I just wanted to nominate Cara for going completely above and beyond during our short time before and after our C-section. She was completely understanding and aware that this was sadly not a happy day for our family. Our son was born extremely critically ill and we had known for a large amount of our pregnancy how sick N was however, on the day he was born, it was truly the scariest day of our life. We were very emotional, and she did everything in her power to alleviate our anxiety about his birth.
One of the things I cannot even begin to express my gratitude for was the gift of her still doing her job and taking care of me, but also being our amateur photographer. Those are memories I will forever cherish. She allowed my husband and I to just be able to be in the moment, as scary as it was, and be there for each other without worrying about capturing these moments we knew we wouldn't be able to ever recreate.
During N's time in the NICU prior to his passing, he was pumped with so many fluids and blood products that by the time he passed away, he didn't look like himself at all. The pictures she took in the OR allowed us to see that he had my husband's ears and eldest daughter's nose. She was able to capture how happy we were to know that he actually was able to cry prior to being ventilated, that he had one wicked hand grasp, and that he responded to my voice.
I have no idea how I could ever repay her for giving us the gift of these photos but I hope somehow this is able to reach her so she realizes that not only did she take wonderful care of us during one of our darkest hours, but she was able to provide us with lifelong memories that we will forever be grateful for.