My beautiful baby was welcomed into the world much too soon at 1 lb. 3 oz. and was immediately admitted into the NICU at Rapid City Regional Hospital. She remained a patient for 5 months, during this time we were blessed with Ashley as one of our nurses. Ashley loved our sweet little girl as her own. During some of the most trying nights, Ashley bounced and walked with our little girl for hours on end. We laughed the next day when her Fitbit would show she had walked over 2 miles but was really just keeping our baby happy. During the last weeks of our stay, Ashley carefully prepared us to take our very medically complex child home. Finally, we were able to make it home after 158 days in the NICU. Ashley continued to follow up the next day to see how our first night home had gone and to make sure things were going well.
Sadly, after one day home, our sweet girl was admitted back into the NICU. She had contracted an infection - but Ashley was there to wipe my tears and continue to watch over my baby. Early one morning I received a call from Ashley that we need to get to the NICU now.
She met us at the door where the doctors were frantically trying to bring our sweet girl back. When resuscitation efforts failed, they carefully placed our little girl in our arms and she was gone. We held our sweet baby and left in the early morning hours to contact our family. During this time Ashley carefully cleaned our sweet baby, dressed her in the most beautiful gown with booties and a bracelet, and carefully protected her in a cold cot until we were able to say our final goodbyes. When we were able to see her again, she looked like an angel. I will cherish those memories for the rest of my life. I know the care Ashley took to make sure our baby was perfectly protected behind the NICU walls when she was not with us. I will never be able to express my gratitude for the compassion she expressed each and every day.