It was such a Spiritual Experience

When Patrice Fedgeon spoke to Julian McMahon and Brooke Burns
after in the earlier than expected birth of their first child, Madison Elizabeth, they were ecstatic. They had tears in their eyes when they first heard their newborn cry.
With her tiny fingers coiled around her father's finger, baby Madison Elizabeth nestles into the protective arms of her adoring dad,
Australian born actor and former Profiler star Julian McMahon.
It's a peaceful picture of domestic bliss that contrasts to the initial shock and panic of a couple of weeks ago when Julian's wife,
former Baywatch star Brooke Burns, 22, suddenly when into labor a month early. The couple where planning on a quiet night with friends at their Hollywood Hills home to watch an LA Lakers basketball game on TV.
"We were so unprepared," 31 year old Julian smiles, "Brooke's sister Becky, who had her first baby a year ago, had spent the day with us hitting the shops, telling us everything we would need."
"We'd come come and Brooke was getting ready to watch the game - she's a total Lakers freak," Julian explains.
"But when the game was about to start, Brooke hadn't come downstairs so I went up to see where she was."
"She'd complained of cramps while we were out shopping, but when I went into the bedroom she said, "I think I'm having contractions."
Julian didn't know what to do. "I was running around saying, 'Come on, we should go to the hospital!'"
Becky told them it sounded like their baby was coming early, but Brooke first thought it was just a false alarm.
"Brooke wasn't panicking, but then she said, 'It really feels like these are definitely contractions,'" Julian says.
"I was having trouble getting through to the doctor on the phone. I wasn't sure if this was the baby or not, but I wanted to make sure we were prepared. I didn't even have petrol in the car, so I had to quickly send a friend out to fill it up."
"Brooke was really calm. She got into the bathtub to see if it made her feel a bit more comfortable but she clearly didn't believe the baby was about to come.
I found her shaving her legs!" Julian recalls, "I eventually managed to get hold of the doctor but he felt it was a false alarm.
He said, 'If you were going into labor there'd be four major indicators.' Then he reeled them off. I said, 'Right, we've got all of those happening!' And the doctor said, 'OK, you'd better come in.'"
Brooke was apologizing all the way into the hospital every time she let out a cry from the pain. "Becky came with us and, because Brooke hadn't really put on that much weight - it was all baby - she wasn't that big. When we got into the hospital the nurse said, 'So which one of you is pregnant?'
"And Brooke's in a full cocktail outfit - a short dress and high heels," Julian says, laughing.
"I was not,' Brooke shoots back. "It was a sundress," she declares, giggling.
"But everyone was so laid-back. No one believed the baby was virtually here. They were all convinced it would prove to be a false alarm."
They told Brooke they'd examine her just to confirm and a nurse exclaimed, "Holy cow! Your baby has definitely decided she wants to come now."
Brooke was then rushed into delivery. "By now the contractions were only minutes apart," Julian says. "And within half an hour Madison was here!
"It was absolutely amazing," he continues. "It was the most incredible experience of my life. I was standing with the doctor who handed me this tiny little bundle and she was so beautiful. I cut the umbilical cord, wrapped her in her blanket and handed her to Brooke."
Brooke smiles warmly at Julian as he rocks their tiny daughter in his arms. "He was so wonderful - throughout my pregnancy," she says. "He came to every medical appointment with me, even juggling his Profiler schedule.
"During the birth he helped me push and held my hand. It's beyond anything you could imagine. What an amazing gift. It takes your breath away. When we heard that first little cry and knew she was all right, we both had tears in our eyes."
"My entire life I've looked forward and prayed for the time I'd be a mother."
Baby Madison Elizabeth McMahon weighed in at 2.5kg.
"Considering she was a premature baby, she's doing great," Brooke says.
"She was 47 cm long so we already know she's going to be tall and beautiful. And she'll definitely have a mind of her own - she's shown that by deciding when she was ready to come out."
Brooke admits she'd been a little apprehensive before the birth. "I've heard so many horror stories, I was naturally a little fearful.
But as much as we were caught by surprise, this has to be the best way to have a baby. She was much smaller because she was early, so that made for a very easy birth."
With the unexpected early arrival, Julian says there was no crib and nothing set up in their new nursery.
"We'd had the room painted but had just started the wallpapering. We weren't anywhere near ready," he laughs.
"Not that it matters. She's so tiny and we don't want to let her out of our sight, so we have a little bassinet in our bedroom. But most of the time she's in bed with us."
As Julian hands their precious baby across to Brooke, Madison nuzzles into her mother and gurgles contentedly.
"I think she looks so like her daddy," Brooke says happily. "She's feeding every couple of hours but we don't mind. We're happy to just lie in bed and gaze at her, she's so beautiful."
Julian nods in agreement. "This was such a spiritual experience. It was so touching and so beautiful. You just feel so much love," he says.
"We were on a high for a week. I'm sure you couldn't feel any greater high than this."