The Origin of the Doula (La)

I have never created a blog before. I can't decide whether I'm really excited or just really self-absorbed. I remember when blogs started popping up in the 90s. I thought they were a little weird; some sort of "online diary". That's right. I said diary. I was probably still writing about boys in my diary at that point in time. I have now graduated to calling it a journal. I'm very mature. As time traveled on my view of blogs traveled on as well. I began seeing them as outlets for the world-traveler or, and I'm apologizing in advance for this comment, an outlet for the self-absorbed. The people who like to hear themselves talk. But, just like pointy toed heels and skinny jeans, I've finally succumbed to the fad and 15 years later I'm writing this thing called a blog for the first time. That's right. It's an outlet to hear myself talk. But mostly I'm writing it because I think that as I really start embracing my doulaness women who look into using me as their support person might want to read some of these things, you know, learn about who I am through what I've written.

I hope they don't read this first one. Yikes!

Now that that's out of the way, I would like to make my first blog topic a memoir. Wait. Memoir? Memory? I don't know. Regardless, you're going to read about how I chose the name "DouLa La"....which is a memory of mine. So...memory? Anyway, if I'm really honest about it, sometimes I still have a hard time believing I actually chose that name and want to be counted as a professional. So here we go, my reasoning/excuses:

Once upon a time someone named Mark Zuckerberg created this little thing called Facebook. Facebook, just like pointy-toed high heels, skinny jeans and blogging, was a trend I ran away from at first but have now embraced with absolute fervor. They continually "improve" Facebook to make it more "user friendly" and News Feed was one of those improvements (unfortunately they failed recently in the improvement category by adding the little black box picture framey thingy that I hate with the fire of a thousand swords).

So News Feed, tangent aside, was a great aid in creating the name for my new doula business. I simply asked what I should name my business and people responded over and over because it kept popping (I almost wrote pooping) up on their News Feed rendering them utterly useless against its power of persuasion. That, and I offered the winner cookies. So if you didn't read it there or you'd like to read it again here were the suggestions from my clever friends and family:

Baby whisperer, Doula it the right way: Doula it the Galloway, Doula wished I'd said banana, WWJDoula, DouLa-La, Doulacious, Doulivah yo baybay, the Doulagins, Doulapagos Islands (but only if I moved to a remote island and specialized in very large tortoises), "G.O.O.D" Doula Services- Galloway Outreach to Optimize Delivery- Doula Services, "GO Doula" Galloway Optimal Doula!, Doula a Favor, Doula-iver Me Baby!, Doula-ots of 'em, Doula have a baby I could borrow?, Doula doulda doula doula... Doulda all day long.... Doula doula doula doula... Everybody sing along!, Doula Gal, Doula Hoop, Nobody's Cool-ah than a Doula, Follow the Rule-ahs and Hire a Doula, Doulas-R-US, Sheep Teat Doula Inc. (inside joke), From the Groin Up (because I work at From the Ground Up coffee shop), Dou-la-la (yet again!), At Your Cervix, How Doula Do, Howdie Doula, Somebody do ya? Call a doula!, Shoo-be-doo-be-doula, Push It (Push it Real Good), Spread your legs for Megs, Fortieth Week’s Welcome, Megan’s Labor of Love, The Parturient Peddler, The Rocky Mountain Monitrice, Mile High Fundus, Denver’s Doyenne of Doulas, Tender Loving Doula

Phew! I mean, really?! You guys are awesome! I could never have come up with most of those. And I certainly wouldn't have come up with some of them. Spread your legs for Megs? Sinner...

But all kidding aside, DouLa La continued to jump out at me. Maybe because two people suggested it, maybe because I just really liked it. But here I am, a new business owner, registered by the trade name DouLa La. And it works. It fits. It has my personality written all over it. And it has my practicality all under it. (I know that didn't make sense, but I liked the way it sounded, so leave it alone.) It will pop up in Google searches and when people see that name amongst a hundred other Doula names, they'll go to my website simply because it pops out at them.

So there it is. The end of my first blog and my excuses for not only starting a blog but for naming my business what I did. I will be making no further excuses. Thank you for reading. This has been very therapeutic. I'm off to make my friend Luke some cookies for winning the name game.

How do I end this? Signing off? 10-4 good buddy? I don't know...you probably didn't even read this far it doesn't matter anyway. Ugh! I'm so long-winded! I can't even sign off without being long-winded. That's it. I'm done. The end.