We met Nancy around 7 am after a long sleepless night. My wife's water broke just 30 minutes after we fell asleep. Being that we've experienced two miscarriages, the hospital isn't the happiest place. With Nancy, we felt a genuine presence of peace. The contractions began to get more intense that morning and Nancy assured us that it wasn't a display of weakness to get the epidural. My wife says it's because of that, that we will have a second child. There were also three occasions where the baby's heart rate dropped significantly. In that situation, the entire labor and delivery floor (by entire I'm speaking of the nurses) will rush in to do whatever it takes to see that the baby survives.
Given our past experiences, this urgent type of circumstance should have brought fear to my wife and me. Instead, due to Nancy's demeanor and swift actions, we were overtaken by the peace she has. It was the same peace we felt many hours before when we first met. Thank you, Nancy. We could actually enjoy labor even though that sounds like an oxymoron.
At the end of Nancy's shift, C (another fantastic nurse) asked Nancy what she thought we were having and how much it would weigh. She said, "It will be a boy. 7 pounds 10 ounces." By Price is Right standards she lost. It was a boy, but he weighed 7lbs 9 oz. You were close, almost.
The icing on the cake was two mornings after. A knock came on our room door. We had a visitor, and it was Nancy. That moment was not as joyful as meeting our baby, but it was the second-best moment by far. We expected to see friends and family but the love of an almost stranger is unexplainably sensational. We informed her of her close guess. She was tickled, but she still lost. Thank you for all of the little things, Nancy.