Katherine is an amazing nurse. As a nurse myself, I know what a difference nurses make in patient's lives every day. She made such an impact in my life, during the worst tragedy I could imagine. A little backstory: we spent 3 years trying before we could get pregnant and finally got passed the terrifying first trimester. Everything was going well. Unfortunately, at 20 weeks, my world was shattered when my water broke. I was in and out of the hospital for the next week but tragically, my baby boy was born sleeping at 21 weeks 1 day. There is nothing more horrible than losing a child. During this tragedy, I had the most amazing nurse I could have asked for. Katherine was my nurse when induction was started at 21 weeks due to cord prolapse. She was always kind, caring, compassionate, and respectful. When she left at 7pm that evening, I was sad because I wanted her to be there when I delivered my sweet boy. My induction took longer than we thought, and by the time Katherine was back at 7am the next morning, I still hadn't delivered. This was such a sad time for my husband and I, and yet we felt at ease knowing she would be with us for the next 12 hours. When it was time for delivery, Katherine kept me calm and I trusted 100% that she would take care of us. My son was born at 9:36am in late March, 2017. Katherine was not only a top-notch nurse to me, but to my stillborn son as well. She treated him with such dignity and respect. She cleaned him up, wrapped him sweetly in a blanket that had been donated by another mother who had went through the same thing. She constantly reassured me that we could spend all the time we wanted with our sweet angel. She called a professional photographer for us, coordinated care with the chaplain, SW and the funeral home, etc. She was phenomenal!
I always saw L&D as such a happy place when I was in nursing school. I now know that although L&D is such a "happy" place, it is also the place where some of the worst imaginable things happen. People lose their babies, and nurses are the ones there caring for these mother's during the worst time in their life. Having an outstanding nurse during this time really can make a difference and make the pain just a little bit more bearable. Katherine did that for us. She is the true definition of an extraordinary nurse. I will forever be grateful for the care she provided to us.