My son was in the NICU for nine days. We had already been in the NICU for a few days when Traci became our nurse. From the start, she filled me with information about my son‘s care and went into great detail, making sure I understood what his providers were doing to him and why. I showed up early that morning after having cried to my husband about our son’s seemingly slow progress. Our entire team had been wonderful up until this point, but I had my own idea of things that would be helpful for our son. Well, before I told Traci all of my thoughts on what we could be doing a little differently, she told me she wanted to do the exact same things. She had already called in lactation to come and meet with me and she had already decided to change the order that we do some of our routine in order to maximize my son’s progress. This meant that instead of taking his vitals and then feeding him, we switched those things around so that he could eat first and practice nursing and taking a bottle. He had such little energy and was initially falling asleep when we tried to feed him without the feeding tube so switching the routine meant more wake time to eat. This worked perfectly and gave him more time to practice eating and then he would sleep through the vitals instead of the other way around. I knew it would take us a lot longer to go home if my son kept sleeping instead of learning how to eat without a feeding tube. This sometimes led to Traci being unable to get my son‘s vitals as often as she was supposed to, but since my son didn’t have any issues except for needing to practice eating and gaining weight, this was clearly the best option for him if we wanted to move forward and get discharged. Traci was willing to get dinged in order to make sure my son was learning the skills necessary in order for us to go home. She was able to look at the bigger picture and didn’t treat us as another box to check off of her list. We mattered to her.

Of course, like I mentioned already, all of the doctors and care providers that we worked with were great, but I genuinely believe we wouldn’t have gone home when we did if it was not for Traci making sure we (both me and my infant son) gained the skills that we needed. Not only did she teach my son and me everything we needed to learn, but she also provided me with hugs, comfort, and companionship day after day. Having a son in the NICU and another at home had my heart ripped in two pieces, not to mention all of the freshly postpartum hormones that I was experiencing for an emotional time. Even though my son wasn’t critical, Traci was able to comfort me with great compassion.

I know other parents have it much worse and we were blessed with a relatively short hospital stay, but my emotions were very strong, and I never felt judged for how I was feeling. I want to thank Traci over and over. I would be remiss not to mention my ultimate thanks to God for blessing me with such a nurse when I felt like I needed her the most.