Kim Ladd was the primary nurse for a baby in the same NICU pod as my son, so she essentially became his primary nurse as well. She helped me get through what has been the most challenging time of my 36 years of life, spending more than 7 weeks in the Northwestern NICU with my son who was born two months premature. It was a physical, mental, and emotional rollercoaster. I spent most days on my own in the NICU as my husband went back to our home (over 180 miles away) a week after our son's birth, so he could take care of our 4-year old and 2-year old and also go back to work.
After a day or two with Kim, I could tell she had a calling to be a NICU nurse. She loves what she does and it shows. She affectionately calls her patients "boo" and "love bug". Babies in Kim's care don't cry for long before she rushes over to attend to them and she spends extra time snuggling with babies whose family cannot come visit very often. One day I was having a particularly tough time transitioning my son from sleeping on my chest to his crib without him waking up and crying. Kim knew exactly what to do. She grabbed a warm blanket that mimicked the warmth of my chest and she grabbed the weighted baby pillow to place on his back and bottom to mimic the pressure he felt from my hands holding him. It worked like a charm!
Kim advocates for her patients and she knows my son better than anyone else in the NICU. She knew what he was capable of and after weeks and multiple attempts of the doctors trying to wean him off oxygen without success, Kim had a feeling one day that he was ready. She recommended the doctors take him off oxygen and he ended up doing just as well without it. She had faith in him, a gut instinct, and a couple decades of experience. Taking the nasal cannula off seemed like such a huge step to me and I could finally see my baby's sweet face unobstructed by feeding and breathing tubes.
She listened to me and empathized with me. Many days the only social interaction I had was with the nurses in the NICU, since I spent 10+ hours a day there, and I always looked forward to days when Kim worked because she listened to all my concerns, answered all my questions, and was easy to talk to. She got to know me as a person and celebrated my completion of a two-year long MBA program with a marker mural on the window in my son's room. She often asked about my family back home and said to tell my mom "Hi" one afternoon when I was on the phone updating my mom about my son.
On days when Kim worked, I knew that I'd be able to take care of my son just as I wanted. I was able to hang out in his room and wait for his cues to feed him. I gave him baths when I wanted to in his Dandy Tub. And I dressed him up in cute clothes and festive hats that were donated to the NICU. Even though we were in the hospital, it made the situation feel more normal.
Kim gives me hope. I watched my son struggle with eating and breathing on his own for many weeks. And the thing that has kept him in the NICU for over seven weeks now has been his "events". Kim assured me that these would resolve with time and that he wouldn't be sent home until they did. Kim gives me hope that we will be home soon enjoying our mother-son time together without all the monitors and interruptions.