I never wanted kids as an adult. I was focused on advancing my career and becoming the independent woman I promised my grandmother I’d be. There were many reasons I didn’t want children—world issues, financial concerns, and dread of career setbacks—but the main reason was that I feared repeating the parenting mistakes my folks made growing up. I didn’t want to struggle and make a child feel the way I had.

At 29 however, I decided to pursue a passion—yoga. I became a certified yoga instructor with a long term goal of teaching kids the invaluable tools yoga offers. I left corporate America and began teaching vinyasa and hatha yoga which led me, serendipitously, to a job as a preschool teacher's assistant, working with children ages 2-5. There, I learned about the importance of creating secure attachment in the parent-child relationship, which helped me understand how to be a confident, skilled and caring caregiver.

That same year, I earned my kids' yoga certification and became a facilitator of the Circle of Security Parenting (COS-P) course, and began facilitating sessions to help parents build secure connections with their children. It was obvious my goals were coming together, and I knew the next thing would be actually teaching kids yoga at a studio.

Finding a space that felt welcoming for children wasn't super easy and I also felt like parents needed a space to do yoga, connect with themselves +/or their other baby. So  year later, at 31, I co-founded a family yoga studio with a partner who specialized in prenatal and postnatal yoga because that was an obvious necessity of a family yoga studio. This exposed me to the birth community, and I quickly realized I knew little about female reproduction, pregnancy or birth (my middle & high school sex education just didn’t cut it). This prompted me to dive into Ayurvedic women's health and become a Prenatal Yoga Teacher.

During my prenatal yoga teacher training (with the Prenatal Yoga Center in NYC), I gained a deeper understanding of my body and learned about pregnancy and birth. I also reflected on my feelings about childbirth, ultimately realizing that despite my fears, I did want a child. I began teaching prenatal yoga, witnessing its positive impact on my students' comfort, confidence and energy. After my teacher training, I even supported a close friend as a doula, seeing firsthand how essential emotional and physical support can be during labor for both the birthing person and their spouse. 

In 2022, I became pregnant - yay! - then my studio closed rather unexpectedly after it's third year. Our building had sold and, well, simply I was determined not to spend the third trimester of pregnancy and then my postpartum period, with our only expected child, worrying about relocating and creating a new space. Instead in my third trimester, I earned my doula and childbirth educator certifications.

I gave birth at home in winter 2023, at 36 weeks and 5 days. My water was broken, and I used directed pushing but didn’t tear, thanks to my midwife’s perineal massage. My baby was healthy and mighty at 5lbs 2oz. Check out my birth story below.

Postpartum, began my journey of rediscovering myself, strengthening and adjusting to my now pelvic floor, and navigating motherhood. This is the story so far as it leads to the creation of the Self-Made Parent. A place to give skills, confidence and knowledge on everything parenting.