My husband and I had been trying to get pregnant for 3 years, in April we were excited to find out I was finally pregnant! I was on depression and anxiety medications for many years and against my doctor's advice I wanted off to do everything I could to ensure a healthy pregnancy. So, by my 6th month, I was off everything and felt great, aside from what I thought was hormones from pregnancy. I have a 14-year-old so it's hard to remember everything that far back. I had my scheduled appointment and I told them I thought my water had broken, and sure enough it had! So, we were admitted to the hospital.
Since I had tried for 3 years to get pregnant, I had everything planned out and how I wanted things to be during my pregnancy, labor and post-partum phase such as breastfeeding as I did with my first child. We arrived around 1 pm and after an uncomfortable time with the epidural our beautiful son was born early the next morning. We were happy. I had waited for this moment for what felt like forever but I didn't feel the overwhelming joy as I had with my first pregnancy. I just assumed it was because I was tired, and it was the middle of the night.
My nurse, Charity, on the day shift was very patient with me as almost she could tell I wasn't feeling myself, which I wasn't. I had barely slept, and my family kept coming and then it was time to nurse again. My poor little guy had trouble latching which as I know can happen and he worked through but as Saturday continued to the evening I was becoming very anxious and tearful. That night was a very rough night for both my son and me. I became more anxious, irritable, and constantly crying. I was so relieved when my day nurse came in. She knew just what I needed and what to do. I didn't even have to say anything. As a nurse myself it was very inspiring looking back. She had my son and husband go to a different room, so I could finally get some much-needed rest. She showed my husband how to change his diaper, feed him and burp him. She called my doctor (the one who advised me not to go off my antidepressants) and he said I was/am at high risk of post-partum and psychosis, we started them back up very quickly. Many things transpired over the last 10 weeks.
Having this is scary and causes me a lot of anxiety but I am beyond grateful for my nurse who held me while I cried and helped me try to accept that not all things go as planned but it doesn't have to be bad, though at the time it felt like the end of the world. HFM is lucky to have Charity and if she didn't' help so quickly as she did, I am not sure where my life or my family's life would be.
Thank you so much!
***
Charity was the nurse charged with the care of my wife. She was not only friendly, but her calming nature was a great asset in the care of my wife. I appreciated her sense of humor and her way of keeping the conversation going that kept my wife's mind distracted while she performed her tasks. She is truly a great asset to your organization.