Today, our son S, is 8 weeks old. He should be 2 weeks, 5 days old. Sam spent the first 28 days of his life in the NICU at Avista Adventist Hospital in Louisville, Colorado after being delivered at 34 weeks and 5 days, shortly after I developed severe preeclampsia. Instead of skin-to-skin with me, S was whisked off to the NICU and his first days of life required CPAP, a Bili light, and IVs to keep him alive. What had started as a completely uneventful and uncomplicated pregnancy suddenly became a traumatic and life-threatening experience.

The day S was born, I was so sick and incapacitated that I physically could not make it down the hall to the NICU to see him. I still feel sad that I first met my baby on his second day of life. However, my traumatic and scary birth story has almost entirely been replaced by feelings of happiness, love, and gratitude because of the care our family received during our stay at Avista. In particular, there is one nurse to whom I owe the most praise and that is Jill Downey. Jill embodies what it means to be a nurse and is a true definition of a helper. Not only did Jill provide amazing lifesaving care to little S, putting this mother's heart at ease, but she also encouraged, supported, and uplifted me as a new parent of a baby in the NICU.

The NICU was the last place I had hoped to be after the birth of our son, and yet, when I reflect back, I couldn't imagine starting my journey as a parent without that experience. At the beginning of our NICU stay, I was so impatient for S to be discharged and in the beginning, every day he was there felt painfully long - two steps forward, one step back week after week. However, by the 28th day, when Jill walked us out the door of the hospital so we could go home with our baby, I couldn't help but cry - both tears of happiness, but also sadness, because Jill had started to feel like family to us and I was really going to miss seeing her every week.

Every day that Jill was on shift, she always made it a point to come to see me, my husband, and S and talk to us, even if she wasn't assigned to care for S that shift. The simple act of checking in and taking interest in S's progress was so meaningful to us. We felt really cared for and special and Jill's constant presence made us so confident in the level of care S was receiving. We knew our baby was loved by these nurses.

Seeing Jill felt like a hug. On days when I felt upset and frustrated by what felt like no progress in S's feeding, Jill validated my feelings, but also let me know that what I was experiencing was normal and that S was on his own schedule. She seemed to be able to meet me where I was at, but also maintain this optimism and sense of humor that always helped me see the light at the end of the tunnel. When I knew Jill was working, I would start to look forward to my visits to the NICU, even though the back and forth was long and tiring. Jill made me feel at ease and the hours in the NICU passed by quickly with her company. I really could not envision a better experience coming from a rocky start to parenthood.

Jill is a shining star amongst a team of amazing nurses and I very much hope she can be recognized for the amazing nurse and friend that she is and has become to our family. Avista is so blessed to have employees like Jill who have dedicated their professional lives to caring for others. After my NICU stay, I was reminded of the Mr. Rogers quote, "When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news,” Rogers said to his television neighbors, “my mother would say to me, 'Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping." When I read that quote, the first person I think of is Jill and the NICU team that were with us for those first few weeks of S's life. Words fall short to express how meaningful their support has meant to our family.