Today, my thoughts have frequently drifted to my experience with both having and losing Avery and the wonderful nurses and doctors that took care of both of us. And out of the dozens of people we encountered through our journey my labor and delivery nurse and of course my OBGYN stand out as some of the most caring, compassionate medical professionals I have ever personally encountered and I know they are not alone. Doctors often get so much credit for all they do and while I don't want to discount their amazing work, tonight I want to give insight into just how much this nurse means to me (sorry Dr. T, you know I love you)!
My nurse, we shall call her nurse P, held my hand through painful contractions when my epidural wasn't working. She stood by my side encouraging me, pushing me through the worse physical pain I had ever experienced. She wiped my sweat, dried my tears and most importantly kept Avery and I safe through a long labor.
She monitored my vitals and Avery's vitals as labor was slow yet quick. She calmed my nerves when my amazing doctor decided enough was enough and we needed a c-section to keep us all safe. She took the contacts out of my eyes when I couldn't sit up before the surgery to do it myself. She helped clean me up when I couldn't even muster up enough energy to do so before I was wheeled into the OR. She was there in the operating room as I was being prepped. She led Eddy to my side when it was time to get started. She was the one to show Avery to me and was the first to help clean her up. She was a godsend. She was up all night with us through the delivery. She even checked in on us after we were moved from labor and delivery to the mom/baby side on her next shift, we weren't even her patients anymore.
And six days later, as she was finishing an overnight shift upstairs, she came down to us when heard what had happened to Avery and that we were in the ER. She came to see us, to hug us, pray with us and to cry with us. She was the only medical professional that day to do so, even though Avery's own pediatrician was in the building and knew we were there. She was the only one to come.
And since that horrid day, she's checked in with us, sent encouraging words, she supports my work to help others, she has worn a pink Avery bracelet and shown her love for Avery. The kindness, compassion and tender care Nurse P has shown us over the last 3 years has been an incredible gift.
She didn't have to go above and beyond. She could have treated us as just another patient, another mother and baby out of thousands she's encountered in her career but she didn't. She could have cared for us that one night and disappeared but she didn't. She didn't have to come sit with us during the worst hours of our life but she did. And for her kindness, we are forever grateful.
Medical professionals, emergency workers, public safety officers all choose to do the work they do on a daily basis, constantly putting the needs of others a over their own. They choose to serve us in our happiest and darkest times. They deserve to be treated with the upmost respect all day, every day. They do not deserve to be treated as a joke. They don't make millions being cruel and insensitive on national TV. Those people are the real joke.
To Nurse P and all nurses, I want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart. The world would be a better place if it were filled with selfless people like you!
That's Nurse P, she's been intentionally cropped out for her own privacy ;) right after Avery was born!