At 35 years old, my husband and I had been trying to have a baby for 3 years. After 5 IUI attempts and 2 unsuccessful IVF transfers, we got our miracle baby on our 3rd and final IVF attempt. We were scheduled for induction on Friday, at 39 weeks. The process was long, scary, and frustrating (because my body would not do what it needed to do). I can say every single nurse we had that weekend was patient and helpful, to the point where I was scared for the shift changes because I didn't want to let them go (come to find out another amazing nurse steps in).

Fast forward to Sunday evening when things finally started to move along. Toria was our nurse for the 7p-7a shift. As the medicines started to do what they needed to do, and contractions kicked in more and more she took every chance to sit with us in our room and was so very informative about the options available and offered advice and assurance that everything was moving along as it should. Her taking time to explain what the next processes would look like and her calm and positive demeanor were exactly what I needed. It was Super Bowl Sunday, and I loved that she came in and watched a bit of the halftime show (what a joke that was!) with us - it made me feel so calm knowing she was there for us every moment and we had her full attention.

Then comes the scary part. We went into a more active labor to the point where it was time for an epidural. Because of her patience and time earlier in the shift, we had a good plan of exactly when we were going to do it. She had anesthesiology there at the perfect time and got me through the epidural. Again, keeping me in the loop the entire time, she came in to rotate me occasionally, and the baby did not like that. We had two scary situations of his heart rate dropping down into the 60s - when I tell you she was ON IT, she was incredibly calm and knew EXACTLY what to do. She had me flipped into a different position before I could even understand fully what was happening. With the epidural, I was not much help moving my bottom half, but she managed to have me moved within seconds, it felt like. After two very scary incidents, the doctor had the 'possible c-section' talk with me, and I was almost paralyzed with fear (all I wanted was to get my baby out safely and ASAP at this point). The doctor left, and I will never forget Toria and her kindness at this exact moment - she said, "J, you don't have to be strong anymore - you have an amazing poker face, but it's OK to be scared". Queue the water works - she hugged me, held my hand, and assured me that we would be okay. Seconds later, the doctor rushed in and said we needed to go NOW.

After a terrifying 15 minutes and an almost 'Emergency' but turned into an ‘Urgent' c-section, I had my handsome baby boy in my arms. Toria stayed with us in our room for the first hour, taught my husband how to 1 - hold a baby :) 2 - change a diaper and 3 - swaddle a baby. Thanks to her presence and the bond/trust she had created over the last 10 hours I was able to relax in my bed and watch that once in a lifetime moment between my husband and his brand new son. Because of Toria, the most important few hours of my life thus far (probably forever) were positive and a truly incredible experience I will never forget.