Magda took over my care at the 42 hour mark of my induction of labor. I will say we had amazing nurses the whole time we were at the hospital, but Magda was my champion. She was in my room every 45 minutes moving me into different positions and explaining each one as she suggested them. The epidural was working very well, so I couldn't move my lower extremities at all. She was always conscious about making sure I was as comfortable as possible. She went through why she thought each position might help more than the last, and made me feel like we were starting to make progress. I'd be at 5 cm for almost 12 hours at that point, and just wasn't budging from there.

Around midnight she called my OB and explained that my daughter's heart rate was starting to decelerate with some of my contractions. She'd made sure she told me what she was seeing, but assured me that it wasn't too concerning at the moment. She made me feel like I knew what was going on, without scaring me. After speaking with the doctor, he determined that a cesarean was necessary. Magda came in to tell me, and I honestly was fine with it. I knew that it was a possibility. Magda made sure that I was fully consenting, and that I knew the risks. She woke my husband up and told him what was going on. She then called in the anesthesiologist. While I did not have a good experience with the anesthesiologist, that bad experience is what made me so grateful to have Magda there. When the anesthesiologist didn't say a word to me, she explained everything that was going to happen. When they wheeled me in and started hooking up the EKG and oxygen, she explained step by step why. She made sure that I got the skin-to-skin experience I wanted. When we got to the postpartum room, I told her that my arm where the IV was hurt. I had told the anesthesiologist, but I was told it was just from the medication. She immediately looked at the site to see that it had become swollen, and the IV had become unusable. More than likely it had become bad in the OR, which means I hadn't gotten any Pitocin, pain medication, or fluids since giving birth. She immediately called in other nurses and started manually massaging my uterus, all the while apologizing as I had no pain medicine on board either. I told her that I'm a hard stick at the best of times with an IV, let alone in this circumstance. She immediately called for the charge nurse and the anesthesiologist. She called the anesthesiologist 3 times in 3 hours while 4 nurses tried to get IVs on me. She fought hard for someone to get there, as she was having to do the manual massage on my uterus with no pain medicine. Finally, when anesthesia did arrive they did not have orders in for any pain medicine, and they walked away mid-IV insertion, with no explanation. Magda, once again, stepped in and explained why they stepped out and that she would make sure that it would only be a few more minutes. I honestly think the only reason I wasn't panicking at that point was because of her.

In the middle of all the chaos, she recognized that I hadn't eaten in 24hrs and went to find some hot food for me. I cried when I ate that microwaved Mac and cheese. I could tell that she was upset on my behalf and while she remained totally professional, it was extremely validating and important for me in that moment to know that the way this had gone was not okay. After, finally getting the IV, and making sure I was okay and comfortable, Magda continued to make sure that I was as comfortable as possible throughout the night.

You can tell she truly cares about every patient that walks through those doors. I ended up having her a night or two later, and she immediately asked how I was and how everything was going. My daughter was in the nursery at that point because of blood sugar and bilirubin issues. She walked down to the nursery with me and kept me company for a few minutes. It was very sweet, and not something she had to do at all. My husband and I will always be grateful that she was able to be there to advocate for me.