Stephanie took care of me and my mom the morning after our scheduled induction. As soon as she came on shift, she was in our room, looking at how baby was responding to Pitocin, and going over his few decels from the night. She decided not to bump the Pitocin up, and advocated for an internal monitor as soon as my doctor came in. The doctor was more than happy to place one, and thankfully we did. Not too long after, we had to turn Pitocin off as the baby wasn't tolerating it, and a few hours later baby's heart rate plummeted into the 50's, and a code green was called. Stephanie changed my position a few different times and worked so well with my doctor who she doesn't usually work with, to initiate a code green and get me into an emergency C-section. They worked diligently and quickly to ensure my baby and I were okay. She stayed by my side through the spinal and through the scrub process, ensuring me that my baby was okay; and I was okay. Stephanie would play his heart tones when they came back up to normal before removing the internal monitors. I didn't see her after surgery as I was then put to sleep, but I wanted to thank her for helping reassure me and get my mom in the room to the best of her ability. I never got to say thank you to her, but THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART! 

***

I came into OB triage at 34 weeks pregnant with my boy/girl twins. This was the third (and fourth) child for my husband and I, so while we had been through this before, I was very nervous at the idea of possibly being in labor and delivering the twins too soon. It was decided by the physician that I had progressed since my last appointment and was contracting, so he very casually said, "Yes, I think we can go ahead and have the babies tonight." He was calm and absolutely wonderful, but I was so scared at the idea of having these babies so early- enter my God-given nurse, Stephanie. 
     
From the moment she stepped behind the curtain, Stephanie made an impression on me. She was kind, thorough, and personable. When it was decided we were going to be delivering the babies, she immediately sensed my worry and did everything she could to alleviate it. She walked me through what to expect, and when I told her how nervous I was about the NICU, she drew on her own personal NICU experience to guide me. What helped me the most was that she called the NICU team leader and had her come to triage to talk with my husband and me as we waited for my c-section and walked us through what the next few hours and potentially days would look like. This meant so much to me. She held my hand and coached me during my spinal, talked with me during the delivery, and was very attentive during my post-op recovery. She felt like a friend or even a sister as opposed to a stranger I had just met only a few hours before. When it was time for me to move floors, she took me to my new room, hugged me goodbye, and told me to come find her during her upcoming shifts once I was discharged to let her know how the babies were doing in the NICU. I could tell she sincerely meant that; she genuinely cared about me and my family in just the few hours we'd been together. 
     
As a nurse myself who has worked the floor, I know how demanding and busy it is. I know time is short and workload is heavy. Stephanie made me feel like I was the only patient on the floor. She took her time and went above and beyond to settle my fears. She struck me as the type of nurse who doesn't realize what an impact she makes, and I could see her saying, "I'm just doing my job," but she needs to be recognized for the wonderful, compassionate nurse she is. I know my delivery experience wouldn't have been what it was without her. I'll be forever grateful; she was truly an angel that night.