An Open Letter to My Labor & Delivery Nurse

I saw an angel on the third floor of East Cooper Medical Center, labor and delivery unit. We were three weeks from moving cross-country back to Midwest City Oklahoma and having a baby was one of the major life changes happening all around me during the transition. I'm so glad she was there.

She didn’t have wings, a halo, or a hallelujah chorus behind her. But she was glowing as she wore her hair in a pony tale, modeled light green scrubs, and a badge that read RN.

Francesca Battistelli sings of earthly angels in her song, Angel by Your Side:

I’ll be the angel by your side

I will get you through the night

I’ll be the strength you can’t provide on your own

And when you down and out of time

And you think you’ve lost the fight

Let me be the angel

The angel by your side

You see, my angel does this every day.

It seems routine for her.

But this is no common day for me.

This is the day I became a mom to a little baby boy and this angel restored my feelings of safety in my own body as I crossed over into motherhood.

She cheered me on as I cried out from pain in the final stages of labor.

She was gentle, not rushing me as I moved to the side of the bed, body shaking from pure exhaustion and hormones after giving birth.

She was not offended when I was so tired I barely noticed her as she gave me water and medicine.

When I couldn’t help myself to stand, sit, use the restroom, or put on new undergarments- she right there, patiently supporting me with such love and understanding.

I couldn’t even hold my new baby without help.

But she was there.

In my most vulnerable time of my life, unable to take care of myself as I am now charged to take care of a tiny human- she was my angel that said, “I’ll help you get there. I’ll help you feel like you again. I’ll be there angel that gets you through the night. Whatever you need.”

She may not hear this enough, but what she does matters. How serves without complaint feeds the souls of moms. It is the first place where a new mom can say, “I am struggling, please don’t hold that against me,” and is met with compassion and understanding.

Thank you, angel, for all you did for me. For putting up with all of the Covid-19 changes in the healthcare system, supply shortages, and more irritable patients. Thank you for going above and beyond your duties as a medical provider to also minister to the hearts of women bringing new life into the world.

Thank you for saying yes to the call of helping mothers find themselves and their strength in the most helpless place they will ever be- childbirth.

Until we meet again,

The Mom in Room 360

A special thanks to the nursing and OBGYN staff of East Cooper Medical Center for helping us bring two of our babies into this world. Thank you Nurse Kim, Zoe, Shelby, Olga, Kathy, Hannah, and Patience