Hats off to Heritage

Many people ask why I chose to drive 45 minutes each way to Tarboro when I could have received all of my OB care in Greenville.  The citizens of Greenville automatically assume that there is no medical facility superior to Pitt County Memorial Hospital and there is no OB better than those within our city limits.  They are so very misinformed!  Heritage Hospital and Tarboro Women's Center--recently picked up by the University Health System and renamed--gave me a phenomenal experience during my pregnancy and Lucas' birth.  I can't thank all of the doctors and nurses enough.  Everyone was wonderful and treated us like family.  Until Tarboro Women's Center is struck by lightening, sucked into a black hole, and erased from the face of the earth I will never consider going anywhere else for baby-related medical care.

Here are some of the reasons why the 45 minute drive is well worth it.

This is Donna, our labor and delivery nurse.  She was amazing.  I actually think she missed her calling.  She should have been a flight attendant for an airline with a shady reputation because no one in this world is more calm, reassuring, and professional during a crisis than she is.  Donna was great and made me feel confident in the staff's ability to help us when Lucas was in fetal distress and I was being prepped for a very urgent c-section.  She was very grounded and explained everything that was going on quickly and plainly.  She does not work at Pitt Memorial and if you go there to have a baby some lesser human will attend to your needs.

I just realized that I did not get permission to post pictures of the medical staff.  If you are in a picture posted here and do not want to see it on this blog, complain to me and I will gladly remove it.

This is Janet, AKA "The Baby Whisperer."  She was Lucas' nursery nurse.  She is nothing short of a miracle with babies.  I'm pretty sure that the babies Janet cares for score higher on the SAT than those who are cared for by nurses elsewhere.  Janet has been a nursery nurse for many years and has taken care of many babies.  She was so very knowledgeable and informative.  I always felt totally comfortable sending Lucas to the nursery so that I could rest and she always came by my hospital room to educate us and give us advice.  She gave Lucas so much love.  I remember picking up Lucas from the nursery and hearing that he just spent a long time spread out on Janet's knees while she rocked him.  Thanks for giving our son such wonderful treatment during his first 48 hours in the world.

Amanda was one of my post c-section nurses.  She was very sweet and helpful.  I always felt comfortable asking her questions and knowing that she was just around the corner if I needed anything.  She very sweetly told us that she was happy to have gotten to meet us because she doesn't always get to work with "good" parents.  Wow!  Amanda, please check back when Lucas is seven and has covered the living room with mud or has pulled some other childhood stunt.  You may need to retract your positive appraisal of our parenting skills.  Amanda is also neat because she works hard and has three kids.  Thanks for everything, Amanda!

 This is Lauren, another very hardworking mother of three.  She was probably the nurse I remember taking care of me the most after my c-section.  Lauren is a call bell answering machine.  No one answers the call bell as fast as she does.  It's quite impressive.  Something about the post-surgery morphine/percocet haze made me press the call bell quite often, but Lauren never seemed to mind.  She always took great care of me and had lots of patience.  I also remember her being very attentive, calm, professional, and sweet.  Thanks for being on top of things!

 In this picture, on the far left, there is a wonderful nurse named Lisa.  I will never forget Lisa for as long as I live.  The night after my c-section was tough and I was exhausted and hurt a lot.  I had been up for so long and had been given so many different kinds of drugs--drugs to start labor, drugs to stop labor, drugs to stop labor a second time, spinal anesthesia, something called duramorph?, morphine, benadryl--that I started to lose my composure.  "Losing my composure" is the nice way to say that I absolutely freaked out.  Lisa stayed in my room and held my hand for a very long time when she didn't really have to.  She was so nice and made me feel so much better.  Because of her help I was able to rest for a while and felt like a new woman after waking up again.  Lisa, you are a goddess.  Truly.  Thank you.

This is my new little family with Dr. Lee.  Dr. Lee delivered Lucas and was the OB I saw the most at Tarboro Women's during my pregnancy.  His sterling reputation drew me to Tarboro Women's for my OB care.  Dr. Lee is absolutely wonderful.  He also delivered my oldest nephew, Jackson.  Dr. Lee is a local legend and has been taking care of women and their babies in Tarboro for twenty-four years.  I don't think he's had a single complaint yet.  He is extremely kind, caring, and knowledgeable.  He addresses even the smallest of patient concerns and always made me feel comfortable and relaxed.  He is so experienced that he is completely unflappable.  Other doctors should take lessons on bedside manner from Dr. Lee.  He technically was not on call when I had Lucas but he came to Heritage before 8:00am to deliver him anyway.  Wow.  Dr. Lee, if you ever need a kidney, etc. you know who to ask.