Our nurses Rock!

We have been so blessed with outstanding nurses throughout our stay at Children's Hospital. We have gotten to know so many of them and we are so appreciative of them for taking such great care of our sweet angel. I would love to be able to thank all of them individually, but they are all on different shifts and swap between the 6th floor and 7th floor. I know several of them are keeping up with Jane Baird on this blog so hopefully they will read this... To Paige Stephenson...Paige, Paige, Paige! You are just the best ever! We are so glad that you were our discharge nurse back in March and will be again this time. Hopefully this will be the last time you have to discharge us from the NICU. I remember that discahrge day back in March. You had us watch the CPR video and then we got to practice. I was so nervous b/c I thought if I didn't do well, you wouldn't let JB come home with me. I thought that you were secretly testing us to see if we would be good parents or something. You have a wonderful and fun personality (I love fun people!). You get my humor (I think) and know I like to joke around and you always go along with it! I heard that you used to be the boss over all the nurses and everyone loved you. I'm not at all surprised! We are so blessed to have you in our lives. Thank you for giving us our very own blow-up CPR doll. We can't wait to blow her up and put a pretty little dress on her:) Expect many visits from us. JB will probably be at the clinic once a month until she's 18! Thank you, Paige! We love you!!! For Wilson...Thank you for making Paige so happy :-) She and I were thinking that March 26th would be a GREAT day and Jane Baird said she would be happy to be the flower petal sprinkler! To Jackie Lohrengel...you were our very first nurse in the NICU. We were uneasy about being on the 6th floor (we really wanted to be on the 7th b/c we knew some nurses up there) but you made us feel at ease. You are so sweet and very knowledgeable and I felt that Jane Baird was in great hands. I was hoping to have you as a nurse again, but we didn't. We hope to see you again when we visit. Thank you, Jackie! To Bethany Beck...I just love you! I remember telling Debbie to get me a good nurse for evenings b/c I didn't know any of them on your work week. I was so delighted after meeting you that first night. You are so sweet and kind and have a loving heart. (You will be an awesome mother one day.) Thank you for loving Jane Baird and giving her your all. You had her at some of the most critical times during her stay and I felt at ease leaving her in your care. Thank you, Bethany! To Susan Miller...I only met you a twice b/c you worked the night shift however, when I called you during your shift to check on JB, you always gave me a full, detailed report. I could tell by talking to you that you were good. (Your co-workers spoke very highly of you too!) I am so thankful that you had her on nights! Thank you, Susan! To Leslie Harrington...I have so much I want to say to you and I am having trouble finding the right words to express my gratitude for what you did for my sweet baby. You had JB on July 26th, the day we almost lost her. I have no doubt in my mind that you saved JB's life. For that, I am forever grateful! I know I was a nervous wreck that day and bombarded you with questions that you were not able to answer. I totally understand why you were unable to answer them. Thank you, Leslie! To Loretta Hansen...Sweet Loretta! I remember back in March on the 7th floor we had you as our nurse. You were the sweetest and so encouraging. I was delighted to see you again on the 6th floor this summer. I think you were the very first familiar face we saw. I also remember the hug you gave me when JB got so sick. Even though you weren't our nurse on that day, I knew you were there for us. I am delighted that we ended up with you for two weeks. Jane Baird just loves you. Her face lights up when you walk in the room. You are fun to talk to and have tons of wisdom to share. Thank you, Loretta! To Christine Dawson...I never met you b/c you were on the night shift. All I know about you is what others have told me. Everyone speaks highly of you. I will never forget the Sunday morning when I came in the NICU and Loretta said Christy dress JB for church! I opened up the blanket and saw that you put her in her pretty pink dress. I was thrilled!!! I love for JB to be dressed up. That just made my day. Onsies are boring!!! Thank you, Christy! To Amy Crews...We just had you last night and I didn't really get a chance to know you that well. I could tell that you are super sweet and I knew you would take great care of my sweet girl. She must have felt very comfortable in your care b/c she slept through the night