Caitlin Doheny became our primary nurse for our son, T during his 44-day NICU stay. We first met Caitlin when T was on ECMO, and she stuck with us until his discharge. There isn’t enough space to explain how much Caitlin helped us, and how much her care meant to our family. Caitlin was there for us during most of T’s big milestones, celebrating and helping us through. She was there when he came off ECMO, and was the one handing me my baby to hold for the very first time, making a long-awaited moment as special as it can be. Each bed spot T had she helped us decorate, organizing it in the way only she could. She put his very first outfit on him, picking out something with stripes because that’s what she knew I loved. She showed me how to change T’s first diaper! We were sad to be in the hospital still for the 4th of July and T’s one month birthday, but she made it fun and special with an elaborate photo shoot to mark the occasion. Each day of T’s recovery she came in with a plan to help him progress, and I truly believe her advocacy helped us go home so much sooner. The days that I knew Caitlin was working were some of the only days I could let myself sleep in a little longer, because I knew she would be there caring and advocating for T just like I would be. Leading up to T’s discharge was a stressful time, with some final test results needed to be able to go home. If I remember correctly Caitlin worked 5 days in a row, helping us get what we needed to be able to finally leave. The day we were originally supposed to go home we got an unexpected bad result, and she spent hours calling the lab teams and coordinating with doctors to put the next steps of the plan in place. She comforted us on more than one really hard day, encouraging us with her optimism and faith. There were so many nurses during our stay who went above and beyond their basic job description to care for us so well during our time at the NICU. I’m amazed at the level of dedication and investment whenever I think about it. We are forever marked by T's story and our experience in the NICU, in both good and bad ways. I’m so thankful to have Caitlin as such a significant part of our story.