At 32 weeks pregnant, I came into St. Elizabeth for a Doppler appointment because the baby was measuring small and needed to be checked weekly. At that appointment, they found that the umbilical cord flow was abnormal, and I was sent to labor and delivery so that the baby could be monitored for a few days. On my last day, Jaime was the nurse who discharged me and she was very positive and helpful. I loved her from the beginning. I told her my concerns about possibly having to deliver early, and the fear of not knowing if something was wrong while I was at home and not being monitored. Jaime understood and made sure I knew that I could come in at any time. She also said, "Sometimes Jesus just gives you a nudge and then you know you need to come in too." I smiled because I knew exactly what she was talking about and very much appreciated the reminder.
The next day, I woke up with what I thought was very painful heartburn, and it became so awful that my husband took me to the ER at St. Elizabeth. Since I was pregnant and Jaime was working in labor and delivery that day, she was sent down to monitor the baby and make sure everything was okay. The baby looked fine when she checked, but Jaime took it into her own hands to take a peek at my labs. In doing so, she found that my liver enzymes had spiked and were much higher than the day before. She called the OBGYN working that day and had her look at the labs as well. They assumed I had HELLP syndrome, and because of this, I was taken to labor and delivery, where they did a quick ultrasound and monitored the baby again. At this point, they found that the baby was in distress and decided that it was best to do an emergency C-section at 33 weeks. None of this was easy for me, but Jaime was there the whole time. She was calm, confident, and I knew she was looking out for me. In surgery, I was put on magnesium, which made me extremely sick, and on top of this, I was also incredibly worried about my baby. My husband was right beside me but so was Jaime. She held my hand and explained what they were doing and that everything was going to be just fine. Her calm manner and kind heart were what got me through the birth and everything after.
Later, we were told that if Jaime hadn't taken it into her own hands to look at my labs and contact the OBGYN, that maybe everything would not have gone as smoothly or maybe they wouldn't have discovered that I was developing HELLP. We owe so much to Jaime and cannot even begin to express how thankful we are for her.
Jaime even gave our baby daughter a book that her own daughter loves, and wrote a beautiful note on the inside. We will never forget this nurse as long as we live and can't wait to tell our daughter all about her someday.