Hospital Visitors Parts Two and Three: Friends and Medical Professionals

[the post title originally said 'friends and staff' but that made it sound too much like our gardener and chef stopped by to see us, which obviously would never happen - their place is in the yard and kitchen, respectively - so I opted for the more formal 'medical professionals'...]

Our hospital stay was pretty quiet overall (you know, when Carma's three older brothers weren't in the vicinity) but we did have a few friends stop by, which was lovely! Starting with Emily and Brenda, who came and cuddled Carma lots and brought lots of love from everyone at church:

Next up was the always sweet and darling Star! I've known Star forever - I used to tutor her when I was in high school - and she's come to the hospital to see me every time (maybe except for Clyde...) I've had a baby. We're horrible at getting together otherwise, so it's been a good excuse to see each other over the years! Carma loved being held by Star, and I loved the cute BSU dress and pacifiers Star brought as gifts!

Just as Star was leaving, the Haws family (well, all but Raegan) appeared! They were in the neighborhood for a doctor's appt and sneaked up, which was really fun. Brehner was pretty intrigued by the baby; I think he needs a baby sister, Tawny and Troy! :)

We had such a great experience at St. Luke's, and that was due mostly to the excellent doctors and nurses who took care of us. Starting, of course, with my dear ob/gyn! Dr. Klomp is such a dear; I can't imagine anyone else delivering my babies. He knows two of my uncles really well (one on each side) as well as my mom, and has known me literally my entire life - he delivered me 29+ years ago :). Really, what other doctor would hug me and tell me that he loves me at the end of every appointment?

Carma was actually due on Dr. Klomp's birthday, May 18th, but we obviously did the c-section two days prior. But that meant we were in the hospital on the 18th and got to see Dr. Klomp when he came that evening to check on me! I had a very high quality homemade birthday card for him and made him pose for more pictures :). I'm so grateful for what a good doctor he is and how well we get along; I always joke that I'll keep having babies just so I have an excuse to go see him regularly!

Next up is Elise, who was my nurse from pre-op to recovery and who was absolutely wonderful. She was calm and steady and friendly and professional and constant - it's always nice to know that the same person is there through every step of that process. (I remember when Clyde was born, I was going into the c-section right as the sweet nurse who had been with me all night was scheduled to go home but she ended up staying longer just to see me through, sooo sweet). Here are Elise and Carma right after we went up into our room from recovery:

Once we were in our room, we were blessed with Katherine as our nurse. We managed not to get a picture of her face, but here she is helping Clyde and Will use stethoscopes to listen to Carma's heart - isn't that so sweet and darling and nice of her? Katherine was wonderful; the few hours after a c-section are a fun wave of euphoria of having a new baby and being on some pretty potent painkillers, but there's also the realities of just having had abdominal surgery and then a whole bunch o' hormones mixed in. Katherine was sweet and got me everything I needed before I knew I needed it. Loved her.

Mari Lou! We had Mari Lou two years ago when Jack was born, and both Chuck and I were excited to have her again. Very friendly and competent and not afraid to do what needs to be done. She and I had a few chances to really talk (about families, babies, her granddaughter coming for the summer, etc) and it was really nice.

Ohhh, Marian. This picture gets me every time. Marian was another nurse that we'd had with Jack and loved; we were bummed to only have her for one shift this go-round. Marian was such an advocate for me and what was best; she was excellent at staying on top of my meds and was so attentive. She was really caught off guard when I asked to take her picture with Carma, but LOVED the result; she somewhat shyly asked if I could text the picture to her (which, of course, I did. I also included a printed copy with her thank you note, as I did with all of these). I don't know how to explain it, but my time with Marian was really special.

Kayli! Loved Kayli. We had her Saturday and Sunday, and ended up leaving on Monday right as she was getting on shift (see the next picture). Kayli was really fun to talk to and a great nurse. My favorite thing was how she brought us cookies every night :). She was so mad that her hair wasn't done on Sunday when we took this picture, haha:

Which is why we took this one real quick on Monday as we were leaving. Kayli also loved all the beautiful flowers that adorned my hospital room (my dad, Chuck's dad, and Brenda all brought me beautiful bouquets!) so we told her that she could have first dibs on the ones that we left behind for the nurse's station :).

And last but not least, Judy! [last that I have pictured, in addition we had several wonderful nurses/nurse's assistants, everyone was great]. Judy ensured that our stay ended with the same great level of care that we enjoyed the whole weekend. I especially liked that she told me I did NOT have to carry Carma down in her carseat on my lap; that Chuck could carry her, regardless of what transport said. (The transport guy didn't end up saying a word about it, he looked a little wary of me in general, smart man...).

And then it was time to bring our sweet Carma June home, hooray!