Today is National Neonatal Nurses Day.

While Sam and Jack are long past their journey in the NICU, and will never remember the time they spent there, the lasting impression it has left on my heart never goes unmentioned on this day.

Trying to explain how important and amazing these nurses are to someone who has never experienced time in the NICU is hard. How do I explain that the women who were taking care of my children were simultaneously taking care of my husband and me?

I can never thank them enough for what they did for our family…

Thank you for being “me” when I couldn’t physically be there.

Thank you for loving my sons as if they were your own.

Thank you for being a shoulder to cry on. Multiple times.

Thank you for telling me Sam would make it, even when no one else would.

Thank you for forcing Adam and me to eat. For real. We needed gentle nudges to live a normal life.

Thank you for being our eyes and ears.

Thank you for recording special moments that happened in the NICU—like the first time we held the boys at the same time.

Thank you for understanding how hard it was to leave the NICU, and the monitors, even though it meant we would be together for the first time.

Thank you for understanding how special that first night at home was—even though our boys were several months old.

Our family has been through more than most young families. Some days it bothers me, but most days I am thankful–thankful I have had the experiences to share, and met such amazing people along the way. I am so thankful to each and every NICU nurse, NP, and physician. Our boys are here, healthy, and happy because you believed in them, and loved them.

Sam

Jack and his buddah belly! 🙂