I had twin boys at 26.5 weeks. With my boys being so premature there were many complications in the long NICU stay. At first, Lori was not their nurse, but always in the same room as them taking care of other babies. From day one Lori went above and beyond. I spent a lot of time at my boys' bedside and was able to observe a lot. Even when Lori was not their nurse, she was the first one to stop in when their nurses needed help. She always made sure I knew my boys were in great hands. She would come in and say hello, check on both myself and the boys asked how we were doing and just really talked to me like I was a real person. Lori eventually became one of my son's (W) primary nurses. Around the time that this was happening, we, unfortunately, lost his twin brother, J.
On the Fourth of July when J was transferred to Children's Hospital, Lori was there and she made sure I knew exactly what was going on. She advocated for both of my sons, that day and every day. With as scary as the transfer was, Lori really made sure we were comfortable. She even used humor in a respectful way to lighten the mood. That day her and W's other nurse made it very clear that we can be with our son J and they would take excellent care of W. We did not need to worry about him.
After J passed away, Lori continued to take care of W. When Lori was at work, I always felt a sense of calm, as I knew W was getting excellent care. Lori was always completely honest with me about what was happening with W, good or bad. Lori was the best advocate we had for our boys. She had great assessment skills, knowledge of what was going on, and communication skills. She always made sure the doctors were informed of what was going on, new or abnormal. Leaving your child in the NICU, is the hardest thing I will ever do, but having such great nurses taking care of them makes that a little bit easier, and Lori was one of the best.
The days Lori was at work always made the days better for me, I had someone I could talk to, who treated me not only as a mom but also a friend. She could make my husband and I laugh even in the darkest times. Lori was also always the first to help a coworker when things on the unit got busy, this is something I observed over our 77 days in the and NICU. She even made my husband and I promise to take a day to ourselves and have a date day, something we really needed, and I felt we could do that knowing Lori was our son's nurse that day.
I could see that she had great relationships with all the families in the NICU, not just ours. I will never be able to thank Lori enough for making our long NICU stay a little bit easier.