I presented to the Emergency Room for bleeding with pregnancy. Thankfully, everything turned out to be ok. The next day, I came back to the Emergency Room for increasing bleeding with my pregnancy, now 9 weeks. Claire was my nurse, and while I didn't need care by means of medications, IV, etc., I received overwhelming emotional support from her. She spoke calmly, directly, and explained to me what the plan was, knowing that I had all the same tests the day prior.
This time, however, my ultrasound couldn't find a heartbeat, and I was told I was having a miscarriage. The doctor gave me the news, but Claire's bedside manner following this was outstanding. She entered the room to find both my husband and I completely sobbing, and I asked her, 'What am I supposed to do now?'
She sat on the edge of the bed, rubbed my arm, and told me very calmly, 'You do whatever you need to do.' A page went overhead that she had a phone call, but she didn't leave the room. She sat there and walked me (and my husband) through the emotions we might encounter over the coming weeks. She told me if I wanted to go to work, go to work. If I wanted to sit on the couch and cry, I could do that. She showed compassion for me, a total stranger, in a way I only see from friends.
Claire told me that I am allowed to feel any way that I feel, and that emotions with a miscarriage are wide and frequently changing, explaining that I may feel different ways every day but that NOBODY can fault me for any feelings and to handle my mental health any way that I needed to.
It has been 10 days since we lost our baby, but there hasn't been a single day I haven't heard Claire tell me, 'Nobody can tell you how to feel' and to 'take one day at a time.'