Giving thanks....Day 6

Today, I give thanks for some of the most amazing and special people on the face of the earth....nurses, especially NICU nurses.

I have said before, they are angels walking on earth. If it were not for the nurses at Bronson and Spectrum, in the NICU and antepartum floor, I would have never made it through this summer.

When your water unexpectedly breaks at 28 weeks (or earlier or later, but before 40) as mine did, chances are you are going to have a premature baby. Chances are you will go into labor within 24-48 hours of that happening. I was in the lucky minority, that made it 5 weeks after that point.

To provide the best case scenario for the baby, you will be admitted to the hospital and stay there until the baby is born. While you are there, you will ride a rollercoaster of emotions, highs and lows, feel stressed, be ever so concerned about the health of your baby, and maybe have to deal with it completely on your own.

This is why the role of an antepartum nurse is so important. This is the person that will support you, prepare you for what to expect, deescalate your rants and emotional outburts, and advocate for you when you are too emotionally or physically fragile to do so. I deeply feel it is because of a very special nurse that was able to advocate for me, that Gunner was born at 33 weeks, not 32. Because at 32 weeks, the MFM on duty asked me "how do you feel about having a baby today" and I broke down unable to compose any thoughts. It was Mari, who defused the situation and told the doctor, no she is not ready. So I had a baby when he was ready (due to circumstances beyond anyone's control) not when the doctor was ready.

Once you have that baby, as I said he or she will be premature. A premature baby is not a full term baby, and even an experienced and seasoned parent needs help. The person who takes you through day after day of mental preparation to be a preemie mom (or dad), is a NICU nurse. They teach you about how to care for your preemie, how to understand the care they are given, what to expect in the hospital and once they go home, work the monitors they are on, the respiratory support they are on, the future they may face, the way to feed them, the way to understand their signals, the importance of swaddling and kangaroo care (espeically to a preemie) and to also help you as a parent deal with all of the emotions you are feeling over the health of your child and the loss of a full term pregnancy.

So today, I give thanks for nurses, especially the ones that helped me through my stressful summer; the amazing nurses at Bronson and Spectrum.