When I was in labor with my second child, many things didn’t go as planned. I had Covid and was still testing positive when I was admitted. I was really worried about giving Covid to the baby. And then, my husband had some bizarre gastrointestinal distress arise *at the hospital* and was having diarrhea and vomiting in the bathroom attached to my delivery room. He was so sick that he could not help me when I was laboring. On top of all that, none of my usual doctors at my OBGYN office were available to deliver my baby, so a different doctor from outside the practice was covering that day - so a stranger delivered my baby!

All of this, while I was enduring the pain of labor, left me VERY STRESSED OUT! Through it all, Hannah was my rock. She was unflappable. She was incredibly attentive, asked me constantly what I needed, and anticipated my needs sometimes before I even voiced them. She held my hands when I was getting the epidural and was in a lot of pain, and my husband couldn’t be there holding my hands. She didn’t even complain that I gripped her hands so hard that I must have been crushing them. I apologized, and she said there was no need. When I reached full dilation an hour earlier than the doctor expected, Hannah saw the signs without an exam and called the doctor in, and sure enough, it turned out I was 10cm dilated. What expertise! When it came time to push, Hannah took the lead - counting me through every contraction and talking to me in between contractions to offer encouragement. Through it all, Hannah also maintained a positive attitude and remained warm, kind, and even funny. How she made me laugh, I will never know. But I’m crying now, thinking about how much it meant to me that Hannah was my L&D nurse. She really got me through it. Thank you, Hannah.