This nurse went above and beyond from the moment I arrived in the unit. As a scared first-time mom, she quickly calmed and encouraged me through my labor journey. From educating me about the epidural, to constantly assessing my pain- she encouraged me when to ask for the epidural. She was so personal with my husband and me. We felt like we have known her our whole lives in just a few short hours after admission! She created a bond with me and my husband we will never forget which says a lot through childbirth. As labor progressed and the pain increased, she motivated me, whether she was counting, cheering me on, or giving me some tough love that I needed during that difficult moment of pushing for the first time. Going forward, I ended up pushing for 3 hours straight after being in labor at this point for about 10 hours and pushing about every 1.5 minutes, she kept encouraging me that WE were doing this and baby was going to come out. After the first 2 hours of nonstop pushing, exhausted, and feeling discouraged, she never gave up on me. She would come up with a new pushing position to try and excel things safely.

Moving forward we discovered the baby wasn't making advancements through my cervix despite being fully dilated and pushing for 3 hours. The Dr at this point had come concerned because his head wasn't moving down after all my progression. C-section route at this point was the best option. In this moment after being so exhausted thinking baby was coming vaginal and now planning for a C-section ASAP- I felt extremely scared as a first-time mom of what was about to happen. She immediately made sure I wasn't going to be alone through any of this and was giving report on me and initiating the steps to get me prepped for a C-section. This was about 5:30 pm and I knew shift change was right around the corner after It had been Yvette, me, and my husband all day, I became so terrified to think she wouldn't be my nurse through the ending of this scary experience for me. She MADE it aware SHE would not be leaving me and going home until baby and I were safe through delivery. She stayed behind after her shift, putting her family on hold so I would feel a little less scared.

I don't remember much during the C-section, just that I felt traumatized BUT I do remember after the baby was born and they had done all his assessments first, she brought him to me and held my hand and said bye before she left home an hour or so after her shift had ended! I am a Nurse myself and this is ALL I could have ever hoped for being on the other end of the health care system! She was my Angel that day!! She without a doubt stands out and St Joseph's women’s is SO lucky to have her on their team!