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)