I gave birth to my son at OSU and had an amazing experience. All of the nursing staff took excellent care of me and my son, but one nurse, in particular, had a lasting impact, and for that, I believe that she deserves to be recognized.
Kate Friedman was my nurse overnight. By this time in my stay, I was exhausted, emotional, and growing worried because I was having a difficult time getting my son to latch. The pediatrician had really scared me about my son's weight loss and I was at a breaking point, thinking that breastfeeding just wasn't going to work for me and that I was already failing as a mother. I was at my lowest point that night - my son was crying from hunger and I was crying because I was failing to meet his needs, no matter how hard I tried. Kate walked in and was the most compassionate, caring nurse I have ever met.
She immediately calmed me and encouraged me. She helped me finally get my screaming newborn to latch successfully, which was a huge relief for everyone. But she went beyond that. She showed me different ways to hold and feed my son. She showed my husband how to hold our son like a football to help calm him from his bouts of inconsolable crying. She taught us how to properly swaddle our baby. She taught us to trust ourselves and made us know that we were doing a good job and that we would be alright. She went above and beyond what all of our other nurses had done to help us, and she did it all with a smile and genuine kindness.
Towards the end of her shift, Kate left me a note in the room while I was taking a shower. When I read it, my sad tears from the night before transformed into happy ones. Knowing how discouraged I was by what the pediatrician had said about our baby's weight loss since birth, she went out of her way to print a weight loss percentage graph to show that Baby's weight loss was still well above the concerning point. She signed it with a sweet note saying "You're doing great. Keep up the good work…he's so BEAUTIFUL!" That note meant so much to me.
Without Kate, I know I would have given up on my hope to breastfeed my baby and I would have left the hospital feeling a lot less comfortable and confident in my abilities as a mother. She made a huge difference for me, and I want to nominate her for a DAISY Award so that she knows how much she helped me and my son, and also in hopes that she will be inspired to continue to do the amazing job she is already doing.