Our daughter and her husband delivered our first grandchild on February 26th. He was three weeks early. All are home and healthy. The team did an amazing job. I have to say, having been a corporate leader for most of my 43 year career, that one of the biggest challenges is to find, get, and keep good talent, and then to get them to work as a team. We certainly saw this on the evening of 2/26 and in the days afterwards.

My wife and I live near Sacramento. Our daughter was told on Monday, 2/24, that her “enzyme” levels were high, and that if they remained high, they would have to induce labor. She had a blood test the next day, and the decision was made to induce. What? We still had three weeks to go. So that Tuesday afternoon and evening, while our daughter was in the care of your Labor and Delivery team, we were madly packing for the 1,000+ mile journey we would start on early the next morning.

My wife, my daughter's father-in-law, and I left Sacramento at 0330 and arrived at your Regional Medical Center at 1845. We had divine intervention on our trip. Many side stories of that journey that I won’t go into other than to say it was a miracle as we arrived 68 minutes before your team delivered our grandson.

When I first entered the delivery room at 1900 it was relatively calm. Surely lots of anxiety with the “enzymes”, induction, and just first child delivery uneasiness. But the first person I met from your team, Sydnee, stood out in so many ways. Immediately, I assessed she was in charge, not in an elbow-thrashing way, but in a very calm and reassuring way.

The two future grandfathers, having just driven 1,000+ miles in 14 hours, were very tired, and emotions were high. And there was Sydnee, my recollection of her now has a beam of soft light on her and a glowing halo, standing there telling my daughter she was doing a great job. Sydnee was confidently sharing her knowledge and experience, that they and their son were doing a great job.

With our emotions all over the place, and monitors buzzing and beeping, there was Sydnee cutting through the tension and showing compassion and confidence. It was exactly what the expectant parents needed, and between you and us, the grandparents needed it even more.

The actual delivery experience was more than shocking. Eighteen minutes from the time the doctor told my daughter to start pushing to the time our grandson was delivered. That was stunning. The two future grandfathers were in the car, settling in for a long and unknown period of time. What? 18 minutes. Yeah baby!

When they allowed us in to see the new family and our grandson, there was Sydnee, confidently and compassionately helping our daughter and get settled. All the while telling Sarah how awesome she was, and making sure her husband knew he was an important part of this epic day. Sydnee was the perfect person at the perfect time.

Her skill extends beyond the physical and the medical side of labor and delivery. She attended to the mental side of this event. In the following hours and days in the hospital, we all recounted how attentive Sydnee was to the anxiety our daughter was having as a primary focus, and for her husband and the rest of us in a secondary and tertiary way. This was a huge part of the delivery experience.

Taking anxiety out of the delivery room. Who does that? Sydnee did! Not sure if this was due to the training she receives, or if this is some intuitive and unique skill she has. If she wasn’t trained to do this, then I suggest that you profile her and share with the rest of the staff the way she employed a holistic approach to the whole delivery experience. Medical and Mental. For the mother, especially, certainly for the new dad, and the rest of the family.

It was an amazing experience for all of us, which we have now shared with not only people at our church, but just about everyone we know. Thank you, St. Peter’s Health, and thank you to Sydnee!