Jadon's birth story

Pregnancy experience with Jadon:

I had a fear of giving birth after the birth of Jude. Time went on and I kept putting off dealing with my fears, because, I was afraid. February came and I got a severe toothache. I worried about infection reaching the baby so Paul gave me a blessing that I would suffer pain no more in the tooth. In March my tooth broke leaving a big hole in my molar. Again, worry of infection. The dentists decided as long as I'm having no pain they would hold off tooth extraction until after the baby was born. At 28 weeks I found out the baby was in posterior position and my hemoglobin levels dropped. More stress…..On May 21st, just 9 days before my estimated due date I was awake all night with cramping. I spent the night on the toilet and believed I was leaking amniotic fluid because so much liquid was coming out of me. The next day I saw the midwives to be tested for amniotic fluid leakage, I test positive. They advised me to I add probiotics and echinicia to the supplements I was already taking. They suggested I rest lots and drink lots of fluid to keep my amniotic fluid levels up, take my temperature and make sure the baby is moving. They believed all would be well. The last time this happened (baby #1) I was hospitalized, put on antibiotics, monitored every 4 hours and couldn’t leave till baby was born. I wanted a more natural approach to child birth, that's what I was getting; I didn’t know what to think though. I was flipping out! I called my previous midwife group where I had birthed my last 3 babies and asked their opinion. They all said I should be induced within 48 hours of the leak being detected because of risk of infection. My anxiety was so high that I could barely function as a mother to my other 4 children. I thought I was developing signs of infection. I was such a wreck, not eating or sleeping for days, loosing 7 lbs (I was already thin). Stress, stress, stress……. Whose advice do I follow? What is my intuition telling me? I couldn’t tell. I sought another priesthood blessing from my husband. In it I was blessed with a healthy, happy baby, that I will enjoy spending time with the baby and that I will enjoy the birthing of the baby. I decided to trust my midwives advice and go on as planned. For the moment, I was at peace knowing the baby would be okay.


My anxiety continues. I get acupuncture to see if that helps. I get another blessing from Paul telling me that I have the necessary survival skills; I have what it takes within me to do what needs to be done.


I got another blessing. I was told to rely on the Lord for strength. I went to a counseling session per my midwives request. On 6/5/09 I did an energy healing session. I sought out other women who had overcome their fears and had successful natural births. I contacted the baby blues connection where I learned that there is a disorder called anti-partum depression. I also learned that there is a phobia of giving birth called tokophobia. I had both; I wish I had known sooner to have had more time to deal with these serious emotional disorders.

The night before I went into birthing time (6/5) I was seriously considering giving up the whole home birth/natural thing and going to the hospital for an epidural. I just wanted the baby out and in my arms, I wanted this whole ordeal to end. It was affecting every aspect of my life, especially that of my children. I certainly was not relying on the Lord or I would have been at peace.

Birth experience:

6/6/09 my father in law came over. I sought a blessing from him. Through the power of the priesthood my father in law holds, I was told that my Heavenly Father loves me and is concerned for me. I was blessed with health, as was my baby. Heavenly Father wanted me to know that I made the right choice (in choosing a home birth) and to let my anxiety go. He told me baby will come soon and this difficult time will be in the past. I have great faith in the priesthood power and the words of god, so I was at peace, finally, and decided to continue with my plans to birth at home, and to rely on the Lord.


A couple of thoughts occurred to me as I was pondering my blessing. Satan has been placing doubt and fear in my mind about my birth plans, and about giving birth because he didn’t want me to realize the power I have when I exercise faith in God, and trust the power of my mind. In this “burden” as my first blessing during this pregnancy stated, God gave me the opportunity to exercise faith and rely on His power to get me through this, and believe in my ability to do what I’ve determined to do. Those are the most important lessons I learned throughout this experience of bringing Jadon into the world. “If God brings you to it, he’ll bring you through it.”


