Erin was our day shift primary nurse for our baby girl. She was born emergently at 25 weeks. We were lucky to have Erin assigned to care for her one day and we instantly clicked. She cared for our baby like one of her own babies which was so important to us because it hurt so badly for us to have to leave her at the hospital every day. We knew our baby was in good hands when she was with Erin. Erin picked up on her needs as she developed in the NICU. Erin advocated for her to start breastfeeding much earlier than the typical micropreemie. This meant a lot to us because we wanted to bond with our baby as much as possible, and NICU life made that difficult. Our daughter was able to start breastfeeding very early thanks to Erin asking the doctors, "don't you think she is ready?"
We received a life-changing diagnosis for our baby toward the end of our NICU stay. Erin came in on her day off to be with us when the doctors told us the news. She held our hands and cried with us. Although it was one of the toughest days of our lives, we felt so cared for that Erin was there with us. As our NICU stay came to a close, Erin was there for us, pointing out all the milestones our baby was meeting and showing us how strong our baby was. She reminded us of what a miracle our daughter is and helped us stay optimistic for our little girl. She is now five months old and perfectly thriving. Thank you, Erin, for being an extraordinary nurse!