My daughter, S, was born at 31 weeks and 5 days. My pregnancy was considered "boring" until that point. Everything went according to plan - I was healthy and so was she. My water broke at home and I arrived at the hospital 4cm dilated. I had an amazing medical team who remained calm when I couldn't, and who worked hard to keep S inside as long as possible.

Despite everyone's best efforts, S was born at 9:01 pm that evening. After a brief moment with my husband and me, S was taken to Stahlman. Getting ready for the arrival of our first baby certainly never included wrapping our heads around the possibility of PPROM after a very healthy pregnancy. We heard all kinds of advice - sleep while you can, embrace the golden hour, etc. - but no one told us to mentally prepare for a 28-day NICU stay.

We know now how lucky we are that S came out as strong as she did, but we were not prepared to see her hooked up to a bubble CPAP machine living in an incubator with probes and a feeding tube. The first few days especially were very hard for my husband and me emotionally. S showed rapid improvement and quickly became a candidate for a parent room-in room on the 11th floor of the Children's Hospital. We were moved to our own private room. Diana was the nurse assigned to our room for the last hour of her shift when we moved to the 11th floor.

We met her only briefly, but after she left I told my husband that there was something about her that I really liked. Diana was so welcoming and positive, and while she of course focused on our daughter, she also went out of her way to make sure we were comfortable for our first night in our room. Diana came back a few days later and became S's primary nurse. Diana seemed to genuinely love S. She spoke often of S's strong personality, took her time when evaluating S, always looked for things to make her more comfortable, brainstormed new ideas for helping S when she was suffering from severe reflux, held her, and talked to her during each shift even though we were there to do that as well. She also ensured that S's care was done thoroughly and with respect for S.

She handled S so gently and taught us tips and tricks for handling a tiny preemie baby. Diana told us every single day that we saw her how proud she was of us - all of us. She empowered my husband and me each day to learn more and taught us how to become more comfortable with S's treatment and care. One day in particular was very emotional for me. I was trying to hold it together but Diana noticed and calmly and in the most supportive way told me that it's ok to let go when I need to. I started crying immediately and told her that I didn't know how to pick up my own daughter without help. She was in an incubator and had probes, an IV, and a feeding tube. I didn't even know where to begin. Diana immediately taught me how to safely pick up S while protecting all the tubes and wires. She stayed with me while I practiced and made sure I was comfortable before she left for the evening. This was probably such a small, trivial part of her day but it meant the world to me.

While I was certainly not mentally prepared for my daughter to begin her life in the NICU, I was even less prepared for not knowing how to hold her. Diana changed my perspective a lot that day - I could learn how to do this. I am so happy to report that S is home now and is thriving! Thanks, Diana! We miss you!