Parent Letters
Every day, Woman’s NICU treats Baton Rouge’s smallest and most critically ill patients. NICU staff also help those children’s parents cope during their child’s stay.
Below are a few stories from parents of former Woman’s NICU patients.
Thank you for everything… thank you for the time spent helping my baby. You don’t know how much our family appreciates everything you did to help him survive, even though it was just for a few days. I’m happy I was able to stay the last night with him. To have you beside him, giving us positive hope, even thought I knew it was gonna take a miracle to save him. Again thank you and please continue what you are doing. You are the best. “Those we have held in our arms for a little while, we hold in our hearts forever.”
Ten years ago, we were blessed with our second child Ella Grace. She arrived at 27 week and weighted in at 2 pounds and three ounces. We still remember that day quite vividly, as it was overwhelming to say the least. Ella spent eight weeks in the NICU in which time we became part of a special family.
Since Ella’s discharge, she has had three eye surgeries and attended occupational therapy until she finished with kindergarten. Other than that, she has been quite healthy and has grown enough to wear her mother’s size seven shoes!
She has just completed fourth grade and has been on the A or A/B honor roll. Ella plays soccer and gymnastics, and loves to swim and snow ski. As you can see, the only limits she has are the ones she puts on herself. We wanted to send a note at this milestone birthday since double digits are big time!
Again, thanks for all that you do and do for families past and present. Even thought your little ones graduate, your mark remains on them for the rest of their lives. Ella would not be the person she it today, doing the little things she does with the exceptional care of all those involved in the NICU at Woman’s.
My wife and I found ourselves at Woman’s about seven weeks earlier than expected. Earlier in my wife’s pregnancy we also had found out that we had lost one of our twin sons due to complications. That morning was one of the most sorrowful and happiest days of our lives. Our nurse, Tina Covington, treated us with the utmost thought and respect, knowing this was going to be difficult.
After delivery our son Kaleb was sent to the NICU for respiratory complications, giving us some time to spend with our son we lost – Jacob. Your team helped prepare Jacob so we could have an impromptu service to remember him by. Due to Tina’s efforts the time with our son was truly a very special and memorial moment. I can honestly say she helped make it special by treating Jacob with dignity and respect. It was a beautiful and a special moment we won’t forget.
Our son Kaleb continues to thrive and grow at home, after seven weeks in the NICU.
As a single man, my exposure to Woman’s over the years was limited to visiting friends and family. I always saw your hospital as simply “the place where babies are delivered.” I helped film a documentary following Hurricane Katrina and walked away from Woman’s impressed and appreciative; happy the community had this valuable resource, but surely I would have no need for Woman’s.
I got married in 2010 and experienced another level of happiness; blessed to learn we were going to have a child. Pregnancy went well under the supervision of two incredible doctors, Dr. Laurie Whitaker and Dr. Marshall St. Amant. On our son’s birth day, both my wife and son were in need of specialized care, quickly turning joyful excitement to fearful concern. My son was admitted to the NICU and our experience with the medical staff to that point had been outstanding, what was to come in the next week, however, was simply amazing.
The nurses and staff of the NICU will forever hold a special place in our family’s lives. The care with which they comforted a scared father and accommodated a concerned family was truly a blessing. They listened and answered every question or concern, patiently guided us in properly caring for our new son, and showed us a kindness and love you would expect to feel only among family. Our love to all!