My wife, B and I arrived at Englewood Hospital on Saturday with an intense amount of anxiety expecting our first child. Both of us with our separate and shared worries. The current environment is enough to send people into a frenzy, yet all of my concerns were around becoming a father for the first time. How would I handle it? How exactly does it work? Would everything go well for both our child and the mother?
I was quickly separated from B as I was left to register her while she was escorted upstairs and settled into her bed for the evening. Upon our reunion, I was delighted to see B's apprehension whisked away and the gentle smiling eyes and demeanor of our nurse, Halley, helping her into the bed and finishing the blood work. Her first words to me were along the lines of, "Hey Dad! I like the name a lot!" (My wife and I were still in the final stages of solidifying the name of our unborn daughter.) Immediately I felt my anxieties lessen dramatically.
Halley hooked B up to the fetal monitor and explained she was already having natural contractions. She explained the process and how everything was expected to work to both of us and bent over backward to answer each and every question and cater to every need we didn't even think of ourselves. She even brought water cups with "Mommy!" and "Daddy!" written on them for us. All night long she carefully monitored the baby's movement and would come in to reposition the monitoring equipment. She assisted the OB in inserting the Dinoprostone, as well as the Anesthesiologist in administering the Epidural. Halley identified that the baby's heart rate was dropping and immediately called our OB to explain the situation. Our baby was not expected to be delivered until Sunday afternoon, however with Halley's careful and diligent observations, our OB made the decision to deliver the baby early to avoid any unnecessary risk.
Halley took charge of the room under the OB's direction and worked efficiently to help ensure B and I were keen on what was happening throughout the entire process. She was incredible in her bedside manner and her joy and positive attitude were infectious. After helping to deliver our daughter she handed her to me and then called me over to the warmer to stay with the baby as she was cleaned and administered her first round of shots. B and I both left the hospital in awe of how much Halley loved her job and how incredibly easy she made a terrifying process for both of us, especially given the current pandemic we were suffering in the Greater New York City area. So with all of that said, we would like to take the time to nominate Halley Tower Staff RN at Englewood Hospital Labor and Delivery in Englewood, NJ for The DAISY Award. Halley embodies all that this award stands for based on her clinical skills, empathy, compassion, joy, and genuine happiness she brings to her workplace. We cannot thank her enough for the major role she played in our daughter's birth. Thank you Halley and keep up the extraordinary work!