On a typical day, I see Julie as an all-star educator who is an expert in her field and loved by her team, but recently, Julie replaced being my respected educator peer and friend to my actual hero.

During my pregnancy, I was diagnosed with placenta previa, which put me at risk for early delivery related to bleeding. I was to take it easy to protect myself and the baby by allowing him to grow as long as possible. While working from home on Friday, the “warnings” came true. I was bleeding, a lot, and needed to be at the hospital immediately. To spare too many details but also highlight the severity of the situation – it was a true emergency. I called my husband, A, at 9:55 AM who rushed home to get me, notified the labor and delivery department I was on the way at 9:58 AM, was in a gown in the triage room by 10:10 AM, and at 11:06 AM our precious son, C, was born. To summarize, I went from being in my bathroom to delivering C in a little more than one hour. I know that so much happened behind the scenes in that hour. The biggest kudos go to all the nurses who were ready for my arrival and played any part – I noticed all of you in action and will always be amazed by your calmness amongst the chaos and that you did not forget to communicate with me in a way that made me feel that I was right where I was meant to be. A big thank you to the nurses who cared for me after delivery and ensured my husband was stocked up on ginger ale. A big thank you to the NICU nurses who cared for C in his most critical moments – seeing your skill firsthand, I know you are perfectly capable of caring for the sickest babies and would not have wanted C under the care of anyone else.

But the focus of this nomination is Julie. Julie was in the room immediately upon my arrival and said, “We got you.” She meant those words, and I believed her. She switched from educator to the bedside nurse everyone needed – especially me. I watched Julie take the lead for me. For my husband. For C.

The anesthesiologist came to the head of my bed to obtain consent. I double-checked what he said, asking, “Wait, you’re doing general anesthesia? Shoot.” Once the anesthesiologist and doctor left the room, Julie found out that general anesthesia was the plan. She assessed the situation, realizing that baby was doing well on the monitor, and I was feeling as good as I could have with all things considered. She told my husband to proceed in putting his surgical scrubs on and said to him, “We are doing this the normal way. You need to be in the room with us.” Julie left the room, and whatever she said out there to the anesthesiologist or doctor resulted in moving forward with a normal C-section with spinal anesthesia. In the operating room, Julie knelt in front of me, holding my hands, talking me through the spinal anesthesia injection. My husband got to be with me through the whole procedure and see our baby first – a moment he says he will never forget. Julie made sure all the necessary medications were ready in the operating room before the procedure even started. Once all of those medications were given and the bleeding was controlled, I overheard one of the doctors say, “Thank God we did not do general anesthesia. I do not think the bleeding would have stopped." When we talk about nurses advocating for their patients, Julie is what we mean. Who knows, Julie’s advocacy may have saved my life.

Afterward, Julie was there to literally clean me up when I could not help myself. She was there in the early NICU moments when I could not see C while I was recovering. She was there pulling A aside to make sure he was doing okay through all of this. She was there following along with every day of the one-month NICU journey - even after C was transferred to Sinai. Julie is the perfect example of the nurse and person that I desire to be. She made both mu husband and I feel safe and cared for in the scariest moments of our lives. As I enjoy all the last moments of my maternity leave, I cannot help but reflect on the role Julie played, feeling all the gratefulness to be home with my healthy baby, and hope that Julie is recognized with this award. She truly deserves all the praise.