Angels on Earth

Amy George

By Amy George

I believe in angels.

In fact, when Chris and I pray with our daughters at night, we always end our prayer with the words, “Please watch over Ann Catherine and Lily through the night, and send your angels to protect them.” Ann Catherine even says it when she prays.

I also believe there are angels here on Earth. They are just ordinary people who reach out to us and help us when we need it most. And often, they don’t even realize it.

When I think back over Ann Catherine’s stay in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Huntsville Hospital for Women & Children, I’m reminded of some of the angels who took care of us there.

Marcy holds Ann Catherine in the NICU

There was Marcy, one of Ann Catherine’s primary NICU nurses. On the day I was being discharged from the hospital, I had mixed emotions. I wanted to go home, but I didn’t want to leave Ann Catherine. She told me I needed to go home and rest, and grieve the loss of Melissa. She assured me that she would take care of Ann Catherine. She allowed us to go home, plan Melissa’s memorial service and spend that time with our family, without feeling guilty about leaving Ann Catherine. Yes, I worried about her health, but I never worried about whether she was in good hands. Marcy was an angel.

There was Deborah. She had lost her husband, so she understood the intense pain of losing someone you love. She was able to give me advice that others couldn’t. One day as I sat by Ann Catherine’s bedside as she slept, I was having a particularly rough day. I just missed Melissa so much. Deborah sat down next to me, put her arm around me, and let me cry. Deborah was an angel.

There was Tara. One day, I was at Ann Catherine’s bedside and all of a sudden, her monitors started going off and her heart rate started dropping. I was scared to death. She was experiencing Apnea and Bradycardia, which is very common in premature babies. Sometimes premature babies “forget” to breathe, and his or her heart rate slows down. Once you’ve been in NICU for a couple of weeks, you become accustomed to this, but, when it happens for the first time it’s incredibly scary! Worst of all, visiting hours were over, which meant I had to leave, and that was the last thing I wanted to do. Tara had paged the doctor to see if she could give Ann Catherine medication to help her. In the meantime, she promised me she wouldn’t leave Ann Catherine’s bedside until she heard back from the doctor and was able to give her the medication. Tara was an angel.

Ann Catherine and I were recently leaving the doctor’s office when I saw another one of her NICU nurses, Marian, in the waiting room. After I hugged Marian, I told Ann Catherine, “I want you to meet Ms. Marian. She took care of you in the NICU.” Ann Catherine smiled and said hello. I know she can’t fully understand what that means yet, but I hope one day she will.

I want Ann Catherine to know who these women are. I want her to know that there was a group of nurses who took care of her when she was too tiny and fragile to do anything on her own. I want her to know that they started IVs, changed her diapers, gave her medication, and even loved her in their arms once she got stronger. I want her to know they took care of her mommy and daddy, too. I want her to know that they gave us peace of mind that, even during the most frightening time of our lives, it was going to be okay.

Yes, I know they were doing their jobs, but to a scared mother, it was so much more than that.

They weren’t just nurses. They were angels.