Our little boy was just over six weeks early, so he had to spend 18 days in the NICU. All the nurses and doctors were wonderful to him and made us feel at home; however, as we look back at our 18 days, Peggy Way's care for him really sticks out to us, as it did on our long trips back and forth from La Crosse to Monona. Not only was Peggy's care for him amazing, but she took the time to get to know our family, making us feel comfortable and at home. We were not just another patient to her; we were people she truly cared about.
Peggy made sure she spoke to us every day we were up there, whether she was assigned to our son or not. This was a very emotional time for us as it is for any parents, but Peggy had a way to make things much more relaxing and less stressful. She reached out to us in many ways. This made us realize she cared for us and our son. When Peggy was assigned to him, she offered us honest and helpful advice such as teaching us how to feed him correctly and how to burp him properly. Living so far away, when Peggy was assigned to our son, we felt very comfortable not being in La Crosse with him because we trusted she would treat him as she would her own child. Leaving your child with a stranger is a very scary thing; however Peggy did not give us that fear at all.
Not only was Peggy great to us, but we have a daughter who happened to have a birthday while her baby brother was in the hospital. She was pretty bummed about her birthday party being canceled and it made it worse that she could not go in the NICU to meet her brother. Peggy went out of her way to make her birthday special and not forgotten in all the stress of being in the hospital. Peggy reserved the family room so we could have a birthday party. She also had some nurses decorate it. Peggy organized a gift package for her from her brother. In the gift package was a teddy bear and a card from with her brother's name. She still sleeps with the teddy bear. Peggy made her 7th birthday very special and she will never forget it.
Also Peggy would send things home for her, such as one of his bottles or a diaper. These little things melted our hearts and meant the world to her. Now she wants to be a nurse someday and we believe Peggy's kind heart is why. Again, all the nurses and doctors in Mayo's NICU were amazing and I cannot say enough good things about them; however, Peggy reached out to us each and every day we were up there including giving us both a huge hug at the end of our stay.