Our child was born 5 1/2 weeks early. He spent two days in the NICU and almost two weeks in the Special Care Nursery. We had amazing care by all of B's nurses, but Bonnie stood out as the best due to her compassion and care for B, as well as for us. As first-time parents, Bonnie made it a point to help us learn how to care for B on our own. She went out of her way to teach us how to bathe, bottle feed and even give massages.
Although Bonnie had amazing love and care for B, the moment that shed a light on Bonnie's true compassionate heart was when she took time to focus on me - a new mother thrown into the world of taking care of a preemie while still navigating the hormonal and emotional waters of being a new mom. Since B was so little, feeding a bottle to him had been challenging. On one occasion while I was feeding B by myself, B started to choke and turn blue. Not knowing that it is normal for preemies to choke from time to time and that their bodies know what to do to prevent them from a dangerous situation, I went into a panic and broke down in tears. Knowing that I was having a difficult time, Bonnie shut the curtain to my room and sat down with me to talk through my concerns and talk me off the ledge. She let me know that my emotions were OK and that the first month or two are tough emotionally as a new mom and especially as a mom of a preemie, but she made me feel confident that I was able to tackle this new adventure head on and would do it like a pro.
On our last day in the Special Care Nursery, we were hoping that Bonnie would be the nurse who would send us on our way. Unfortunately, she was not but much to our delight we did see her on our way out and we gave her big hugs while she gave us a big smile back as if one of her own was heading home. Bonnie is a true gem that we will never forget and we are so happy that she was a part of our story.