Happy NICU Nurses Day!

I had every intention of writing this post early this morning, however, the boys had other plans :)

Happy NICU Nurses Day!

NICU nurses are very near and dear to my heart, of course. I thank God that NICU Nurses exist and spend their lives caring for the most delicate and needy babies in the world. Thanks to all the NICU Nurses in the world :)

I want to take this moment to especially thank the NICU Nurses that chose to be Owen's primary nurses while he was in the NICU. A huge thank you to Janie, Tess, Shi, Vera, Christina, and Janis. You 6 women are so special to me. I have no idea how I would have survived Owen's NICU journey without each and every one of you. 

This pictures is extremely special to me. If you don't know, Heath and I were married at the Oakland Children's Hospital Chapel. We were originally waiting for Owen's due date so that we could be married with him in the wedding. Well, when he came early we decided to wait to plan a wedding. After 4 months in the NICU with no discharge date in site, we decided to ask if we could get married with him at the hospital. They agreed! The social worker set it all up and we were married on Owen's due date. We were so happy that Janie, one of Owen's primary nurses, came to witness the occation

I want to take this time to write a couple of stories just to show how special these women are to our family.

1. It was early January 2010. Owen had recently gone through his 3rd surgery to re-connect his intestines. Owen wasn't himself. He was lethargic and his oxygen saturations were dropping. I was holding him. It was shift change but Janie was his nurse that morning. All the sudden, a nurse comes running in saying, "He has RSV!" The nurse was clearly freaking out and the nurses started scrambling saying they needed to get him into isolation ASAP. I immediately started crying. I was holding Owen and I just got so scared. It was Janie's time to go home. But, did she go home? NOPE! She got on her knee and started comforting me. She started explaining what RSV was and what I should expect. She kept reassuring me that Owen would be ok and that we would figure out how to help him. She stayed with us until Owen was moved into the isolation room. She calmly explained everything that was going on and she didn't leave for home until I was comfortable. Janie is completely family. She will always be a part of our lives and I hold the deepest respect for her as a nurse and as a person. I love you Janie!

2. It was late January 2010. My Grandma had just died. Owen was in isolation due to RSV. He was on the oscillator for breathing (the oscillator is the strongest ventilator used in the NICU). His health was leveling out and I needed to be home for my mom during my Grandma's funeral. My primary nurses all made sure I knew they would let me know everything that was going on with Owen and call me with anything I would be worried about. Well, just after my Grandma's funeral was over, Owen began having seizures. Shi was his nurse when the first one happened. She called me as soon as Owen was stable and Heath and I drove straight to the hospital. When we got there both Vera and Shi were there to meet us. They were both supposed to get off at 11p.m. but stayed until we got there so they could let us know what was going on. They both hugged us and tried to calm us down. Vera started telling us that Owen had a total of 3 seizures and had heart arrhythmia's. They had no idea where these symptoms were coming from or why they were happening. These nurses were there to help us through it all. I have no idea what I would have done if I didn't have nurses who cared so much about Owen and our family.
We were truly blessed with the best NICU nurses anyone could ask for!
Happy NICU Nurses Day!