Our baby girl was diagnosed with anencephaly at our 21-week ultrasound. At 30 weeks, I went in for an amnio reduction, which ended up completely changing our idea of how this birth was going to happen. Our baby ended up passing in utero on July 11th, and Crystal was our nurse for the night after we found out this news and started the induction process. She called herself a helicopter mom, but I see her as such a caring blessing.

As it was my first birth experience and baby, she constantly made me feel comfortable. Walking me through everything, making sure I had all I needed to when it came to drinks, if I was comfortable, and doing checks often to make sure we were ok, even if we were sleeping, just piping her head in to check up quietly. I’m so thankful for her sitting in the room to just talk with us, bringing some light and laughter in the midst of our situation.

She left the morning of July 12, and I prayed that she would be back for when I give birth. Sure enough, 7 pm rolls around, and I was so beyond happy to see her face come into my room. She immediately checked up on everything and made sure my epidural was working well, I was in a comfortable spot, and I had all the jello in the hospital. She made sure my husband was well too and was able to help her out as which I really appreciate because he wanted to be hands-on helping.

When I had a blank spot in my epidural, she was right there the whole time through my pain as we waited for anesthesia, encouraging me and trying her hardest to help me find comfort. Once baby girl very unexpectedly arrived after, she smiled so big at me and told me good job, I did amazing, and she is so so beautiful, rubbing my shoulders, staying so calm throughout it all, and she even made sure to tell my husband good job, Dad! It brought me so much comfort in such a difficult situation.

She immediately took my phone to get pictures of us with her and make sure our girl was dressed up all beautiful, just like she deserves. She took the baby to do some mementos for us and ended up coming back for my phone to do a whole photo shoot of her swaddled up and in a beautiful basket with flowers and many other things set up around her. She constantly kept saying how cute our baby girl is and how much she looks like us, which really means the world in this situation. She captured such an important girl in our lives, and we will cherish them forever. She made sure we had every memento possible to remember our beautiful baby girl.

I constantly felt so loved, cared for, and like I was just as important as a mama who birthed a living baby. I cannot say enough about Crystal and all the effort she put into making us feel supported and loved. Her constant effort in taking care of me and our baby girl is forever a blessing to us. We will remember her forever, and I pray that one day she is there to help deliver our baby girl's healthy siblings.