We are the parents of a baby girl born at 23 weeks gestation, weighing a 'whopping' 1 lb. 2 oz. She decided to come early so that she could meet her mom and dad. Little did she know the extreme challenges that lay ahead for her. We felt prepared to be parents but we were not ready for the emotional roller coaster journey in NICU. We could not have survived it without Kyla.
We live out of town about three hours away and split time between work and the hospital so that we could save our vacation and FMLA times to be with our baby when she would be home with us. We felt assured and comfortable doing so because we knew Kyla was there with her.
Kyla was our primary nurse starting at day two of our baby's life. She knew our baby better than anyone else - including us. She advocated for her, even questioning the doctors when she felt it was in our baby's best interest. Kyla helped us hold our baby when she was only eight days old so that we could bond with her. Kyla would spend hours and hours holding our baby so that she could feel the human touch. She knitted beautiful hats and headbands for her. She read books to her when we were away and made sure she had a crib so that we could hang mobiles. We celebrated all the little wins of the journey with Kyla. Most importantly, Kyla kept us in the loop with all the happenings during the days when we were at home. My wife and I would know that our daughter was going to have a great day because Kyla was in service that day! We can go on and on about all the wonderful experiences and moments that made our stay a hopeful and welcoming one because of Kyla.
We very much appreciate the fact that UAMS provides a primary nursing program. I know it requires juggling through schedules of many people to get the assignments for the primary nurses. Thank you so much for being flexible and cooperative so that our daughter could be with her best friend Kyla. We feel that it made the biggest difference in her graduation.