The experience my wife, M, and I recently had delivering our first baby at Froedtert went beyond any medical care experience either of us has had. While part of it was certainly due to the gravity of the moment, a big piece of it was the care we received. We both felt strongly about sharing in hopes that those responsible can be recognized.

We came in a few weeks ahead of schedule to be induced due to a condition my wife had that created potential for complications. As you can imagine, we were both anxious to start. But from the moment we came in, we were reassured by the care we received. It felt like as we met each new nurse, resident, or attending, the service got better and better. Noteworthy were Dr. M, the anesthesiologist who skillfully placed the epidural, J, the RN we had for night one, who did a great job supporting M during some of her most intense pain, and Dr. L, who was amazing as the OB coaching M through the pushing process.

However, it was the day-shift RN, Julia Beyer, who left an impression we'll never forget. From the first time she greeted us, she made us feel like we were the only patients in the building. Throughout the day, she went above and beyond to meet every need M had, including continuing to reassure her that everything was going perfectly for a first timer.

That said, there were two moments we wanted to celebrate that made us both tear up thinking of them.

The first was a moment of compassion. About 12 hours into the epidural, M was having a hard time with the pain. It felt as if it was slowly wearing off, which Dr. M said could happen around that time. When it was brought up to the anesthesia staffer, he looked at the levels and didn't seem to think anything was wrong. He suggested continuing as is for a while longer before reevaluating. Julia, however, could tell M was in pain and asked leading questions to better illustrate M's case. It was clear she must've pushed in the hallway with him, because they both came back in the room with a plan to bring M's pain down shortly after. The plan worked, and M spent the rest of the night in a comfortable place from a pain perspective.

The second was a moment of companionship. As we got close to 7 pm, Julia mentioned that her shift was ending and she was going to bring in the RN on the night shift to introduce her before she left. M and I spoke alone about how we were disappointed that Julia's shift was over, as she had been so great, and it felt like we were so close to delivering. Shortly after, Julia came back into the room to tell us that she had decided to stick around for the night to be there for us. We can't adequately describe the relief we both felt. She stayed with us the rest of the evening, helping to deliver our baby two and a half hours later, and even being the one to weigh our baby and do many of the initial tests an hour after that.

Julia is clearly the type of person who views nursing not as her job but as her calling. As a result, we both felt called to make sure and document the way she made us feel as her patients in hopes that others might be inspired by the impact they can have on theirs.

Thank you for considering Julia Beyer for any type of recognition this level of care merits, and thank you to the rest of the Froedtert staff who took care of us and our newborn daughter this week.