with you. Thank you, Amy! To Stacy Morris...We are so glad that we got to have you for two weeks. You have been so sweet to us and to Jane Baird. Thank you for allowing me to dress her in outfits (other than onsies) even though it was difficult to maneuver all those cords in and out sometimes. Good luck with school... I know you will be a great nurse practitioner oneday. Thank you, Stacy! To Debi Weaver...We were fortunate to have met you back in March. You were our nurse for one day when Jane Baird first came out of surgery (her initial fistula repair). I had just given birth the day before and felt just awful. You were so sweet to us and JB. You are so kind, gentle, and caring. You are everything a nurse should be. I will never forget walking in to the NICU (still talking about March) and you had put a beautiful yellow blanket under JB and you also put some white and purple crocheted booties on her feet. That meant so much to us (we still have the blanket and booties at home). You cared enough to decorate her up. When we returned to the NICU in July you were the first nurse on my list to request. We just had you that one day in March and I was determined to get you back. You had JB when she was critical after her surgery again and she got the most superb care from you! You are such a special person. We are better people for knowing you. Thank you, Debbie! Ok I know I am leaving someone out so I will update when I figure out who that someone is. I can't forget our nurse practitioners. You all have been great. Because you are fortunate to only work 6 24-hour shifts a month, I didn't get to meet all of you and can't remember some of your names but thank you for everything! Nicole Bowen...You are awesome. For a while, I thought you were actually a doctor. You are so smart and you put up with my silly questions and scenarios and I love that about you. Thank you for getting in touch with those hard-to-reach doctors when I had questions to be answered. Also thank you for listening to my concerns. I will definitely look you up when we come back to the clinic for check-ups. Gretta Trimm...You are so sweet and truly an advocate for babies. You know so much about babies and always seem to have the answers. I like the way you answered my questions without giving me false hope or not giving me an answer unless you knew for sure you had the right answer. You were cautious about what you said to me and rightfully so. Sometimes I just hear what I want to :) Thank you for always being there when I needed you and for caring so much about JB. You worked way more than the others so I feel like I know you the best! Oh and I love your knitted socks :) Thank you, Gretta! Julie (don't know your last name)...You scared me to death when JB got so sick. I think you scared our families to death too! You told us how sick she really was and didn't give any false hope. Thank you for that. Although it scared me, I appreciate it (not so much at that time). Thank you for being so thorough. I love that about you. You seem to be smart as a whip too! There was so much talk of her daily chest x-rays and I totally didn't understand and couldn't picture it. You took us over to the computer and showed us what you were talking about and we were able to see the progress JB had made by comparing her worst xray to the others. I love that you take time to explain things in terms that a 1st grade teacher w/out medical knowledge could understand. Thank you, Julie! Ashley Buckner (Our OR nurse)...You are so sweet and caring. It was so hard to hand Jane Baird over to you that first time. She went right to you w/out fussing a bit. I think babies can sense when they are in good company. You were so sweet to let me take pics of the whole handing over and then again after surgery. I know that is annoying but now that you have seen my blog, you can see that I document everything! I was delighted to see you come for her before her second surgery. You are special to us and Jane Baird just loves you. It was so cute to see her looking up at you and smiling :-) When Jane Baird has to have her spinal cord surgery, I want you to be her nurse again. I will let you know ahead of time so that you can request her. She might feel better if you are holding her hand. Thank you, Ashley! Callie Blacklidge...You are the best respiratory girl I know. Jane Baird just loved you and Alan and I do to. You are so bubbly and have a great personality! Thank you for making the oscillator-to-vent transition a smooth, drama-free one. I was so nervous that day. We are going to miss you especially after you move to MO in December! I hope you get a ring this weekend :-) Thank you, Callie! Ok I know I'm forgetting someone...Ugh! Thank you, God for blessing us with wonderful nurses!