The Adventures of Blueberry: Flashback Friday!

Today I need to return to 3 weeks ago, Emerson's birth, and the truly amazing experience we had at Mercy Gilbert Medical Center. I highly recommend this hospital for any mom-to-be out there. The staff was outstanding, the little things that they did for us were unforgettable, and I even opted to stay the second night because I was afraid to leave.

First, I need to thank the most outstanding nurses who helped me through everything. Patricia was our delivery nurse (sharing my mom's full name!), and she was great help, always providing me encouragement and making sure to only share the positives with me when I was in labor, so that the experience itself lacked the gory or unpleasant details and only the best parts remained! She gave me the permission to take a nap before I had to push because I was too numb, and this was the best thing ever because I didn't sleep again for the next 2 days...

Then, our first nurse after labor was Diane, who made our room special with her unique touches. She was kind, courteous, experienced, and supportive when Emerson was in the nursery for his first 3 hours of life. She helped me figure out my own "bathroom routine" for recovery and helped get me set up with pillows for Emerson's first feeding. She made us this swan for our room:

(or maybe it is a cobra?)

My overnight nurse, Elaine, sat with me for hours until I could get Emerson to eat and not just sleep. We had to spoon feed him, but this did the trick, and gave him enough energy to get him to eat for more than one or two sucks. She shared stories from her years of experience, and really made it pleasant every time I was awakened in the middle of the night. She also changed Emerson's diaper for me a bunch while Kyle slept.

Then I had Dana, Robin, Lisa, and Launa in my last 12 hours (a lot of shift changes and subs!) Launa was so great, and our friends Lindsay and Jon told us she was their favorite nurse when they delivered at Mercy. She is enthusiastic, talkative, and answered all my embarrassing recovery-centered questions, like what brand of maxi pads is the best, since I hadn't used them since I was 13...

I just recently went through our hospital paperwork and found a card that all my nurses signed for Emerson welcoming him to the world. This brought me to tears because I am the one who should be sending THEM a card!

My overall favorite part of the entire experience, however, was the wonderful volunteers who came in every day around 2:00 for "tea time". These older ladies brought us a hand-crocheted hat for Emerson, tea cakes and truffles, and a hot cup of chai with 2 lumps of sugar every day. This helped both my sweet tooth and made my hospital experience feel like a retreat!

Overall, I am glad we had the option of staying 48 hours, I was so grateful for the help and support throughout our stay, and I actually look forward to delivering future babies there, again!