DeLoy’s blessing was inspired. I went into birthing waves at about 9:30 that night and baby was born at 12:15 Sunday morning, the 7th. I am still in shock as to how quickly the birthing time was. My past births have been 12-14 hours start to finish. From 9:00-10:00 or so the birthing waves were very light and I tucked the kids into bed, grabbed a small snack, watched my favorite water birth clip, tidied up the house. By about 10:00 I thought this may be it as I was having to rest during the waves, so I started calling people just to let them know I may be calling them in the middle of the night (expecting things to go on for several hours). I got the birthing supplies out on the dining room table for easy access. About 10:10 things waves were getting closer and stronger. I woke my husband up soliciting his help. He got my I-pod docked so I could start listening to hypnobabies. I got out my information on turning a posterior baby during labor. We spent a couple of waves doing the belly lift, hoping to turn the baby. That was uncomfortable, so I got into the knee to chest position hoping during this early time I could get baby to turn. Things got VERY INTENSE, VERY RAPIDLY! In hind sight I should have began using hypnosis the first few waves I felt because by now I was not able to get my mind to relax enough. I had my husband start timing the waves at 11:15 or so because I just couldn’t. They were lasting 40-50 seconds, with about a 60 second break between them. Deep relaxation was out the window. My focus was on getting through one wave at a time. At first I had the heat pad on my back because the back pain was almost unbearable, when a wave would come Paul pressed very hard on my lower back, while I cringed and moaned. We decided to put an ice pack on my back, and the heating pad on my stomach instead, again hoping the baby’s back would turn away from the cold and toward the heat. I made calls to my midwife Kelly and her assistant Kelly, my doula Danielle, and my mom during my brief breaks between waves, while my husband left my side to get things ready, get the birthing tub filled up, then rushed back to push on my lower back with all his might. As doula Danielle was driving to my house she was able to speak calming words to me while I was on the phone with her through one wave. I had never experienced such a fast, intense 1st stage and I wanted drugs (which ultimately I’m glad I didn’t get). My 2nd choice would have been getting into the birth tub which was not filled up, and wouldn’t be for another 45 minutes or so. I was so grateful for the 1 minute break between each wave. I was concerned that the waves like that were going to go on for hours. Just as I was moving to the bed to see if that would be a better position for me, perhaps more relaxing, apprentice midwife Kelly arrived. She helped me through two waves, rubbing my arms and legs speaking calming words while my husband pushed on my back. I did notice some discomfort in my uterine muscles, but nothing compared to what my back was experiencing. After those two waves I went to the restroom feeling like I needed to have a small bowel movement. I took off my pants and gently pushed. I didn’t realize the water broke and I was pushing the babies head out, luckily Kelly was right there and noticed and had me quickly stand up. Out came the head facing my back (yae! The baby turned) with two little fists hidden under two fleshy cheeks. Kelly checked my perineum, looked good. I leaned on the bathtub and almost effortlessly pushed the rest of him out. Kelly caught him, removed the cord that was draped over his shoulder and placed him in my arms. My husband announced “it’s a boy.” I sat on the bathroom floor holding my baby; whom we wrapped in a bath towel; in shock that I had just given birth. I couldn’t believe how blindingly fast it went. During birthing time I felt like I was in a trance almost, in a timeless state. It was as if my subconscious mind had taken over, my conscious mind (except for the part that registered “pain”) moving out of the way. This birth was such a natural, smooth process, the way God intended birth to be. I felt amazing! On top of the world! I knew that I could do anything and I knew that I would be happy to go through that experience all over again.


My mom arrived just in time to watch his body come out, doula Danielle and midwife Kelly arrived after he was born. I guess my oldest had been awake the whole time, just choose to stay in bed. My 2nd oldest woke up after his brother was born, as more people arrived. The younger two stayed asleep the whole night. We all enjoyed ourselves for the next few hours visiting, holding the baby, in awe of what happened.


The birth did not go as I had planned; it went how it was meant to go. I did set my intention on a healthy baby, healthy mom, fast, easy birthing, on having a very quick, easy, discomfort free second stage, on having the baby come out face to my back, on having a drug free, home birth, surrounded by my loved ones (even if they are sleeping), and having the baby on a Sunday the 7th of June. All those things came to pass.


Jadon Bradford Graham weighed 8 lbs 4 oz, was 20 inches long. He was born at 12:15 am Sunday June 7th 2009 in the peaceful, loving environment of his home.

We named our son Jadon because the meaning, "God has heard, thankful" fits so well the circumstances surrounding my pregnancy with him and his birth.