In the fall of 2022, I unexpectedly delivered my twin girls at 33 weeks gestation due to severe pre-eclampsia. I gave birth to them at Beth Israel in Boston and immediately after birth my twins were brought to their NICU. The first few days of their life I was unable to hold them for more than an hour or 2 a day as a steady rotation of doctors, nurses, and staff came in to keep them alive - I knew they were getting exceptional care, but as you can imagine a big city hospital NICU is not the type of place you want to welcome your first babies into the world. As soon as the babies were medically stable, about a week later, I was given the option to have them transferred to Beverly's SCN - closer to my home. I have been a nurse here at Beverly since 2011, and honestly, I had never spent much time in any of the maternity sections of this hospital ever before - so I had no idea what to expect.

On a typical Monday afternoon for most people - is the day my twins arrived at SCN here. As I mentioned, I had no idea what to expect and this was going to be my first time ever in the SCN. I was nervous - the twins were still only 6 days old - how would they handle the ambulance ride from Boston to Beverly? Were they really stable enough to travel? Did I make the right decision to move them? All that anxiety disappeared when I arrived that night with my husband to visit them. Immediately I noticed the feeling of calm and relief when I saw them in their bay and I knew I had made the right decision. Their isolettes covered in beautiful quilts and handmade signs and decorations filled their room. Day after day, there were new pictures hanging on the walls and new milestones celebrated with signs. The First bath, the first bottle finished....the feeding tubes were out! And then there were the adorable outfits! A few times they were lucky enough to find twin outfits - which was especially fun to see. Since the twins' stay extended into a few weeks - through the end of October, we had the pleasure of meeting probably almost every staff member there. Everyone from the doctors, to the nurses to the CAs was absolutely wonderful.

As a nurse I understood the medical side of what my twins were going through - but no one could prepare you for the emotional side of what I was experiencing. Every day not only did the staff come right over to update me as soon as I walked in, but they also made a point to check on me and asked how I was doing. And they never made me feel bad when I called at all hours of the night to check on them. I struggled with a lot of guilt because I didn't spend 24/7 there with my babies -especially when one twin came home before the other -and I distinctly remember one nurse saying "It's ok that you are not here all the time, we got them - you need to heal too" - that comment meant so much. I was grateful for the small details that made a difference - in a way they made it feel like a home and less like an intensive care area. I am forever grateful to them for getting my twins ready for home so quickly - they were discharged from the SCN when technically they still shouldn't even have been born yet!

I will never forget those nurses and staff who cared for my babies - their impact has been immeasurable - they made a very scary time in my life just a little bit brighter and easier. And I want them to know that I still have every decoration and every celebratory sign hanging in my twin’s room currently - it will be something I share with them as they get older and a beautiful story to tell.