Andrea Nemeth
June 2023
Andrea
Nemeth
,
BSN, RN
Labor and Delivery
Lancaster General Health, Penn Medicine
Lancaster
,
PA
United States
Andrea took my hand and gave me the most beautiful words of kindness. She spoke about how what I just went through was very traumatic and that it’s okay to be upset that my birth did not end how I pictured it. She took the first pictures of my husband and me with our daughter which are photos I will treasure forever.
I recently celebrated my beautiful baby girl turning 2 months old, a milestone that I am here to celebrate due to two extraordinary L&D nurses Kristen Gundling and Andrea Nemeth.
My birth story began on Wednesday with me being admitted for an induction due to being 41 weeks and 5 days pregnant. Kristen came on shift at 3 am and took over as my nurse. At this point, I had been laboring naturally for about 11 hours and my contractions were really ramping up. Kristen advocated for me and offered to get me into the jacuzzi tub. Over the next several hours Kristen didn’t leave my side and worked with me to continue my plan of laboring naturally. Around 9 am I decided that I was ready for an epidural. Kristen quickly assembled the anesthesia team for me. She educated me on what was going to be happening and offered me support as she knew this was not in my original birth plan.
Over the next several hours Kristen diligently made sure to move me into different positions so that my labor would continue to progress. If it wasn’t for her knowledge and expertise my labor may not have progressed as quickly and I could have needed a C-section. That evening Kristen’s shift was coming to an end and the oncoming nurse was going to be Andrea Nemeth.
Both Kristen and Andrea were in the room with me and expertly coached me in pushing. I only pushed for 25 minutes and my little girl was born at 7:06 pm. Right after she was born though we could tell something was not right. Unfortunately, my placenta was not intact and I was delivering it in pieces causing me to have a postpartum hemorrhage. I remember a million things happening at once, but I remember Kristen and Andrea there reassuring me that it was going to be okay. They worked quickly and efficiently to do what they could to stop the bleeding. I was quickly taken away to the operating room, but learned after that Kristen stayed back in the delivery room to offer support to my husband. She took the first pictures of my husband holding my daughter as they shared their first moments together. Technically her shift had already ended, but as she had been with us through the whole labor she wanted to make sure we were all okay including my husband.
When I came out of surgery Andrea was there waiting in PACU. She brought my husband in to see me and to my surprise, Kristen was still there also. We had a very emotional reunion and Andrea took my hand and gave me the most beautiful words of kindness. She spoke about how what I just went through was very traumatic and that it’s okay to be upset that my birth did not end how I pictured it. She took the first pictures of my husband and me with our daughter which are photos I will treasure forever. She made sure that I had skin-to-skin time and helped me to breastfeed for the first time. Andrea took a traumatic event and made it one of the most beautiful memories I have from that day.
Without Kristen and Andrea, my birth story could have ended very differently. I now look back on that day with happiness because these two amazing nurses helped guide and support me in every way imaginable throughout it. They are both shining examples of what a labor and delivery nurse should be and truly cannot thank them enough from the bottom of my heart.
My birth story began on Wednesday with me being admitted for an induction due to being 41 weeks and 5 days pregnant. Kristen came on shift at 3 am and took over as my nurse. At this point, I had been laboring naturally for about 11 hours and my contractions were really ramping up. Kristen advocated for me and offered to get me into the jacuzzi tub. Over the next several hours Kristen didn’t leave my side and worked with me to continue my plan of laboring naturally. Around 9 am I decided that I was ready for an epidural. Kristen quickly assembled the anesthesia team for me. She educated me on what was going to be happening and offered me support as she knew this was not in my original birth plan.
Over the next several hours Kristen diligently made sure to move me into different positions so that my labor would continue to progress. If it wasn’t for her knowledge and expertise my labor may not have progressed as quickly and I could have needed a C-section. That evening Kristen’s shift was coming to an end and the oncoming nurse was going to be Andrea Nemeth.
Both Kristen and Andrea were in the room with me and expertly coached me in pushing. I only pushed for 25 minutes and my little girl was born at 7:06 pm. Right after she was born though we could tell something was not right. Unfortunately, my placenta was not intact and I was delivering it in pieces causing me to have a postpartum hemorrhage. I remember a million things happening at once, but I remember Kristen and Andrea there reassuring me that it was going to be okay. They worked quickly and efficiently to do what they could to stop the bleeding. I was quickly taken away to the operating room, but learned after that Kristen stayed back in the delivery room to offer support to my husband. She took the first pictures of my husband holding my daughter as they shared their first moments together. Technically her shift had already ended, but as she had been with us through the whole labor she wanted to make sure we were all okay including my husband.
When I came out of surgery Andrea was there waiting in PACU. She brought my husband in to see me and to my surprise, Kristen was still there also. We had a very emotional reunion and Andrea took my hand and gave me the most beautiful words of kindness. She spoke about how what I just went through was very traumatic and that it’s okay to be upset that my birth did not end how I pictured it. She took the first pictures of my husband and me with our daughter which are photos I will treasure forever. She made sure that I had skin-to-skin time and helped me to breastfeed for the first time. Andrea took a traumatic event and made it one of the most beautiful memories I have from that day.
Without Kristen and Andrea, my birth story could have ended very differently. I now look back on that day with happiness because these two amazing nurses helped guide and support me in every way imaginable throughout it. They are both shining examples of what a labor and delivery nurse should be and truly cannot thank them enough from the bottom of my heart.