When we arrived at L&D for my induction, I was really nervous. I had really wanted to go into labor spontaneously because I was trying for a VBAC, but because of GD complications, my midwives encouraged me to come in. Kristen Dexter (Dex) immediately put me at ease. She talked me through the process of induction while also getting to know me and my husband. We shared stories of our last birth and talked about our fears, but also got to share funny stories about pregnancy and our toddler already at home. Dex was the perfect amount of chatty throughout the induction, knowing when it'd help to pass the time by visiting but also realizing when I was trying to rest and excused herself. She set us up with the best team when she left for the night shift.

The next day, she arrived to find me super uncomfortable: I was at a six, and my epidural was only working on half my body. Dex worked with the team to advocate that they get an attending to replace my epidural. I was so grateful for her advocacy! I had immediate relief with the replaced epidural, but then all hell broke loose: our daughter's heart rate decelerated. Dex kept calm and asked me to change positions multiple times, but she had a bad feeling about it. She had watched our girl's heart rate the previous day and knew she had held steady, so Dex decided to call in the midwife earlier than protocol demanded. In doing so, she saved both of our lives. The midwife could no longer feel our daughter, so she called the doctor in for help placing the internal monitor. They got it placed and saw consistent decelerations and asked if I'd consent to an emergency C-section.

Dex was by my side through it all. She held my hand and stayed by, reassuring me as I vomited in the operation. It turned out that my uterus had ruptured, and I lost half my blood volume. Our daughter was born with an APGAR of two. We wouldn't be here if Dex hadn't gotten the midwives in quickly. I like to say that I had a traumatic birth, but it wasn't a "birth trauma" because Dex was there: she held my hand as I cried and blamed myself for my daughter's dramatic exit. She assured me that it wasn't my fault and sat with me for hours in the PACU, going through my birth story and assuring me that I did everything right. She picked us the very best postpartum care team, making sure all the baby stuff was removed from our room so I wouldn't burst into tears when I arrived. Dex was hands down the very best L and D nurse: thoughtful, kind, and really, really good at her job. I'm so grateful to have known and been her patient. Our lives are forever indebted to her.