My labor and delivery is really more of a war story… and Vanessa was with me in the trenches. I think the most notable part of my daughter‘s birth story is the fact that I had to birth her twice. I was induced at 38 1/2 weeks due to hypertension, and my baby was just not ready to be born. My meeting with Vanessa was just a happenstance as she was covering for someone else. Her willingness to help others brought us together in a universal cosmic kind of connection. I had already been there for 50-some odd hours, making very slow progress. I was on my fourth shift change, and seeing the sun rise and set again and again was discouraging.

Around 2 PM that day, I had finally progressed enough that I was able to push (the first time), but after 2 1/2 hours of pushing, my midwife told me that this was never going to happen, as the baby was getting caught on my cervical lip. We would have to find another way.

I was nothing short of devastated. Truly defeated. This was not the natural labor and delivery I had even remotely envisioned. I had not even wanted to be in the hospital. But after so many days, I was just begging for a C-section. Vanessa was determined to help me achieve the vaginal birth that I so desperately wanted. Vanessa provided not only emotional strength, but physical strength as well. She sprang into action and was able to position me 1,000 different ways to help my baby turn (which is no small feat, as I am not a small woman) so that I could push again.

After 62 hours of labor, when I was exhausted and ready to give up, Vanessa became my anchor. She stayed five hours past her shift—making arrangements in her own life—just so she could be by my side. She made me feel truly seen and heard, coaching me through every contraction, when I was begging for a C-section, she said, “No, that’s not what you want, you’ve come so far.” She made me believe that it would be possible. When it came time to push, her voice was the loudest in the room and the only one I could hear. She knew that I needed to be motivated and brought in a mirror so that I could watch my daughter be born, even when I was determined not to look….it worked. She told me that she was going to have to leave to go home to her children at 11 PM, and I knew that I was not going to let her leave without meeting this baby we had worked so hard for. At 10:48 PM, my daughter finally made her entrance. The next day, Vanessa came to visit and went out of her way to make me comfortable. Her dedication, compassion, and humanity transformed one of the hardest experiences of my life into a moment of strength and triumph. We are so grateful for her.