Francis

This is a photo of Hannah in her portable isolet.  This is how we traveled to Seattle.  She traveled with all of her alarms and feeds and warmpth right in the plane.  Most of all, she traveled with her medical care team.  

If you were to zoom in, you could see a nurse sitting inside the plane waiting for Hannah to board.  I couldn't find any good photos of the nurses that cared for Hannah.  Most of them wouldn't let me take their photos.  They didn't want to be put on social media.  I specifically asked one nurse and she got very defensive, so I just tried to take each day as it came.  I actually didn't end up taking that many photos.  

I remember Francis though.  She was my first nurse when I arrived in Seattle.  I knew nothing of this new hospital and we arrived directly into the NICU at Seattle Children's hospital.  Francis was my night nurse.  

It was interesting.  Somehow, I got this woman as my first nurse in the new hospital.  She was VERY strait forward.  She was the night nurse, and I also found out that she was a charge nurse that just happened to take floor duty for the night.  And... we had just transferred in and she got our case!

She asked me what baby liked.  Music?  Yes!  She got her set up with a CD player and even scrounged around the general floor to find a bouncy seat for her.  These are things I didn't really expect!  Hannah didn't get any kind of music or anything like that in Anchorage.  They were always trying to keep everything super quiet for the preemies in the unit.  But Hannah wasn't a premie, so she didn't need that extra caution. 

I remember when I first got there.  Francis told me about nursing mom food vouchers.  She told me where to get them and that they would cover the first three days that I was there.  She told me to talk to the desk at the entrance of the NICU and that they would give me a sleeping room for the night and a pager.  

After I got all settled in, she told me... "Now, you are all quite set right?  You know where to get food, and where to sleep yes?  Get some rest."

I was amazed.  This woman in one step had alleviated all of my concerns!  When I was on my way to Seattle I really didn't know where my next meal would be from or where I would stay.  

Francis was a VERY interesting woman.  She had a thick accent.  At one point I asked her where she was from, due to her accent. 

"I do sound quite alien." 

Not really what I meant!  But I could go with that I guess.

She explained she was from Scotland but had also worked for much of her life in South Africa.  

SUPER intersting!

Francine was the most strait forward person I have ever met.  She could say things that you would think were rude coming from any other person, but she was just being strait forward.  I loved that about her because I always knew what to expect.  

In Anchorage Hannah was pretty fragile (and in Seattle, those things didn't really change).  In spite of this I remember Francine telling me, "Oh- you won't be here tomorrow."  

Wait.  What?

Nope, she insisted that my baby was much to healthy to be in their NICU.  That her case would easily be able to be handled on the general floor.  That took me a while to wrap my mind around!  But- it was true.  In the morning we were moved out of the isolet and into a floor bed.  I was headed for months of sleeping on a hospital cot.  Good bye sleeper room!  Oh, how I would long to have you back!

We did end up on the general floor the next day.  It didn't mean that Hannah's health had improved by leaps and bounds.  It just meant that the care on the floor in this hospital was a much higher level and her needs could be met there at Children's.  

It still rings in my ears though.  When Francis told me, "Now, you are all quite set right?  You know where to get food, and where to sleep yes?  Get some rest."

Your basic needs are met.  You are fine.  Don't worry. 

This would be my comfort for he next few months.  Get food, get sleep, stay sane, remain thankful.  Wash, rinse, repeat... day after day. 

Thank you for that advice Francis, it got me through many days.

From Matthew 6

25"For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26"Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? 27"And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life?