A Love Letter to My Hospital Nurses

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Dear Sweet Nurses,

Recently, I delivered my second baby in under two years at your hospital. My two birth stories could not be more different, but the way that you took care of my family both times were the same – with care, compassion, encouragement, and competence. This is my love letter to you.

With my first pregnancy, I planned to deliver my baby naturally, with no medication. Due to circumstances out of everyone’s control, my unmedicated birth turned into a c-section.

This second time around, because of our experience the first time, we had a scheduled c-section. I never once felt any sort of shame or discouragement for not being able to deliver my boys “the old fashioned way”.

I left the hospital both times feeling empowered and proud of myself. I believe that this was, in large part, to the way you encouraged me throughout both births. Thank you for fostering this belief in me.

a love letter to my hospital nurses

You saw me at my worst, my grossest, my most vulnerable, my most exposed. Showing strangers all of you is not something anyone is excited about, but I truly never felt embarrassed or self-conscious. Thank you for making me feel so comfortable during the most uncomfortable of situations.

Thank you for teaching this new mom how to breastfeed her baby boy when I had absolutely no clue what I was doing. Thank you for checking on me and sending lactation consultants to make sure that I was doing it right. I am so thankful that you have these resources for new moms.

Thank you for not judging my husband and I when we would call you around 10 p.m. every night and let you know that our baby was ready to go to the nursery so we could get a decent night’s sleep. I know “rooming in” is the trendy thing to do, but I am so thankful for the option for our baby to spend a few hours in your care while his mommy and daddy rested.

When my baby failed his hearing test twice, our sweet nurse promised us that she would spend as much time with him as necessary to make sure that he passed the test. Thank you for your commitment to our family and making us feel like our baby was a priority to you.

To the nurses who helped me shower for the first time after surgery: I’m sure this is not your favorite part of your job. Looking at my freshly scarred tummy while I tried to hold back years as I hobbled to the bathroom is probably at least a little uncomfortable for you. But I never sensed your discomfort.

Instead, you were so encouraging, empathetic and helpful. When I told you how bad it hurt to walk, you told me, “Don’t worry, it’s just a mommy thing.” For some reason, this gave me so much comfort and reminded me of the exact reason why I felt so horrible – I had just had major surgery to deliver a baby! Thank you for reminding me to give myself time to heal.

When it was time for us to go home, thank you for making us feel like you were sad to see us leave. Thank you for making us feel like our baby was the cutest in the nursery. Thank you for teaching my husband how to swaddle our newborn. Thank you for promptly delivering my medication every couple of hours so that I wouldn’t be in pain. Most of all, thank you for helping deliver my healthy baby boys and for taking such good care of us. I can’t thank you enough.

Love,

A Very Grateful Mama

a love letter to my hospital nurses