About me...the LONG version..

Hello, my name is Victoria (Torie). I have loved being around children, babies and pregnancy as far back as I can remember. Growing up I was always playing with little cousins and helping take care of nephews and nieces. One day, while visiting my sister, I came across her copy of “Caring for Young Children Birth to 5” from the American Academy of Pediatrics. I was completely engrossed with child development and the milestones children reach at every age. This was the precursor that led me into choosing my college major of Child Development and Family Studies. I absolutely loved my major classes. It was easy to focus and succeed in those classes because I was so excited to learn. The class on “Pregnancy and Infancy” piqued my interest and I found myself wishing I could take more in-depth classes on these specific areas. Through my area of study, I was able to start working at the on-site Child Development Center and completely fell in love with teaching toddlers and preschoolers. After college, it was incredibly difficult trying to find teaching jobs having such limited experience. This is when I began working as a nanny, caring for a 4-month-old. It was during this time that I was introduced to what a doula was. Like a lot of people, I was familiar with midwives but had never heard of a doula. The seed was planted but it wasn’t until a few years after that it started to bloom. A year later, I was married and we moved to the bay area where I taught in infant, toddler and preschool classrooms for the next 4 years. I truly feel that 6 months working in an infant classroom would be a great crash course to give prospective parents lots of tools on how to soothe, feed, diaper, redirect behavior and work more intentionally with their ever-changing infant. After moving back to Southern California in 2017, I went back to nannying, which was more of a means to pay the bills than a life’s calling. It was during this time that the doula profession was suggested to me as “something I would be good at”. This time I really jumped on the idea. I began researching and calling people to get guidance on what a doula truly was. I found that there were different kinds of doulas and that some were a better fit for my interests and ambitions. Ultimately, I decided to attend some Labor and Postpartum training courses to see if it was a right for me. My husband and I decided that if doula work wasn’t for me, at least those trainings would be wonderful information for my future pregnancy, labor, birth and postpartum. Two months after my Labor doula training, I was pregnant, as predicted by my trainer. For those two months, every spare minute was focused on anything to do with starting my business, studying, and prepping for potential doula work. After the pregnancy test came back positive, every brain cell was redirected to my baby. I was finally pregnant and all I wanted to do was think and research everything baby-related when I wasn’t sleeping or nauseated. Fast forward two years, to the middle of the 2020 pandemic, and I was given the opportunity to complete my certification just as I moved away from nanny work and settled into life as a stay-at-home mom. This was the push I needed. I rallied and got my paperwork together and I did it! I became a Certified Labor Doula with C.A.P.P.A (Childbirth and Postpartum Professionals Association). Now, the hard part is figuring out how to support families safely in the middle of this everlasting pandemic. Babies are still being born. Parents still need support; maybe now more than ever, and I am here to guide parents as their home dynamic shifts with a new addition. I am here to support informationally, emotionally and physically (when safe and applicable). I feel that every family has their story and I am here to aide in this next chapter.