I recently was a patient at Rochester General Hospital for the birth of my second son. I had my first-born at Rochester General as well, in November of 2016. That experience was both magical and terrifying. I had to come back a week after my first-born joined us because of an infection at my C-section site. It was a huge undertaking, and I really had a hard time with it. Catherine was one of my nurses during this horrendous experience. She was kind, considerate and thoughtful in her caregiving. It wasn't lost on anyone that this was a less than ideal situation to be in and I was constantly scared but all of my nurses, including Catherine, made it a bearable one.
More recently, early in September of this year, Catherine was my nurse yet again for my second son. She immediately recognized us and we immediately recognized her and I can't begin to tell you how comforting it was to have a familiar face in the hospital. Catherine was always going above and beyond to take care of our family in every way. I feel as though she went beyond the standard of care for me as her patient. I was always comfortable, informed and supported. No matter what my question or concern was, Catherine was there with an answer and guidance. She was proactive about managing my pain, which was just a sigh of relief after major surgery. She was supportive of my husband and toddler (whom she met as an infant just two and a half years ago!) and was beyond kind to my growing family.
Being in the hospital for the birth of a child is such a strange experience. It's incredible because of course, we get to meet our child that we've waited for so long for. But it can be hard and scary, too. I had tremendous anxiety leading up to my surgery, even though it was something I had done before, and I was just hours away from meeting my son. Catherine made this whole 3-day experience truly incredible. I will never forget how pleasant it was to bring our son into the world at Rochester General Hospital and I cannot thank RGH or Catherine enough.