Sons' challenges lead to a new career for working mom

Ten years ago, Sarah Beecher never would have imagined the life she has today. Beecher, a registered nurse in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin-Fox Valley, was working as a waitress and raising her daughter, Ariana, with her husband, Ray.

If fate hadn't intervened, "I'd probably still be a waitress and I'd have 10 kids in
a two-bedroom apartment," she said with a laugh. "I've always loved kids."

But Beecher's life was turned upside down when she became pregnant with her son, Raymond, who was born with x-linked hydrocephalus. The birth defect causes
severe physical and developmental delays.

Raymond was diagnosed in utero during the 20th week of pregnancy. At a meeting with their physician, Beecher and her husband were told that their son would
have a 50 percent chance of having the defect, while daughters would have a
50 percent chance of being "carriers."

Raymond was born during a planned Caesarean section at 35 weeks and spent some time in the NICU as one of Children's Hospital's first patients in the Fox Valley.

Beecher watched the nursing staff as they cared for her son. "I remember thinking,
'I want to do that.'" The experience inspired her to enter the nursing program at Fox Valley Technical College. While she pursued her degree, she worked at Children's Hospital-Fox Valley as a health technician.

Several years later, she and Ray found out they were expecting a third child. Their baby, Nicholas, had the same genetic defect as Raymond. "We were hoping that he wouldn't have it...but I could see it (on the ultrasound) before they even told me," Beecher said. Nicholas also received care at Children's Hospital-Fox Valley.

While everybody hopes for a healthy child, Beecher said she feels blessed in spite of her boys' medical conditions. They have helped her grow and set her life on an exciting, new course.

Beecher earned her nursing degree and works full time in the NICU. "I always
wanted to work at Children's," she said. "That's the only place I wanted to work.
It's amazing. I get to learn from the people I looked up to," she said.

Beecher has a special understanding of what many patient families face because she lives it every day. She often uses her experience to encourage families, and she learns from her patients' families, as well.

"We just had a mom who was dealing with a new diagnosis," she recalled. "Watching her go through that, watching her come to accept it and grow into the role of a mother with a special needs child, enriched me."