The Nurse Who Knew Them by Heartbeat

In the neonatal intensive care unit at Vanderbilt Children's Hospital, a veteran nurse named Carolyn has spent twenty-three years caring for premature infants. Some of her patients weigh barely more than a pound. They arrive translucent-skinned, their fingers thinner than matchsticks, their lungs not yet ready for the air. But ask Carolyn about any baby in her ward, and she will tell you things the monitors cannot.…