I knew I wanted an unmedicated natural birth. The more research I did the more I realized I would need support beyond my husband. That’s when we found Jenna. I was 36 weeks pregnant with our first child.
Our first visit with Jenna and Jess was wonderful. They helped me have a clear plan, answered questions, shared resources, and left me feeling empowered to accomplish what I wanted. Not only that, but they also helped my husband feel included and heard.
Jenna also helped me navigate some challenging conversations with my doctor at the time. On more than one occasion my doctor tried to push for an induction and if I didn’t have Jenna in my corner I probably would’ve been scared with all the things that could go wrong especially as we approached 40 weeks.
Jenna helped me feel calm and confident in my decision to wait until baby was ready. I can’t thank Jenna enough for all the text messages and phone calls.
At 41 weeks and one day my water broke at 4:30 am. I texted Jenna and in less than 5 minutes she called. She was ready to come and support us whenever we needed. Around 9am my contractions started to be a little stronger and my husband called Jenna. She joined us at home where we did exercises and positions to alleviate pressure and manage pain.
When contractions were closer together we went to the hospital.
At the hospital Jenna helped me advocate for what I wanted, supported me through contractions, suggested positions for stubborn baby to engage. My husband helped with positions with the support of Jenna coaching/guiding him. I had a playlist which Jenna recommended me to do and one song really spoke to me and helped me through contractions. When the contractions started being so strong Jenna asked my husband to keep playing that song so I could connect with the music and baby again. I still get chills when I hear that song (thank you, Jenna!).
Finally at 11:27PM our boy joined us and it was everything I wanted. Jenna stayed by my side the entire time until baby first latched.
Our journey together didn’t end there. As we came home breastfeeding became a challenge and we knew we had to call Jenna to be at our corner again and there she was! Emanuel had a tongue tie and it took us a while to get in the grove of breastfeeding. If it weren’t for all the support and encouragement from Jenna and Jess we wouldn’t be here at 29 months exclusively breastfeeding. It has been a long and amazing journey and there isn’t a day I don’t think about how thankful I am for the support I received from Jenna and Jess.
- Ana & Jay