Dyan M. Bullard truly embodies what a nurse is in every way. When I tell my birth story, I know that I always have to include her in it. She was my nurse for my second day in the hospital. There was a shift change that happened right before I was set to get my epidural and she was the nurse coming in. Believe it or not, I think the epidural was what I was most nervous for leading up to giving birth. I always thought my husband would be by my side for that part, but understandably, he had to leave the room for it to be a sterile environment.

Dyan, who from this point on, blew myself and my family away with her care and compassion. She held me while receiving my epidural and walked me through the whole process while it was happening and was whispering things to help keep me calm and my mind focused to work through contractions while it was happening. When I hear stories from my friends about their epidural experience, they may mention a hand hold or a "you got this", but none of the stories come close to my experience with my nurse. That will always stay with me. In a way she felt more like my mother at that point than my nurse, which I'm so grateful for. Her miracle work doesn't stop there. I was stuck at 4 cm dilated and no progression was happening. All throughout the day, she put me into all of these different positions. At the time I thought "this is weird", but I trusted her expertise. By the end of the day, I was dilated to a 9.5. That is all thanks to my nurse and her knowledge of different positions to get the labor going. By this point, it was shift change again. Dyan stated that she was so bummed that she would not be there for my delivery, but before she went, she said she wanted to be there for my first couple of pushes. My husband is an ER nurse, plus I grew up with my father being a police officer. I completely understand after a long 12-hour shift, the first thing you want to do when that clock hits the exact time you can punch out, you take it, because there is nothing more that you want to do than to see your family after a long day. Or, even go do something for yourself instead of being at the call of someone else. My nurse sacrificed this time to be there for my first couple of pushes. Fifteen or twenty minutes doesn't seem like much to the outside world, but when you are at work, twenty minutes can seem like an hour.

It meant so much to my husband and I to have her there during that time. By that point, she was our comfort and felt like a friend rather than a random nurse. Two days after our daughter was born, Dyan was back in the hospital. We had hoped she would be our nurse again, but unfortunately, she was not. She was assigned to another set of lucky mamas. Within her busy day, Dyan took the time to stop in to see us and met our daughter. The one she played a huge part in bringing into this world! Words cannot express how grateful we are for her knowledge and expertise. She is most deserving of this award after everything she did. There are certain people who you meet in your life who make a big enough impact that will stay with you forever and Dyan's impact on us is something that we will never forget. Thank you, Dyan Bullard, RN!