Our daughter was seen in the ER for a rapid respiratory rate. She was four weeks old at the time, but we had noticed periods of rapid breathing since she was born. We were told it was a "normal newborn breathing pattern." She struggled to gain weight and we were seen by many providers and lactation consultants. The day we brought her to the ER, she had been seen for a weight check with her pediatrician. Her pediatrician felt that something more serious was going on and advised us to go directly to the ER. After a few hours and many, many tests, she was diagnosed with ALCAPA, and we were told that she would need to have open heart surgery almost immediately. We were checked into the ICU, and she had ALCAPA repair the following day. Every person that we interacted with in the CICU was phenomenal, but Caitlin was extra special. 

We met Caitlin two days after our daughter’s open-heart surgery. We were exhausted and scared and the adrenaline we had been living off of for three days was starting to fade. We had a six-year-old at home who still hadn't heard that her sister had been diagnosed with a serious heart condition and had survived open heart surgery (she knew we were in the hospital, but we wanted to share the scary details face to face). Both my husband and I were anxious to get home and share the news with her, but we were terrified to leave our daughter in the hospital "alone" while we made the 45-minute drive home. Caitlin assured us that she would call us if anything happened while we were gone, and she encouraged us to take some time away from the hospital to hug our oldest and fill her in on all that had happened. She contacted Child Life Services and requested that they bring us a few books to take home to help make the conversation easier. 

When we returned to the hospital a few hours later, we were greeted by lullabies playing on an iPad and a handmade sign above our daughter’s bed. I cried tears of relief that she had been so cared for in our absence. She was cared for in a way that went far beyond medical care. In the following days, Caitlin continued to show amazing compassion for both our tough little patient and her tired parents. She explained medical issues and concepts in a way that our exhausted brains could understand, she encouraged us to celebrate the small victories and focus on our daughter's progress instead of how far she had to go. She treated our daughter like a baby, not just a sick baby; she hummed songs and talked to her while taking her vitals and she advocated for her in every way she could. 

We were in the CICU for two and a half weeks before moving to the cardiac floor and Caitlin continued to check in on our family. She made sure that she was the one to give our daughter a bath before she was transferred and came to visit us a few days later before we were discharged home. 

We will be forever grateful for the care she gave all of us during our time in the CICU. She is an important part of our daughter’s story, and we will say her name with love and gratitude each time we tell it.