Being first-time parents is one of the most beautiful challenges! In our baby’s 3 months of life, we were thrown quite the curveball with her heart defect diagnosis. The thought of her having heart surgery was absolutely terrifying.

All of the moments leading up to surgery were petrifying, and the morning of heart surgery was filled with mixed emotions. However, as soon as we met Nurse Maddie and she reassured us she would be next to our baby in the OR the entire time and provide us with updates every hour, we felt so much more relief.

In between the hours of anxiety and chaos as we watched the colors of the surgery status monitor change, seeing and hearing from Maddie brought us ease and comfort. Maddie was a beacon of assurance and peace through times of uncertainty. Once surgery was complete and Maddie brought us to our baby, she explained everything to us with the perfect combination of sincerity, emotional understanding, and technical medical accuracy. We appreciated her attention to detail and thoughtfulness as she made sure we were not overwhelmed. She answered our many questions and was so attentive to our baby’s needs.

As we navigated through the first night post-surgery, we felt unsure of how to soothe our sweet girl while she was hooked up to so many machines. Maddie helped make us feel more confident, knowing we were providing our daughter with the proper emotional, physical, affectionate, soothing, and medical attention. Knowing Maddie was right outside our door keeping a close eye on our baby through the night allowed us to feel more at ease at such a stressful time.

The following day, Maddie was not assigned to care for our daughter, but she stopped by to say hello and check on our girlie. We are so very grateful that we had Maddie caring for our baby. She made us feel safe during a time when we felt most vulnerable watching our baby recover from cardiac surgery. We knew my baby girl was safe and in good hands as we watched Maddie care for her.

Thank you so much, Maddie, you are the best!