My husband and I were lucky enough to meet Margaret on the most amazing yet scariest day of our lives: the day our son was born. Margaret was our son’s nurse in the SCN. Our son was born and immediately taken to the SCN with respiratory issues. To say that we were scared and overwhelmed would be an understatement. We sat by his bedside, terrified, watching his monitor alarm and him struggle to breathe. Margaret acknowledged our feelings; she sat with us and explained the plan for the night. We felt less afraid and even somehow were able to get some sleep that night.

The next few nights, while still hospitalized myself, I would walk over to SCN every few hours for my son’s care times. Margaret would talk with me and allow me to be afraid, to cry, to grieve that things were not going how they were ‘supposed to be’ or how I envisioned as a first-time mother. Her words were comforting and genuine. Because of Margaret, I felt I knew everything was going to be okay. We were fortunate enough to have Margaret care for our son multiple nights during his nearly one-month hospital stay. She helped to make the SCN feel like our second home. Margaret cared for our son and the other babies in the nursery with such pride. I will never be able to put into words how grateful and thankful we are to have met Margaret. Someday, when our son asks to hear and know about the story of his birth, we’ll be sure to tell him about Nurse Margaret.