Brandy was my nurse on the day that my daughter was born at 34 weeks. When she came on shift, I had been in labor for over 24 hours and had seemed to stall. Brandy was performing as a preceptor to a fellow nurse and she did not let this affect her ability to perform patient care in the slightest. Although we could tell she was extremely busy, she never seemed distracted and always gave me her undivided attention. With each thing that she did, like my glucose checks, she talked me through from beginning to end while also walking her shadowing nurse through each step.

Throughout her shift, she asked me questions and expressed genuine care about my personal life to help distract me from the pain and impatience I was feeling. Even the minuscule things like repositioning, she did not shy away from or act like it was too unimportant for her to do. Brandy always seemed to have new suggestions whenever I was feeling frustrated from feeling like I hit a dead end with my progression. When my blood glucose dropped low, she was hand-feeding me juice to get my levels up. My partner's concerns and worries were also taken into account and she was constantly reassuring both of us.

From the beginning, there were a lot of interning doctors who were in and out of my room, participating in my care, who all seemed to voice differing opinions, like how far my dilation had progressed. Brandy was very reassuring and advocated for my care to other staff members. After I became agitated with the entire process, she took her time to reposition me multiple times using the peanut ball to try and help my laboring, helping my partner readjust me each time. I felt my epidural wearing off towards the end and could feel pain in my lower left quadrant with each contraction. The Doctors believed it was simply normal pressure I was feeling, but Brandy listened and was the one who ultimately checked me to see that I was fully dilated and would need to push.

All of the staff ran out to grab the NICU team; and after a minute, an entire room of people was around my bed, and panic ensued. My nurse was calmly talking me through it, helping me breathe. Since my daughter was born premature, she was to immediately be taken to NICU, but Brandy advocated that I at least be able to see my daughter before she was whisked away. As she promised earlier in the day, I was able to hold my daughter for a few seconds, which meant so much. When an entire staff was there for my daughter, Brandy was the one there for me. While my daughter was being examined, Brandy was the one at my side, giving me reassurance that she was okay.

After I was cleaned up, she told me how proud she was, how strong I was, and how confident she was in me. She never brought it up, but we realized that she stayed after her shift was over just to be there for me and my family. Brandy was more than a nurse, but a friend that I needed.