A Letter to NICU Nurses

NICU nurses… I’m almost speechless as I reflect on my gratefulness for men and women like you. The emotional weight of your job overwhelms me. You see some truly miraculous things, but you also see devastatingly hard things. You nourish and care for teeny tiny babies for months until they can go home. You give your blood, sweat, and tears for your patients and their families to give them one more day, one more hour, a few more minutes. I saw you running through the halls of the NICU, I saw you work hours past the time your shift had ended, I saw you rush off on a transport call to save another baby just like you did mine, I saw you leaning against the hallway wall because it had just been a really tough week for you. While my entire world was wrapped up within the 4 walls of that NICU for 11 days, you acted like yours did as well… but then you went home to care for your own babies.

NICU nurses, you literally kept my baby alive. I handed over his life to you from the moment he entered this world. You did what I could not do. You saved my baby. Then, you nurtured him until I could do so on my own.

Then, there’s us; the man and woman that stand next to the bed of the baby you are giving your all to. We are new parents. We are devastated. We are lost. We are scared. We are worried. Our world is laying on that tiny bed, hooked up to what seems like a million machines. We are on auto-pilot, doing the next thing we are supposed to do. You, amazing nurses of the NICU, give us hope, you give us peace, you give us comfort. You come along-side families like ours and bless us with your care for our babies. You bless us with reassurance. You bless us with hope. We are incredibly grateful for you.

Nurse R, 

We will be forever grateful for you. You are a seasoned nurse. You are a realistic optimist. You called out the good things you were seeing, but you didn’t give us false hope. You were perfect. All of our nurses were wonderful, but Nurse R, we waited for you to come on shift. When you walked into the nursery, my heart felt at rest, my nerves eased, I breathed a sigh of relief. We know you have worked in the NICU for a very long time and because of that, we could see your amazing instincts. The way you loved our boy was stunning. You fought for him; you fought for us. You loved on us, and when it came time for us to walk out of the four walls of the NICU, you celebrated with us. You walked with us to our car. You waved at our family as we drove away with our son to live the life you helped to give us. There are not words to thank you for what you did for our family.

National Nurses Week 2017: Part 1

It’s National Nurses Week, and while I cannot offer free Cinnabon to all the amazing nurses who have impacted our lives over the course of the past couple of years, I can pay tribute to these beautiful women in writing. I want to share some of the sentiments I have previously shared with these amazing women. Why?! Because they deserve this recognition and so much more. They get up every day and serve others. They save lives; they change lives. Nurses, we are so thankful for you!

Our letter to the Labor and Delivery nurses on Kylie’s second birthday (April 30, 2017):

Nurses of Labor and Delivery,

You are such dears. You walk with so many mommies and daddies on the most joyous or the most difficult days of their lives. You provide physical, mental, emotional, and literal support for so many while they are here with you. And you know what? You so often don’t get the thanks you deserve. We know you cry with you patients, laugh with your patients, pray for your patients, and show God’s love for people you don’t even know. You get yelled at, cried at, and complained at. You get peed on, pooped on, and other ick I won’t even mention. Yet, you do your best. You give your best to every patient.

You save lives. Think about it. At times, even when the circumstances are not dire, you give parents their child’s life. You caught something early enough, you made one small change; YOU, dear nurses give life. You give families their children, a gift in which there are no words of thanks that will ever be enough.

Then, there are days when there’s nothing you can do to save a baby. They are already in heaven with Jesus. They are too small to survive. Those days you show up, and you still give your best. You bear the emotional weight of walking with a family who is experiencing the worst day of their life. Know that you are enough. If you give your best, you will be exactly who that family needs.

When you don’t feel appreciated. When you are exhausted and feel as if you cannot last just one more minute of the day or night, when you are torn down and emotionally drained, please think of our Kylie Ryann. Think about the gifts you have given our family. You gave us the amazing memories we have of our daughter. Her life has impacted so many because of how you treated us on the day she was born. We know that God gave us such a gift in delivering Kylie at Ridges. All that has transpired since then and in the birth of her baby brother, we know God intended us to know you, dear nurses. You have impacted our life in ways we could never have fathomed. You walked with us in the most difficult moments of our life. You rejoiced with us in the best this life has given us. You helped us mourn the loss of one child and saved our other child. Know that we think of you all often. We pray for you. We are so grateful you chose to be a labor and delivery nurse. Thank you.

Jen, Nickie, and Sara, we will never forget the memories you gave us two years ago today and how you treated our baby girl. Thank you.

With so much love,

The Byer Family – Patrick, Ericka, Beckett, and our angel baby, Kylie Ryann (4/30/2015)