Debbie Morgan
May 2021
Debbie
Morgan
,
RN, BSN
NICU
Ascension Sacred Heart Hospital Emerald Coast
Debbie always took her time with us and answered the millions of questions we threw at her daily oftentimes researching the best and most up-to-date answer for us.
Our daughter C was born 6 weeks early. Today is her two week birthday and tomorrow she will be discharged after 15 days in the NICU. Our time in the NICU was truly the most stressful, trying, and saddest time in our life but Debbie was the brightest light during our stay.
Debbie was the nurse taking care of us when we checked into Labor and Delivery. Because of how early I went into labor our doctor informed us right away C would have to spend some time in the NICU. Debbie came to my delivery room and explained to us step-by-step what would happen when C was born and told us what to expect when we were finally able to see her. She took my husband to the NICU to see the set up C would have and checked on me throughout my labor.
Unfortunately, I delivered C after shift change but Debbie got to meet our beautiful daughter a couple days later. C had quite a few obstacles to overcome in the NICU. She wasn't developed enough to understand how to eat and breath at the same time. She was 5 pounds 4 ounces when she was born but dropped down to 4 pounds 7 ounces a couple days after birth. She
had to be in an incubator since she wasn't able to regulate her own temperature and she had jaundice.
The first time Debbie worked with us in the NICU she was helping us feed C and I'll never forget how patient and calming she was. C was trying to feed and forgot to breath for a couple of seconds. The monitor started going off, but Debbie calmly swooped in and explained to us what was happening and what to look for in the future to avoid it.
C had high bilirubin levels twice during her stay both times putting her in the high intermediate jaundice level. The first time she went under phototherapy we were laughing because C really seemed to like the lights and looked as though she was sunbathing by the
pool. A couple days after her levels went down her blood test came back with high bilirubin levels again. I remember walking into the NICU that day and seeing C under the phototherapy lights and just broke down. We were making progress and then it felt like a giant step back. We were exhausted from driving over an hour back and forth to the hospital every day and I was dealing with a lot of mom guilt over my daughter not being able to come home with us. I blamed myself and wondered what I had done wrong in my pregnancy to deliver so early since there is no medical explanation.
Debbie saw how upset I was and printed off all kinds of information about jaundice. She made us understood the scientific part of jaundice but also pointed out what caused it and that there was nothing we could've done differently to avoid it. Debbie made sure that I was getting the support I needed so I didn't feel so guilty about what was happening. She also remembered how much C loved the phototherapy lights and decked out her incubator with flamingo sheets to set off the "sunbathing by the pool" mood which turned out to be another thing we loved about Debbie.
The girls in the NICU all made sure to put signs up for C to celebrate her different milestones but Debbie loved to do special things like give her giraffe sheets (my husband mentioned to her that was my favorite animal the day I was in labor) and dress her in floral swaddles. She has two sons, so she said she loves to dress up the girls in the NICU.
Debbie always took her time with us and answered the millions of questions we threw at her daily oftentimes researching the best and most up to date answer for us. She was always so patient and a great advocate for C. She would try different bottles to see what C liked and while
drawing blood for a bilirubin test one day mentioned she wanted to work on finding a way to
cut down on the amount of times they had to lancet newborns feet for blood work. There's no feeling like having to ask if it's okay if you hold your own baby. But, while we loved all the NICU nurses, Debbie was a huge blessing to us, and we looked forward to the days she would be taking care of C. Debbie displays the compassion and empathy that The DAISY Award honors.
Debbie was the nurse taking care of us when we checked into Labor and Delivery. Because of how early I went into labor our doctor informed us right away C would have to spend some time in the NICU. Debbie came to my delivery room and explained to us step-by-step what would happen when C was born and told us what to expect when we were finally able to see her. She took my husband to the NICU to see the set up C would have and checked on me throughout my labor.
Unfortunately, I delivered C after shift change but Debbie got to meet our beautiful daughter a couple days later. C had quite a few obstacles to overcome in the NICU. She wasn't developed enough to understand how to eat and breath at the same time. She was 5 pounds 4 ounces when she was born but dropped down to 4 pounds 7 ounces a couple days after birth. She
had to be in an incubator since she wasn't able to regulate her own temperature and she had jaundice.
The first time Debbie worked with us in the NICU she was helping us feed C and I'll never forget how patient and calming she was. C was trying to feed and forgot to breath for a couple of seconds. The monitor started going off, but Debbie calmly swooped in and explained to us what was happening and what to look for in the future to avoid it.
C had high bilirubin levels twice during her stay both times putting her in the high intermediate jaundice level. The first time she went under phototherapy we were laughing because C really seemed to like the lights and looked as though she was sunbathing by the
pool. A couple days after her levels went down her blood test came back with high bilirubin levels again. I remember walking into the NICU that day and seeing C under the phototherapy lights and just broke down. We were making progress and then it felt like a giant step back. We were exhausted from driving over an hour back and forth to the hospital every day and I was dealing with a lot of mom guilt over my daughter not being able to come home with us. I blamed myself and wondered what I had done wrong in my pregnancy to deliver so early since there is no medical explanation.
Debbie saw how upset I was and printed off all kinds of information about jaundice. She made us understood the scientific part of jaundice but also pointed out what caused it and that there was nothing we could've done differently to avoid it. Debbie made sure that I was getting the support I needed so I didn't feel so guilty about what was happening. She also remembered how much C loved the phototherapy lights and decked out her incubator with flamingo sheets to set off the "sunbathing by the pool" mood which turned out to be another thing we loved about Debbie.
The girls in the NICU all made sure to put signs up for C to celebrate her different milestones but Debbie loved to do special things like give her giraffe sheets (my husband mentioned to her that was my favorite animal the day I was in labor) and dress her in floral swaddles. She has two sons, so she said she loves to dress up the girls in the NICU.
Debbie always took her time with us and answered the millions of questions we threw at her daily oftentimes researching the best and most up to date answer for us. She was always so patient and a great advocate for C. She would try different bottles to see what C liked and while
drawing blood for a bilirubin test one day mentioned she wanted to work on finding a way to
cut down on the amount of times they had to lancet newborns feet for blood work. There's no feeling like having to ask if it's okay if you hold your own baby. But, while we loved all the NICU nurses, Debbie was a huge blessing to us, and we looked forward to the days she would be taking care of C. Debbie displays the compassion and empathy that The DAISY Award honors.