I had to bring my daughter into the ER for a fever. To rule out a UTI, they wanted to straight cath her. (She’s an infant) well, she just had her vaccines. I was worried that her temperature spiked so high even on Tylenol, so I followed my instructions previously from pediatrics and brought her in. I rushed out so fast that I forgot my diaper bag that had bottles, diapers, and pacifiers. There were two attempts made to cath my daughter, and the third time, they called up Britta to attempt.

At this point, we were almost an hour into holding my daughter down while she screamed and cried. I am an RN myself and understand what needs to be done to take care of patients, but as a mom, it was tough and not assuring. Britta noticed I was stressed and the first time I told her I didn’t have anything for her to help stay with her. She asked one of the nurses to get a pacifier. The nurse just responded that they don’t carry them in the ER, which was fine but then she just said, "Can you please call up for one?" That little piece eased my anxiety to be able to help calm my baby. When Britta realized I didn’t have diapers either, she was the one who had to tell the nurses to grab me one and ask me what size I would need. This is my first child, and the first time I’ve ever had to bring her in for something wrong. I was anxious, but she gave me peace and made me feel better, heard, and cared for. My specialty is not peds/infants, so when you’re being told my worry wasn’t anything, it made me feel like I wasted their time. Britta did not make me feel that way. She also walked me through if this happens again to inform the nurse she has lower landmarks to have a better chance of cathing her right away successfully, let alone added to her chart a 5fr is needed for her.

While this may sound little, it was really big for me. Before Britta came in, I felt stupid for even bringing in my daughter and following what Peds instructed. I’m sure it would resonate with at least somebody that when it’s your own, your nurse brain turns off, and your mom's brain is screaming. My husband had to stay home with my stepkids, and I was texting him, telling him that I just wanted to cry. The one thing I was able to do was quietly tell Britta thank you, and it wasn’t just for successfully getting that done. It was for speaking up for myself and my daughter to make us comfortable for my first scary experience with my baby. It was not unnoticed and so appreciated.