Shelley was not just one of the nurses that I begged to come home with me when my first daughter was discharged from the NICU, but also the one that I begged not to leave my other daughter’s (still inpatient) side because she was the closest thing to a “mom” that could be there for her when I wasn’t able to be. 

Shelley was so comforting in the scary world of NICU craziness and COVID sterility, she was encouraging and supportive when I felt like I was failing as a new mom with two very tiny newborns hooked up to a million things, and she held my hand without fail when I cried, smiled, laughed, sobbed, and did everything in between. 

Every time I think of my twins’ birth, I think of her. She is one of those special people who is perfectly placed in your life when you need someone most, and she was everything and beyond for not only me, but more importantly, for my girls. She may have been with them for their first days and weeks of life more than their own mother was, but I couldn’t have had it any other way - she took care of them as if they were her own, and I love her so much for the care and compassion she extended. 

My daughters will grow up knowing the story of the angel nurse who loved them to pieces when they were waiting to come home!