Naturally, there is a wide spectrum of emotions and concerns that exist when your baby receives care in the NICU. But in our journey to understand the unique challenges our daughter would encounter, we were grateful to have Melanie share her knowledge and experience.

For example, during my efforts to breastfeed, Melanie taught me how to understand the sounds that might indicate my daughter was swallowing fully instead of just letting the milk pool inside of her cheeks. These efforts to educate us, by themselves are extraordinary, but Melanie also went beyond the expertise of her role to also share a kindness and empathy that made us feel supported during our experience.

In addition, we had been working with Family Services in an effort to prepare our older daughter for her first visit to see her little sister. Melanie provided additional encouragement and active support during that first meeting. We are very appreciative of her efforts to make a stressful circumstance feel approachable and even successful.