Often when we talk about pregnancy and childbirth, the story stops once the baby is placed into a new parent's arms. But there's a lot more to a person's time in the hospital (if that's where they gave birth) than just that blissfully happy moment. A person has to heal after giving birth, and there's a whole staff of nurses who help them get there.
Which is why Jill Krause, the blogger behind Baby Rabies, is taking a moment to thank them.
"I'll never forget the faces of the nurses who followed me into the bathroom after delivering each baby," she wrote on Facebook. "That moment when I was so vulnerable, so tired, scared, shaky. My swollen belly deflating, and my modesty long gone. They treated me with such kindness and dignity."
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Even for just those few days or moments in the hospital, when the nurses were teaching her how to make "ice pad underwear," she felt safe. The photo she posted was taken by her photographer friend, MommaKT Shoots, and reminded Krause of "that little bit of time in a bathroom, on a toilet, while a kind nurse shows me how to put an ice pad on my mesh undies."
And she's definitely not the only one who feels kinship and appreciation for the people who make the first shower after giving birth a little bit easier.
"I still feel like the scariest part of leaving the hospital with a newborn is leaving all those nurses behind," Refinery29 parenting editor Laura Norkin, says. "You get so attached; they do so much and are there for you in ways you couldn't have anticipated needing."
So let's hear it for the nurses — they're real-life superheroes to so many people.
Refinery29 has reached out to Krause and will update this post when we receive a response.
Welcome to Mothership: Parenting stories you actually want to read, whether you're thinking about or passing on kids, from egg-freezing to taking home baby and beyond. Because motherhood is a big if — not when — and it's time we talked about it that way.
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