My name is Megan and on Monday Nov 25, I gave birth to two beautiful babies, Harper and Ryan. My wife Lindsey and I wanted to take a moment between feedings and diaper changes to recognize those who made their birth possible. I work for AdventHealth Celebration Sports Medicine and Rehab, so I’m very familiar with our mission to extend the healing ministry of Christ. That mission was upheld beyond any of our expectations during my recent delivery experience. Since we were having twins, the pregnancy was naturally high-risk. This meant a trip to triage fairly early on because of blood pressure, where Julia was one of the first people we met. When I was diagnosed with gestational hypertension at the beginning of November, this meant two additional trips to check on the babies and myself. Julia remembered us and eased our nerves immediately. She was so reassuring and kind every single trip. Even when she wasn’t the person directly caring for me, she always stopped in to say hello. The end of pregnancy can be miserable but Julia made our trips enjoyable with little-to-no stress. When we made it to labor and delivery, three nurses took incredible care of us. Anna was our baby nurse. 24 hours before they were born, she was already preparing for their arrival. She was so friendly and organized. Anna even took care of me! She stepped in to try when an IV stick was hard, she was by my side during the scary parts of labor, and checked on me after their birth. She syringe fed my baby boy when he was less than an hour old because he couldn’t figure out how to eat. (Spoiler alert for Anna, Ryan figured out how to eat the next day and won’t stop now!). Ju was our night nurse and the person who started my induction. I was a little nervous about induction but she made sure to explain everything ahead of time and once again when it started. I was uncomfortable that night with monitors and couldn’t sleep, so she took time out of her night to chat and visit. When I could no longer have anything but popsicles and ice chips I jokingly requested “800 popsicles”, Ju returned with a cup full! When her shift was over, she made sure our original day nurse, Elizabeth, was reassigned to us. Ju left her with specific instructions, “don’t break her.” We truly consider Elizabeth an angel. There are no words to describe how much we appreciate and are grateful for this woman. Elizabeth had a few easy hours with me but labor became very hard once my water was broken. I’m fairly certain she never left our room from noon until she went home. She supported me through not one, but two epidurals, and gave me pain medicine when the second epidural worked on only one side. She kept me calm as we struggled to get a monitor on baby boy, Ryan’s, head and I was having contractions with my half-working epidural. At one point, my blood pressure dropped very low and both Ryan and myself started to have a very hard time. I don’t remember much except for Elizabeth’s very kind voice saying, “Megan, I’m going to call for some help right now.” Those moments were the scariest of my life and the scariest of my wife Lindsey’s life. There were many people in the room but I didn’t have time to be panic because everyone worked so well together. She was able to calmly explain to the team what was happening to myself and one baby so everyone could work together. When it was time to deliver the babies, Elizabeth talked me through how to push and stood by my side supporting me the entire time. Her shift was over but she didn’t leave because she could tell I wasn’t feeling well. She even fed me snacks in the bathroom. Lindsey and I truly believe that I wouldn’t be here and the babies wouldn’t be here either if it wasn’t for her. When we made it upstairs, the charge nurse Carolina introduced herself and immediately realized that baby girl, Harper’s, breathing and color were a little funny. She took Harper to the nursery but again was able to so calmly explain everything to us about her; we didn’t have time to be afraid. Mia wasn’t even our nurse and offered to put in a pizza order for us because we were so hungry! She came by to check on the twins and us. Jackie was our night nurse for two nights. She responded to absolutely everything we needed or wanted within seconds. She answered our silly 'first-time parent' questions and shared stories of her own experiences to make me feel less nervous about mine. Jennifer took care of us during the day and was equally as sweet. They made sure we took time to sleep and suggested naps when the babies had to go to the nursery for testing. We were so grateful for sleep and to feel human again. I realize this is very long, but literally every single person we encountered in the hospital made us feel welcome, reassured and loved. There will never be enough words of gratitude but we wanted everyone to know we will forever sing the praises of AdventHealth for Women and the incredible people who work there. Thank you, thank you, thank you again. Love, Megan, Lindsey, Harper and Ryan.
