After a drastic shift in birth plan to keep myself and our first baby safe, Merett Lykins was an actual angel dressed up as a nurse to help me feel human again. The entire OR team was phenomenal with my unplanned cesarean section, and I later learned Merett was a part of the team and didn't realize it during the chaos of shifting to a c-section - but it makes sense that she was part of who made that really scary experience as peaceful as it could be.

After many hours of labor and an indicated c-section, I was so exhausted. I had to be on a strong medication that did not allow me to leave the bed from Sunday until Wednesday morning at 3:30am. Merett was there right at 3:30am with a smile and the knowledge that I was so excited to start to feel human again. Standing and functioning after a cesarean is a big deal... I humbly learned. Merett helped me by allowing me to advocate for my pain medication needs, waiting for the medicine to start to mitigate the pain, and then helping me, literally, step-by-step from the bed to the bathroom. In the bathroom, her patience was unmatched. I was in a considerable amount of pain, felt incredibly unclean, and embarrassed. Merett so graciously helped me remove my clothes, wash myself off, removed the catheter, helped me void my bladder, and wash off the remnants of the c-section. All of this with a smile and incredibly graciousness and compassion. This continued for the remainder of her shift and while she set me up with the oncoming nurse. When I had an issue in the bathroom shortly before the shift change, Merett handled it so quickly and kindly I barely even had a moment to feel stressed. Postpartum is a hard, hard time and Merett brought so much compassion to her shift, that I feel incredibly blessed to have had her care for me during the most vulnerable time of my life. Thank you, Merett!