A few years ago, I had my first severe flare-up of an autoimmune disease called ulcerative colitis, and it changed my life in a lot of ways. One of those ways was that it postponed my dream of becoming a mother. When I became pregnant,I was terrified of losing another pregnancy.

Yet as time went on, I got to hear his heartbeat for the first time and then eventually felt the pitter-pattering of his feet in my belly. Everything was going smoothly until around 26 weeks, when I started to have another severe flare of my UC. I tried to continue to work but I almost passed out while discharging one of my patients and knew it was time to stop pushing myself.

Luckily, I happened to work on the same unit I needed care from and got triaged right then and there. Even though the unit was busy, Kelsi Warrington, Sam Carrier, and Anna Drocella all came to help both me as an additional patient and the unit itself.

A few weeks later, I was in the hospital again after losing a lot of weight and feeling unwell. I remember how much pain I was in and how I couldn’t stop shaking. I remember how Alexis Stringer and Celia D’Orazio made me feel safe at that time when I felt incredibly vulnerable. I stayed for a few days so I could receive blood and hydration, and then got discharged.

In the background, my unit’s director, Bridget Buckaloo, was advocating to help me get my new medication as quickly as possible while I was managing my symptoms at home. A few more weeks went by, and one morning, I started to feel worse after I thought I was finally recovering from my flare. My pain couldn’t be relieved, and I couldn’t keep any fluids or food down, so I went back to the hospital.

At the time, I was 32 weeks and found out I was contracting regularly and 4 cm dilated. I was nervous and embarrassed as I had to use a bedpan in front of my colleagues because I was on bedrest. In that moment, my husband was even more nervous than I was when he found out I needed to get transferred.

I remember how Anna Drocella, Gracie Brewster, Mariah Tull, Courtney Stoeckel, and Sam Carrier all were at my bedside, taking care of me and calming my husband as they prepared me for my helicopter ride to Christiana. They made me feel comfortable, which given my situation was really hard to do. They also kept my husband informed and calm. Luckily, my son stayed put, and I got to go home.

At 35 weeks, I went into labor again, this time I knew exactly what it was and that Lucas was ready to arrive. When I arrived, I was 6cm and felt myself transitioning. Kelsi Warrington, Madison Arata, Anna Drocella, and Sam Carrier all jumped in to get me admitted and care for me as quickly as possible. I remember crying to Anna that I didn’t want to have him without pain medicine as I was on my way to the OR.

A few short hours later, my son arrived, and he was perfect. Despite being born prematurely, he did really well transitioning, but if he had not done as well, I trusted my team was ready to care for him. The next few days I had many of my colleagues caring for me, Stacey Churchill, Charlie Larrimore, and Kristin Grau to name a few.

(I’m sure I’m missing plenty of names throughout this entire story but forgive me because a lot of the time I spent in the hospital are blurry memories).

As the quote goes “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” I think that kind of sums up what the DAISY Award is all about. It’s about recognizing what nurses do with compassion every day that their patients will never forget.

I’m nominating my Beebe LDRP because they made me safe and human many times when I felt vulnerable and completely not like myself due to the symptoms of my UC. They also provided me with excellent care each and every time I stayed in the hospital, no matter how busy they were.

I will never forget or stop appreciating how any of them made me feel, how they took care of me with kindness, and for helping me bring my son into this world.