Our nurse was a big part of our son's NICU journey. We had her for several weeks during our stay, and we liked her from the very start. She has a quiet and peaceful nature about her, which helped with this anxious mama’s heart. She was very patient with our questions, and there were many, as there should be, but it was a stressful time. She was incredibly knowledgeable (especially in the heart department) and gave detailed answers instead of the ever so frustrating “it’s just how we do it I’m not really sure why” or “preemie babies just have an increased risk for that for some reason”. You could tell when she walked in the room and how she carried herself, she had been there for a while, was confident, and 1000% competent, so obviously we requested to have her, if possible, whenever she was working.

On a Thursday (I remember the date because our son was one month old), I decided I wanted to take a cute picture to celebrate the day. We might have been in the NICU, but I was determined to get a sweet picture of my boy celebrating his hard month’s work. After about an hour of holding him upright after a feeding, I cradled him and walked over to his crib. I dug through my diaper bag for a cute blanket as a backdrop and placed it in his crib. I then laid him down, walked to the other side of the crib, turned, and he was choking. I quickly grabbed him, held him upright, snatched the suction bulb off the counter, and tried to suction his nose and mouth to clear his airway. It didn’t work. I put my head out the door, and our nurse was there, charting on the computer. All I had to say was, “Suzette!” and she saw the fear on my face and came in quickly. She took him from me and started to work on getting him to breathe. His vitals began to drop quicker and quicker. His respirations went to 0, heart rate to 60 (normally 160) while in the corner praying and sobbing quietly so as not to stress her out more as she worked, my heart rate skyrocketed. He became completely limp and turned gray.

The thing about our nurse is, when there is a problem, she gets quiet, very quiet. She focused, and the only thing I heard her say was, “Keep breathing, breathe, buddy.” She rubbed him to stimulate him and suctioned his nose and mouth. I looked at the monitor, praying to God to use her hands to save my baby. She grabbed the CPAP and held it against his nose and mouth. I am sure she did more, but at that point, I didn’t want to see any more and my eyes were closed, praying...It took almost 4 minutes. I know that the nurses in the NICU see some pretty difficult and sad things, but that was the worst almost 4 minutes of my life, feeling so helpless in that corner of the room. All I could do was pray that God had it in control and trust in our nurse’s abilities. Afterward, she gave me space to cry about what I had just witnessed and contacted the social worker if that was a needed resource. God knew we needed her that day. Of all the people, she was the one we needed for multiple reasons. So, to say that our family is so thankful for her and what she did for our son that day (and every day) is the biggest understatement of the century. She will always have a special place in our hearts. We love you! My husband said it best: you are “a superhero.”