I am so happy to share Rachel's story with you and anyone that wants to hear it.
L was born in August. It was a planned C-section. He was recorded at 8 lbs 15 oz, 21 ½ in. He looked wonderful, except his little body was rapidly becoming quite swollen. His heart beat so hard that we could feel it while holding him. As excited as we were, we knew something was not quite right. So we all asked questions of the staff, but they did not seem to be concerned. My son decided to stay the night with him and watch him. During that first night, L stopped breathing a few times while drinking from the bottle. He became more agitated but really did not cry. It was almost like he wasn't getting enough air in his lungs to cry. On the second day, he continued to struggle with breathing. The nursing staff stated that his glucose levels were not normal and the doctor ordered glucose supplements to increase the levels. That did not work. So more tests were being done. In the meantime, my son, daughter-in-law, and her mother continued to ask why he showed signs of having difficulty with breathing. No one seemed to be bothered by that, nor were they concerned that you could see his little heart beating so hard. Oh, and one other thing, the nurse that was on the floor at the time told us L was going to be kept another night for observation for the glucose levels, not his heart.
Now, this is where Rachel comes in. On the third day, my son decided to take a break and go home to give his mother-in-law a break from watching their oldest child. They traded places. She went up to the hospital to see L and her daughter. When she went into L's room, Rachel was there and told her to follow her because she was taking L to NICU. Rachel grabbed an air tank and said "you never know if you are going to get stuck in the elevator" so she wanted to be completely ready at any moment. Rachel had been watching L long enough while she was on duty on that day that she was most concerned and was not going to wait. She wanted the NICU doctors to see him right away. They called me and asked that I go to BTMC right away because they wanted me to know what was happening. That is when I learned of the events and about how Rachel was now considered to be our hero! L went through more ups and downs for almost two months. Eventually, he had open-heart surgery at Cardon's to fix his little heart. He finally came home once he was stable in October.
I must tell you, as I sat here and wrote out this story for you, I haven't been able to stop crying. I know many families go through experiences like this. I just hope that they acknowledge the nurses that are the blessings in disguise. Like I said earlier, Rachel is our hero.