Barbara Heruska is an extraordinary lady. In the 7 days that my son M stayed in the NICU at the Princeton Hospital, she worked tirelessly with me and my son in making sure that M got the very best care. She never let M cry for more than a few seconds before she rushed over to change his diaper, feed him, burp him, etc. She also taught me so much about newborn care, which was incredibly helpful since I was a first-time parent with no younger siblings. I conceived M only after 8 rounds of infertility treatment and therefore treasured him dearly. In those first 7 days of his life, while his bilirubin levels clung stubbornly at very high levels, I had several panic attacks, during which Barbara not only gave the best care to M, but also acted as my personal counselor. She relayed stories of other babies to me, how they had much worse issues and were able to overcome them to become happy and healthy children. I held on to those stories, which helped my husband and me survive those first 7 days of M's life.

Barbara was a top-rate lactation consultant. M's jaundice required him to take in a lot of fluids, but since my breast milk had not yet come in, he had to be fed a lot of formula through a plastic nipple. Within a couple of days, his latching instincts were confused, and he refused to latch onto my breast. Barbara's persistence and skill in helping me guide M back to the breast was so valuable. We later found out that M has an allergy to cow's milk. If I had not kept up my breast milk production, he would have had to sustain himself on Elecare, a hypoallergenic formula that usually constipates babies to the point that most have to also take a daily laxative with serious side effects such as stomach cramps. Fortunately, because Barbara worked so diligently with me and M on breastfeeding, he did not need to take in much Elecare and remained primarily a breastfed baby until 10 months of age, when he transitioned to a soy milk formula. At ten and half months, he remains a healthy, well-nourished baby and has been consistently above average in weight.

Thank You Barbara!