I was admitted to the OB department and stayed for 3 days. I had a not-so-ideal birthing experience but had a wonderful experience with all of the OB staff. One stood out in particular to us. Jenafer Burns was our night shift nurse all three nights we were in the hospital. It was great to have the same nurse each night just for continuity of care, but also because Jenafer was amazing.

Jenafer spent the first night managing my induction. I had not wanted to be induced but unfortunately had to be due to some rising BP concerns. So I was very apprehensive about the whole process, but Jenafer made sure to reassure me and explain all the measures that were taken. That first night was ROUGH. I tried to make it through without an epidural, but after hours of what seemed like nonstop contractions, I was so very tired. I spiked a fever (we later found out I had an amniotic infection) and started vomiting. Jenafer was quick with an emesis bag, a cold rag for my head, and even held my hair back then tied it up for me with her own hair tie.

Jenafer knew my plan was to try and go for as long as I could without an epidural. When it came to the point where it was very clear that I was not managing my pain anymore without it, Jenafer was very supportive in explaining all of my options, but never pushed the idea of an epidural, she just wanted to make sure I was well informed. I did end up deciding to get an epidural, but it was the middle of the night so an Anesthesiologist had to be called in. But when Jenafer called, he pushed back and did not want to come in, even asking me if I could wait until morning for him to come in. Jenafer advocated for me over the phone and made him come in. It instills a lot of trust in your nurse when they are willing to fight for you with other caregivers, especially doctors.

Jenafer left that first night with me feeling pretty good, fully expecting me to have delivered during the day, but came back to find me in a lot of pain as my epidural basically only worked for a few hours, and a very stalled labor. That night Jenafer assisted in the birth of my daughter and was so great throughout this process. I pushed for almost 3 hours with Jenafer so supportive, she helped me get into several positions, even playing tug of war with me. I ended up needing a vacuum assist and then hemorrhaged after delivering. Jenafer remained calm and continued to give me the care I needed while assisting the doctor with what he needed. Everything happened really fast, but she was constantly giving me updates and made sure to keep me well informed of everything that was happening and that was going to happen.

When we finally made it to our postpartum room, I had been awake for over 40 hours and I was exhausted. Jenafer worked with me on breastfeeding and getting my baby to latch. I was side-lying nursing and was absolutely terrified of falling asleep and crushing or suffocating my baby. As excited as I was to finally have my baby in my arms, I begged Jenafer to take her to the nursery so I wouldn't hurt her, but instead, Jenafer empowered me to continue to try and breastfeed and explained the importance. Jenafer stayed with me and caught up on her charting in my room instead of at the nurses' station and made sure I stayed awake. She told me "I got you". She continued to help me breastfeed the next night, and worked with us for a long time on getting a good latch. When the last night was up, she celebrated with me when I was able to independently latch and successfully breastfeed my baby several times in a row.

Overall, Jenafer made me feel so safe and supported and she showed us so much kindness. She was super friendly and engaging and had a great sense of humor. We were so lucky to have her as our nurse.