We had a unique experience for our NICU stay. Honestly, the whole pregnancy was a unique experience in itself. We got pregnant with triplet boys after 5 rounds of IUI fertility treatments. They tried to break free at 24 weeks, but I had a surgical procedure done to keep them in longer. Luckily, I made it another 6 weeks before having to rush into the hospital at 11 PM on a Sunday night because a baby broke his sac. That’s where we first met Faith Wegener. She seriously saved my life that night. My blood pressure was skyrocketing, and the on-call doctor was helping another patient. She knew I needed to get on meds ASAP, so she literally ran around the floor getting me approved for medication so the babies and I were safe. After what seemed like the longest hour of my life, she got us into a room for the night. There, she made sure I was comfortable and my husband was comfortable. She made the boys these cute bear hats for when they were finally here and made our crazy night a lot less crazy with how attentive and friendly she was. 3 days later, we delivered three healthy boys. I had to be on medication, so I wasn’t able to hold them until 24 hours later, and I was off the meds. 

When my husband and I walked into our NICU room, we met Raechel Meisinger. Raechel taught us how to care for our little 3-pound babies and how everything in the NICU worked. She was so patient and helpful. You could tell by night one how much she loved her job and the children/families she cared for. She quickly became one of our favorite night nurses for our boys (our boys even seemed to love her). She even used the NICU’s app for parents and sent us so many pictures and notes which helped my new mama heart when I couldn’t sleep at night at home. We had Raechel many many times over our stay in the NICU and each time I knew our boys were going to have a good night and I could breathe a little easier knowing she was there.  

Alexis Ryan was another nurse we had from the first few days of being in the NICU. Alexis was always such a bright and friendly face to have every time we had her. From one of the first nights to 56 days later having her the last day in the NICU, she cared so much for our boys and our family. We sadly lost one of our boys after 12 days due to a blood infection. It took the entire NICU floor and our family by surprise because of how great he was doing 24 hours before hand and wasn’t showing any signs of being sick. Raechel and Alexis came to our son's celebration of life - which meant the absolute world to us. Raechel went out of her way to get me a personal gift, a necklace I wear everyday and means so much to me. 

When our baby got sick, Jill Herring happened to be his nurse (they had to separate the boys due to how sick he was). Jill got my family and me through the absolute worst night of my entire life. She was there for my worst nightmare. Jill was meant to be our nurse that night. I have never seen a more professional and thoughtful person. What she had to do wasn’t easy by any means. She explained everything that was happening every time they had to start a new task and took all the measures to try to get our sweet boy better. When she knew that our baby wasn’t going to make it, she was honest, and she made sure whatever we wanted to do next was supported and doable. She took our only pictures of a family of five before he passed. She let my family meet him and let us take however long we needed to say goodbye. What she did wasn’t easy. I could never imagine having to do her job. She will forever be a saint to our family. What she did and how she did it means so much to us, and we are so thankful she made the worst day of our lives a little easier for us. 

A couple of days after our baby passed, we had to decide what to do about a funeral. The hospital was kind enough to let me say goodbye to him privately in a room alone before they called the funeral home for him to be cremated. That day the boys had Maci Jacque as their nurse for the first time. Maci took me down the hall for me to do the hardest goodbye I’ve ever had to do. She let me be alone in a room and let me take however long I wanted to say goodbye to him. I sat alone in that room with my baby - crying, talking to him, holding him, trying to remember every detail of him before having to say goodbye to him forever. When it was time, I buzzed Maci in who had been waiting in the nurses station and she happened to ask if I played our baby's song for him; he was named after a song by NEEDTOBREATHE that got my husband and I through a lot with fertility treatments. I mentioned to Maci hours before the goodbye about his song so when she reminded me I was so taken back that she remembered that small detail. She said she had it pulled up for me on her phone ready just in case I forgot because she wanted me to have that memory of our last time listening to it together. She made this goodbye so much more meaningful and perfect. Before we went back to our other boys' room she asked to hug me. She held me for about 30 seconds straight as I cried, and she just said how beautiful he was and how beautiful our goodbye together was. We happened to have Maci many more times as our nurse after that and every time she went above and beyond. She not only cared for our boys, but she also cared about my husband and me. She and I spent lots of time together during the day when my husband went back to work and I was up at the hospital with the boys. She always was the sweetest and the easiest nurse to talk to. She loved our boys so much and you could tell by the way she interacted with them and cared for them. She made the hospital feel less like a foreign place and more like a home away from home. 

Lastly, Brooke Harsin is a nurse our boys had from the very beginning of their stay to our last week. Brooke is hands down the sweetest, most kind, and compassionate nurse. She went above and beyond each day she had the boys. She and I had lots of talks about how I was doing and feeling and always checked in on me. Brooke didn’t have to sit and talk through how I was feeling or doing in her downtime, but she was there. She helped me in so many ways mentally as a new mom and a grieving mom. She helped me get in touch with a therapist to help me and she continued to check on the boys and I even when she wasn’t scheduled to be in their room. She always kept the boys happy, clean, and you could see how much she cared about them. Brooke is someone that I will cherish forever because she talked me through some of the harder days after my son’s passing and she was always someone I could count on being there.

Faith, Raechel, Alexis, Jill, Maci, and Brooke are people who will always be close to my heart. The NICU experience we had was the hardest thing have ever encountered. Those nurses were there on the highest of high days and the lowest of low days and everything in between. Every time our boys had one of them, it was like a weight was lifted off my chest, knowing that they were with someone who loved them, cared for them, and knew them as much as we did. I could never thank them enough for everything they did for my family. They were meant for their job. They deserve all the praise and respect in the world for what they do each day. My family and I are forever grateful.