I would like to say that our NICU stay was the complete opposite of our last but it wasn’t. If we only looked at the time spent of 133 days with our daughter vs. 3 days with our son, it would certainly appear that way.

Our daughter was born at 29 weeks gestation via emergent C-section.

I had the luxury of working bedside during the day and spent so many hours getting to know the amazing people who are the true heartbeat of that hospital. I can honestly say without the shared love and laughter (and lots of it), our family’s experience would have been so incredibly different.

We learned firsthand from Jessie Shepps how to celebrate, how to advocate, how to cope, how to parent. Her ability to uplift parents and to validate every single emotion is something we were blessed to be a part of. Jessie was there; for everything. Even on her day off, she volunteered to come in when our baby girl was transported via ambulance for testing. She was there to cry with me. She was there to laugh with me. She was there to hold our hands no matter how hard they shook.

We celebrated every single mile together. We celebrated every holiday. We celebrated every test result. We celebrated our daughter’s first snowfall.

Jessie did not take care of our child; she took care of all of us. She was the backbone we needed even if she was having a bad day herself, she always put her families and her team's needs first.

We came back to the NICU in 2021 with our son. He had a much shorter time inpatient at only 3 days.

Regardless of the time spent, we still were given the same love, the same patience and the same open arms as our first go around. We are so thankful for everyone who helped with our sweet son during his quick visit last week. Every person who took care of our family no matter how big or how small the gesture made an impact that will always stay with us.

Jessie (who just like many, many times before) knew when I wasn’t myself and got me taken back to my room immediately when I suddenly was very off. I had developed pre-eclampsia postpartum as well as a spinal fluid leak which had not yet been addressed. Her quick action and clear communication got me into the right hands at the right time to start magnesium sulfate and an eventual blood patch.

Jessie’s ability to treat the entire family makes her more than deserving of The DAISY Award. She has changed our lives for the better in so many tremendous ways.

The impact this NICU has made on us is profound. “Thank you” will never be enough!