I had my twins through a c-section at Hershey Med. My twins were a little early and spent two weeks in the NICU. We had the pleasure of having Jess as their nurse several times during their stay. I could go on and on about Jess and how she made us feel safe and comforted even as terrified first-time parents with twins in the NICU. While I know that it is a NICU nurses' job to take care of our babies, she took care of my husband and I too. Other nurses took amazing care of our twins, but Jess was a step above. We were so unsure of our situation and what we could and couldn't do. It's hard to give life to these babies and not feel like you have any say in their care. Jess was their nurse on the second day they were in the NICU, and when we met her, it felt like the first time we could breathe again. She immediately set us up to do skin-to-skin and gave us a rundown of everything from the night before. She was genuinely happy for us and to watch us hold the boys for the first time ever. It wasn't a chore for her to move all their tubes and wires; I could tell it made her almost as happy as we were. She told us little details about their c paps and how most babies don't like the one type, but ours actually prefer them. She made us laugh and feel some sense of normal at a very scary time in our lives. Out of every nurse they had, she made us feel like parents and showed us how to do everything and did so happily. She never once made us feel like a burden for asking to hold our babies and she welcomed all of our family members who wanted to meet them as well.

The specific story that comes to mind that solidified what I already knew, that Jess is an amazing nurse, was how she helped me breast feed. Up until this point, I had been pumping milk for the boys and bottle feeding. (She also saved their first fully finished bottle and celebrated that with us, another wonderful Jess moment) After the boys were there for about a week they got their c-paps off and got moved to a lower level of the NICU. I asked her about breastfeeding one day and if she thought it would tire them out to try and set them back (because I was so worried about setbacks and wanted to get them home). She explained that while it is possible, they don't finish their next bottle, it is important for me to learn if I wanted to try breastfeeding, and that, as a mom who breastfed, she was happy to help me with learning. She just always went way above and beyond her duties of just taking care of our babies. My husband and I always say how she taught us how to take care of these babies and become parents over a 2-week period when she was only their nurse 3 or 4 times. I think there is something major to say about a nurse who not only takes amazing care of her patients but also her patients' families. We felt so blessed to have her with them at all. I think it was fate that she was their nurse, because she got us through such a hard time. Every few days when she was their nurse again, it refilled us with drive and confidence. We will always appreciate what she did for our boys and for us.