It’s painful to even write about what one woman has been through in her journey to become a mom. Because it seems for some of us, that first moment you meet your baby, comes after so much heartache, it’s almost too much. Almost. Mom Jenna somehow, some way managed to push through the pain, and get here. To this.
As Jenna’s friend Bryn at “The Birth Hour,” a birth story podcast, told BabyCenter via email, “Gavin was born in March 2016 via planned C section, due to [his] breech position, and [Jenna] wanted to see him being born, so [she] requested a clear drape.”
This photograph captures the emotional moment when mom and baby reached out, and touched hands through the curtain.
At one point, this moment may have seemed impossible. Because as Bryn told BabyCenter, “Jenna’s son Greyson was stillborn at 34 weeks gestation in September 2014. At the time, she had no idea why her son had died. But later, Jenna would learn she had an MTHFR mutation which caused her blood to clot during pregnancy, and likely lead to the stillbirth. Bryn blogged about what she and Jenna playfully called the “Mother F*cker” gene, and you can read more about that here.
But now that she knew what went wrong, Jenna was ready to try again for her rainbow baby. As Bryn writes on her blog, “[Jenna] ended up needing Lovenox (a blood thinner) and started giving herself a daily shot in her abdomen every day around 8 weeks, and continued until several weeks after her baby was born. She saved all of the syringes and took this amazing picture with her rainbow baby when he was a newborn.”
Scroll through these photos to learn more about Jenna’s journey to baby.
This is Bryn and Jenna at her blessingway, which as Bryn told me, is like a baby shower, except for "many moms that suffer loss [they] prefer not to have a baby shower with subsequent babies until after baby arrives safely." You can read more about how to host a blessingway to honor a mother on the birth hour blog.
One of the traditions at a blessingway is that each guest brings one flower, and you put them together to make a crown for mama.
Bryn says, "For anyone interested in the clear drape option, they also had a solid drape, partly in case she changed her mind, but also to pull up after [the baby] was born so [she doesn't have to watch] the part where [she is] getting sewn back up."
After Gavin's birth, doctors performed a brief check, and he was brought back to Jenna so they could enjoy skin-to-skin time.
The Lovenox image.
Jenna took to Instagram to share her heartfelt thoughts about the birth of her son, Gavin, writing, “Two weeks ago @ 8:26 am I met my littlest love of my life! As nerve-wracking as the c-section was and not knowing what to expect of his health once he was out, we were elated to hear those first loud cries and then to see his beautiful body through the clear drape.”
She adds, “I will never forget the moment he reached out for my hand on the other side of that drape as long as I live! Even though it wasn’t the magical birth I’d envisioned for my rainbow baby, we made the best out of the safest way for Gavin to arrive earthside. I would do ANYTHING for my baby, and that includes being cut open so that he was born safely!”
Of course, she did so much more than that. Thank you so much for sharing your story, Jenna, which will no doubt inspire women who haven’t made it through the woods, just yet.
All photos courtesy of thebirthhour.com.
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