashing nurses or worse, the lady in labor!

3. Stretch is your friend. I don't like to wear yoga pants, because that's too close to pajamas for me. However, the pants I wear need to have stretch in them so I can move around comfortably. Sometimes, there is a quiet moment where everyone gets to rest. I want to be comfy enough for that, too.

With those three things in mind, here's my usual doula uniform when I get called to a birth:

Top : Goodwill Outlet, $0.50; Old Navy (also seen here)

Pants : Salvation Army, $4, Xhileration

Flip Flops : Teva, $9.99

(they actually have great arch support!! they are also super easy to wash, which is important.)

Sweater : Khols Clearance, $9

Total : $23.49

I always keep an extra pair of stretch jeans and two extra shirts in my bag. I've been at births lasting more than one day, and it's just nice to brush your teeth and get dressed again. It helps me to feel like I'm not living in the twighlight zone! Socks, closed toe shoes and a sweater are three other items I always take with me.

I ended up with two births back to back, both were first time moms. One lasted about 8 hours and the other, 28 hours. You really never know what will happen when a baby decides to make an appearance! At least I've got an outfit picked out in advance!