My wife has been at West Penn hospital dealing with a preeclampsia pregnancy gestational hypertension and gestational diabetes. We came in at 28 weeks. Since being sent here we've had a number of nurse's aides and doctors looking after us and even after our 16th day having an emergency C section. All of them have been wonderful and we have the best team and coaches in our corner.
One nurse I want to single out is Carly. She was here the day we were admitted, we were so emotional after learning my wife was not coming home for up to 7 weeks. She just happened to be our nurse that first day and was there with us to assure we were in good hands, the best hands, and that we were not in dire circumstances. She was our nurse once or twice more during our stay in antepartum and was always so compassionate and excited to see how well my wife and baby were doing. She also gave good conversation to help us cope in a stressful situation.
At 30 weeks, we found out an emergency C-section needed to be performed and Carly was there and so calm and gave us a calming presence during an extremely stressful and scary day in our lives. She always stayed excited and tried to get us the same way as we became first-time parents. We did not find out the sex before delivery and she had the great idea of taking a phone to the OR/delivery so we can find out together when my wife was awake.
When my wife was leaving with the surgical and delivery team, I was a wreck. She hung back an extra minute or two to comfort me. This was the most stressful day in my life and the fact that she hung back to make sure I was okay meant so much. 25 minutes later and briefly seeing my new baby before the NICU team (also respecting that I wanted to wait before finding out the sex), she was so excited to give me the great news about how well my wife and baby did and assured me it was almost a routine C section with 0 complications and was genuinely excited for us. Carly gave us great pictures from delivery on my wife's phone and was so excited to give us the news that we had a son. She was so helpful during post-op and compassionate about the few painful procedures that needed done and continued to be our nurse the remaining of her shift back in the antepartum room. She was so helpful with me figuring out and showing me how to operate the breast pump and consistently went above and beyond her nurse duties for us.
I went on an errand just before her shift was over and I thanked her for everything she has done for my new family but words can't describe how grateful we are. Not only do we need more hospital workers like her but we need more PEOPLE like her. She was so kind compassionate and excited for us and we are so lucky to have her on our team. We can't thank her enough and despite this long letter, words cannot describe how thankful we are.