At 12 am I came to the hospital in labor. I attended birth classes and even had a birth plan. My husband and I were greeted by a friendly face, it was our nurse, Christine. Christine did an exceptional job getting us settled in our room and communicated what was going to happen. In my "birth plan," I wanted to have a natural birth with no epidural. As my labor progressed so did the pain. Christine offered many options to help relieve pain. She even went above and beyond to massage my back and apply pressure to relieve pain. She had the most therapeutic touch. As the pain grew stronger and stronger, I tried some pain meds which made me feel awful. I was terrified of the word epidural. Christine was so comforting and helped take away the fear. She stood at the bedside and helped walk my husband and me through the whole thing. She was patient and sensitive to my wants and needs. I thought the epidural would be my biggest fear but immediately after my baby's heart rate dropped, at the time I didn't know what was happening. All of a sudden, nurses came running into the room applied oxygen and watched the monitor. Christine kept calm and took the time to explain everything. She walked me through what I needed to do and kept my husband and I educated on what and why everything was happening. She was quick to recognize what could have been a life-threatening situation for our baby and remained calm and helpful through it all. Christine's shift ended before our baby was born, my husband and I were so sad she wasn't there to deliver our baby. However, that afternoon we had the best surprise when the sweetest nurse went out of her way to meet our baby girl. My husband and I are so thankful for everything Christine did for us. She is the most compassionate and caring nurse. She made our birth experience exceptional.