“Let’s do it again!” were the first words out of Jonna Seibert’s mouth after giving birth to her first child on January 4th, 2019. (The next day she had a few other words, but her love of the experience hadn’t changed a bit.)
Jonna, an assistant manager at Holiday Gas Station, and her fiancé, Landon, a construction worker for Ament Construction, live and work in Wadena. When they found out they were expecting their first child, Jonna started asking her friends and family for healthcare recommendations, and the name she heard most was Lakewood Health System.
Though Jonna and Landon had never been to Lakewood before, some of Jonna’s friends and family delivered there and had a great experience. “I’d heard great things about Lakewood, so I called to schedule an appointment. I was told my first choice of a provider wasn’t available, so the case managers told me about the other providers who were, and in the end, I landed on Dr. Adrianne Moen and it was the best thing ever.”
“Her being younger and having two young kids of her own made her really relatable to me. When I had my first appointment with her, we just clicked. Her personality fit with mine and I felt really comfortable with her. Dr Moen has new school ways of thinking, while still acknowledging the old school ways and ideas.”
“What I really liked about Lakewood was that you get to know everyone, and they get to know you. Kasey [Schorn, LPN], Dr. Moen’s nurse, was awesome. She and everyone else we met were so personable. They remember you, and they remember your story. You even start to have inside jokes and stories, which we would laugh about at all our appointments.”
“I remember being a little scared once when the case manager called me about my ultrasound results. They said we have your results, which I automatically thought was going to be bad, because why else would they call? Fortunately, they were just calling to tell me the results were normal, and everything was good. The results from blood tests and stuff came in really fast, and the team was great about communicating them to us.”
To prepare for their baby’s arrival, Jonna and Landon took advantage of everything Lakewood had to offer, which included the Prepared Childbirth class. “We loved the class because it had great info, we learned a lot and it answered so many of our questions and concerns. It made for a long day, but it was worth it. One of our favorite parts was seeing the delivery room. It was beautiful and didn’t feel like you were even in a hospital.”
Jonna’s due date was originally scheduled for December 28, 2018 but was later moved to January 4, 2019. “Around the 39-week mark, I was getting really uncomfortable… Dr. Moen didn’t want to induce me or have to do a c-section unless necessary, so I tried to wait it out. I wasn’t really progressing naturally and decided I needed a little help, so we went in the evening of January 3. We were going for a walk around 10 p.m. and my water broke. I was really happy to be at the hospital at that point!”
Days before Jonna was due, Dr. Moen’s grandmother passed away, which left Jonna with some uncertainty and sadness for her doctor. “I think her funeral was on the Thursday I was admitted to the hospital, so I wasn’t sure when Dr. Moen would be able to check in on me. But I shouldn’t have given it a thought because she came in to see me Friday morning. She was back around 3 p.m. that day, but I was only dilated to a four or five, so she said she was going to go home to have dinner with her family. She got a call from the nurses at 5 p.m. because I was at a 9.5! When she came in, she said, ‘I didn’t even get my groceries unloaded!’ Her response was just another reason I knew I’d picked the right provider.”
While Dr. Moen was busy not unloading her groceries, the rest of Jonna’s team was hard at work, trying to get their patient comfortable and ready to deliver. “Alli [Thiel, RN], was great. She was working so hard to figure out the right dosage of Pitocin I needed, which was not easy! When I decided to get an epidural, I was a little worried because originally I hadn’t wanted one.”
Scott Maney, CRNA, jumped right in and made his patient feel comfortable with her decision. “I felt like he really knew what he was doing, and he was funny. There was something about the sound of his voice that set me at ease. And at one point he said, ‘You didn’t even flinch; great job!’ I knew he’d done a good job when I could still feel the contractions enough to know when to push, but I didn’t have any pain.”
After Dr. Moen arrived, and Jonna’s team, including her mom and Landon, were in the room, Jonna pushed through 13 contractions (Landon counted), and at 7:38 p.m., out came Lane Raymond, weighing in at 8 pounds, 2 ounces, measuring 22 inches long. “Right after I got done, I said, ‘Let’s do it again!’ The next morning, I was like, ‘Yeah, let’s give it a little more time…’ But even being so sore and everything, it was still a great experience.”
After leaving the hospital, baby Lane had a bout with constipation, which brought he and Jonna back to Lakewood. “He was screaming and so uncomfortable, but we didn’t know why, so I brought him in. The provider we saw recommended prune juice, which Lane didn’t like, so Dr. Moen suggested pear juice, which he liked, and worked great. One of the other things I love about Lakewood is that you don’t have to wait. They get you in and out as soon as possible, which I really appreciated.”
Six months later, the family of three is happy and healthy. “I can’t say enough great things about my experience at Lakewood. I know not everyone has a great birth experience, but I did, so I feel so lucky. In fact, we were looking to buy a house in Perham, but I said, ‘That’s kind of a long drive to Lakewood when we have another baby.’”
We’ll have to wait and see where the family ends up, but one thing is for sure: Jonna’s experience at Lakewood couldn’t have been better, and her whole team here at Lakewood will be ready and waiting whenever they decide to grow their family. In Jonna’s words: Let’s do it again!