Parent Blog: Jennifer Minteer
In their words
Jennifer Minteer
Wellsburg, Iowa
Our son, Conor, was born in Waterloo by scheduled c-section (39 weeks and a day). It was a normal delivery until about an hour after, when Conor was having issues breathing. We were transferred by ambulance to Cedar Rapids the next day. Conor was transferred to the University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital by ambulance on Thursday, May 26, 2016, from Cedar Rapids. He was transferred due to him suffering from pulmonary hypertension, and it was thought that he needed ECMO. Conor's health was extremely bad when he was transferred, with the risk of him not making the transfer.
The moment our transfer team from the university arrived in Cedar Rapids, they were amazing! They kept us calm and kept us informed of what they were doing and what they were seeing with Conor.
Once we arrived in Iowa City and at the NICU, we already could feel the care. The receptionist helped get us set up with a place to stay and let us know the moment Conor was up in his room. Our transfer nurse came out and got us and even brought us back to see Conor. She stayed with us a short while as we spoke with Conor's doctors and got our information to the nurses. The doctors came out to the waiting room and gave us updates on Conor every five minutes.
The care that we received from the doctors and nurses was amazing. Lauren, our Bay 1 nurse, was amazing. She calmed all of our fears during Conor's most critical period. All of the nurses were amazing that we had. Every night that we were gone from Conor's room, we called at 3 a.m. to find out how he was doing. We got to speak directly to his nurse!
Every morning that we there, we were involved and spoke with all of Conor's team during their rounds. When my husband returned home to care for our older son Braxtyn, the care team let me have him on the phone, and they would communicate things with him and answered any questions we had. Our doctors from Bay 1 checked on us when we were no longer in their care. Our transfer nurse, Lynnette, checked on us multiple times while we were there. They truly care about you and your family. They made such an impact on our family. At Braxtyn’s bible school, they were asked to draw something that they were thankful for. He drew a hospital because it helps people!
It was the best experience we could have had—not exactly what we wanted to go through to have that experience, but they were truly amazing! We would recommend the hospital to anyone.