On Neonatal Nurses Appreciation Day, I just want to say thank you.

Thank you for working 12 hours straight. For working in the middle of the night when the rest of us are sleeping. For getting peed on, pooped on, thrown up on, drooled on and not complaining about it. You guys are angels and don’t get enough credit.

Thank you for not judging me for having three babies in the NICU in three years. My babies were the biggest in the NICU at 5lbs, 14oz; 8lbs, 6oz; and 8lbs, 14oz. They weren’t born super early nor were they really tiny. But you still cared for them with no judgment.

Thank you for all your hard work. For staying up in the middle of the night with my babies when I couldn’t be there. For rocking them to sleep, feeding them, changing them, and taking their temperature. For comforting them when they cried.

For teaching me how to change a diaper. For encouraging me to continue breastfeeding even when it got hard. And then supporting me when I chose to feed my babies with formula from a bottle.

Thank you for understanding the importance of having them baptised before a big surgery. For letting all of our family members visit them every day even though sometimes we were really loud.

Thank you for making my first Mother’s Day special by decorating Nicholas’s crib for me. My first born wasn’t at home with me, but you made it feel like home.

Thank you for taking the time to get to know my babies. Like when my son Daniel was taken off the breathing ventilator. You felt like his breathing wasn’t right and later that day his lung collapsed. You knew him and your gut feeling was right. Thank you for paying attention to him.

Thank you for helping my daughter Grace when she had MRSA. For giving her medicine and antibiotics so she could get better. For making our third stay in the NICU comfortable.

Thank you for teaching me how to feed Nicholas and Grace by feeding tube. For teaching me how to change Daniel’s colostomy bag.

Thank you for calling me with updates. For reminding me that self-care is important and that I can take a break from coming to the hospital. That was the best advice I ever received.

Thank you for trying to make us feel normal by reading to them and playing with them. For dressing them in cute outfits and decorating their cribs on special days like Mother’s Day, Memorial Day, Father’s Day, and Valentine’s Day.

Thank you for taking them to their MRIs, ultrasounds, swallow studies, procedures, and surgeries.

Thank you for fighting for them. Thank you for your kindness and compassion. Thank you for your knowledge.

You made an unfamiliar place feel like home. You showed me the NICU didn’t need to be scary. You were the light in a time of darkness. Thank you for caring. I appreciate you.