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"Thank You BIDMC"
On Saturday, May 2, my daughter Samantha Isabelle was born at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, MA. We had such a wonderful experience at the hospital that we wanted to send a letter to thank everyone that was involved in the greatest moment of our lives.
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TO: Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Labor & Delivery, 10th Floor
Recovery, 6th Floor
Patient Relations
CC: Paul Levy, CEO BIDMCBIDMC Staff Members,
I am writing to thank you for the wonderful experience my wife and I had during our recent stay at your hospital for the birth of our first child, Samantha Isabelle Riecke.
Our doctors had recommended that our daughter’s birth be induced since it had appeared her growth had slowed in the final weeks leading up to our due date. Though we had been given a full rundown of what that would entail, as first-time parents we were still pretty nervous.
We were prepared for a long night as we were being admitted to our own delivery room around 11pm on Friday, May 1. The nurses and residents that tended to my wife were amazing. We developed a comfort level with each of them very quickly. After becoming comfortable with one nurse, we were upset when they would go off shift – I guess asking someone to stay at work through a full labor that could theoretically last 24 hours is a little too much. However, the nurse that followed was always just as nice and professional as the last and we were put at ease very quickly.
As the late night turned into the early morning, my one complaint was the lack of a comfortable arrangement for myself. I know it sounds selfish, but as my wife slept through a few rounds of contractions, I agonized in an old wooden rocking chair. After 15 minutes of sleep, I woke up feeling so sore that I asked the anesthesiologist if I could have an epidural as well!
As the dawn emerged, a new nurse was on shift. In this case, our new nurse was Cheryl. Cheryl was quick to notice that my wife was still experiencing some spots of pain despite her epidural. Though my wife thought she would just have to grin and bear it at that point, Cheryl would have none of it and called in the anesthesia-guy to fix things right away. By the time she was through, my wife was feeling no pain at all.
We began pushing around 8:30am. I didn’t really know what to expect – I figured I’d just hang out around my wife’s head area and that there would probably be some kind of sheet or barrier between me and the real action. But when Cheryl rigidly stated, “I’m going to grab this leg and you grab that leg”, I took orders like an obedient soldier. And I’m glad I did – it all happened so fast and was so intense that without that little push, I may have chickened out and not participated as much in my daughter’s birth. Deep down, I really wanted to be there as much as possible; I just needed someone to walk me through.
Dr. Mary Vadnais was the doctor who delivered our baby. I had never met Dr. Vadnais before that day, but when she introduced herself to us, she seemed to have the right temperament of friendliness and familiarity with the situation.
Doctors are like airline pilots in some ways. Both of them have your lives in their hands, so when you size them up you look for certain qualities. I generally look for a sense of confidence – which can be shown in body language, posture, and general control of the room. Dr. Vadnais had plenty of confidence, which put us both at ease.
As the baby crowned she asked me if I wanted to “cut the cord”. At that point, I felt like such a major part of the action that I just went along with it and said yes. But when our daughter Samantha emerged, I noticed the cord seemed all over the place. In fact, it was wrapped around her neck.
Though I had heard of the possibility of this happening, it took a moment for me to process this important bit of information. By the time I had realized what was going on, Dr. Vadnais, exhibiting cat-like reflexes, had clipped and cut the cord herself. I looked to see if our baby’s head was blue (I don’t know why – just seemed like the next thing to look for). It was not. Cheryl grabbed little Samantha in her first free moments of life and placed her on my wife’s chest. Disaster averted, miracle complete.
I cannot thank Dr. Vadnais enough. I know it’s her job to be prepared for such a circumstance and I don’t know how often it actually happens. But the calmness and quickness in which she handled the situation was incredibly impressive.
After some time, we were sent to recovery where we had our own room prepared for the rest of my wife’s stay. Over the next few days, our nurse Renee gave us lessons on how to feed, change and bathe Samantha. Though those sound like elementary skills, it was definitely comforting to know exactly what to do and not do.
Our experience at Beth Israel was amazing. We would like to thank all of our nurses and doctors for making it that way, but unfortunately we have forgotten some of their names – especially during 4am contractions when our energy and attention was focused elsewhere. If possible, we were hoping you could get a list for us of all the doctors and nurses that helped us in Labor and Delivery on Friday night into Saturday morning (May 1 and 2), and in Maternity from Saturday through Monday (May 2-4).
Thank you again and who knows… maybe we’ll see you again in a couple of years!
Sincerely,
Scott and Kelly Riecke
If you would like to comment on this letter, Scott can be reached at info@aletteraweek.com (please include your name and town).
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