w s

w

qw Imomp-


IW

w

$B Wedesdy, ovebe

PERSONALSTATEM ENT

NURSING A DREAM

.T H

VOL EERING. IN A NEEONAATAL IC
B3Y PAIGE PEARCY

with about three babies to look
after, talks about the babies as if
they are their own.
"Look at her! She's smiling!
She's smiling!" One of nurses
exclaimed as we were monitoring
vitals.
The nurse told me the baby had
been under their care since she
was only 24 weeks in gestation.
"Now she's going home. She did
it, she made it and now her pretty
little face is leaving us," the nurse
said.
The nurses and doctors were
the proud parents the babies

he baby had what?! I
didn't think that was
possible."
"Oh yes, we see it all the time
with the preemies. Their intes-
tines are outside of their bodies
when they are born, and then
they undergo an operation to put
them back in."
And then, I knew. I wanted
to help these little babies, all 47
of them - twice the number the
hospital was staffed for - lying
still and silent within the Tufts
Medical Center hospital in Bos-
ton, and everywhere else in the
world.
They all looked helpless - some
on ventilators, others with count-
DATING
From Page 5B
the bar or something, you can tell
right away whether or not you hit it
off with them," Andrzejewski said.
"For me, it's usually within the first
five minutes I can tell whether or
not I want to give the guy my num-
ber."
- Deputy Statement Editor Devon
Thorsby contributed to this report
FOLLOW
US ON
TWITTER!
@MICHIGANDAILY

less, small plastic tubes coming
out of them. Most of them could
not vocalize their pain though
they were undoubtedly experi-
encing it. Smaller than a demi-
loaf of bread, with their entire
futures ahead of them, these
babies needed hope and that was
all I could give them.
I was not a doctor, a nurse or a
technician. I was just an observ-
er, a job-shadower. Though, after
15 minutes of walking and talking
to all the babies, who likely could
not see or hear me, all I wanted
was a set of scrubs and a stetho-
scope. They did nothing wrong to
deserve this uncertain life, and it
is my goal to remove the uncer-

tainty, someday, when I am a neo-
natologist.
Experiencing a day in the Neo-
natal Intensive Care Unit opened
my eyes to true love. Since Tufts
Medical Center is an inner-city

difficult endeavor. It is easy to get
lost in life and forget about every-
one else. But spending time with
the premature babies in Tufts, to
whom I could honestly only give
my love to since I was qualified to
do nothing more, was a humbling
experience. I realized the impor-
tance of love in not only relation-
ships but also in professions and
any venture one tackles.
I have been fortunate in life
to be surrounded by support and
love for every choice and accom-
plishment I have made, and per-
haps that is why I want to give it
to others.
It is my turn to help and offer
the love others gave to me to
those who need it - to get excited
when three pounds of life smiles
or burps, but most importantly,
to know that I am making the
uncertain lives of preemies more
certain and providing them the
future they deserve.
- Paige Pearcy is an LSA
sophomore and Daily Staff Reporter.

were lacking.
"They all looked helpless - And, amazingly,
the nurses were
some on ventilators, others with happy to talk
about every baby
countless, small plastic tubes." at length, even
though many of
hospital, a majority of the babies them were working double shifts
come from unstable, dangerous and long hours to accommodate
homes. Many of their parents their over-crowded ward. They
rarely visit them, yet there is the never tired talking about "their"
feeling of so much love. babies.
The small staff of nurses, each Giving unconditional love is a

Last week's puzzle answers
A L OT P E L E B E A T
rr
F K
A R TN A L
Hy N S E G 0 ~G HANA
ADAD HEIR REFER
E Y CO D'EASET CR R
4 EE; DBASE
E < A T A N T LO
LIKE US ON FACEBOOK
http://www.facebook.com/michigandaily

INe dicligan EailY
MFI GN 4 SATL4

Hoke'sfirst team tastes redemption