Sweetest Little Cheeks

Azey in Rachel’s hands.

Azey’s isolet sat in the far corner of the NICU. Cerah hesitated to leave, fearing no one would remember her daughter was there.

Though Rachel was assigned to another baby, she saw Cerah’s tears and sat down. “She walked me through every worry and spoke with kindness,” Cerah said.

Rachel became one of Azey’s primary nurses. “I can’t describe the relief I felt on the nights she cared for my daughter,” Cerah said. “I left knowing Azey would be okay.”

“Rachel taught us how to hold Azey, how to understand her tiny body, which cords and tubes did what, and she helped us give Azey her first bath. She believed in our baby. She was honest and upfront but made us feel things would be okay. She’d say, ‘One day, you’ll look at her and never have any idea she was premature or spent all this time here.’”

Rachel nicknamed Azey “Cheeks.” Whenever Cerah entered the room, she found Rachel holding Azey and talking to her as she provided care. “She has the sweetest little cheeks,” Rachel told Cerah. “I have a hard time not kissing them. I love her so much.”

Azey struggled because she’d only eat when certain people held her. Rachel rearranged her schedule to help. “Rachel cheered us on all night,” Cerah said. “With every bottle, she’d smile and offer encouragement. The last morning, she gave us a gift. She said it made her think of Azey, and she couldn’t let us leave without it.”

A year later, Rachel met with Azey and Cerah in town. And when Azey’s siblings needed the NICU, Cerah said, “Anytime we mentioned Rachel, people would talk about how smart she was and how much they missed her working there.”

“Without Rachel, our baby might have been okay, but I wouldn’t have,” Cerah concluded. “She carried me through the hardest days, the discouraging days, and days when I was mentally and emotionally depleted. And Rachel was right; eight-year-old Azey excels socially and academically and is an amazing athlete. You’d never know she was our 30-week-2-day-3-pound baby.”