The Gift of Empathy This Holiday Season, Nested Classes in 2022, and more!

Reflecting on the past 12 months, I am so very thankful and proud of our Nested team for what we have achieved, the education and the care we have been able to provide to our clients and community through our in-person and LIVE virtual classes, and will continue to offer in 2022! Recently, one of the clients told me, “Your teachers practice medicine and have families – they truly have superpowers”…

THE GIFT OF EMPATHY THIS HOLIDAY SEASON…As the Thanksgiving holiday approached, I realized the stark comparison between last year’s Thanksgiving and this year’s. In 2020, Thanksgiving was bittersweet for me… and, having it as a virtual meal with my family and friends, made me realize all that I had to be thankful for — even more so due to the COVID pandemic. Like so many others, I felt alone and isolated, and I was burnt out from the long hours, the extra precautions, and the added risks of going to work every day as a “front line” health care worker. I felt an obligation to my family, my friends and my patients to limit my participation in social gatherings, including Thanksgiving or flying to see my family so as to not to unknowingly spread the virus. This burden fell heavily on many of us working with pregnant patients because they needed to remain healthy throughout their pregnancy.

I confessed to one of my closest friends that Thanksgiving dinner is, in fact, my favorite meal of the year. It evokes so many fond memories of my childhood, the sound of leaves crunching under my shoes, and of course, the veggie lasagna my mom always made. While this may seem strange, talking about veggie lasagna when turkey is the traditional Thanksgiving meal for most families, as vegetarians, veggie lasagna was our go-to. This is what I knew and looked for in the holiday’s festivities. I even recall the first time I went to a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, and I asked, “where is the veggie lasagna?” giving everyone a good laugh.

I, like so many people last year, was fortunately able to enjoy a Thanksgiving meal albeit, physically alone, but virtually together with friends and family through Zoom visits. They made me feel welcome in our shared experience. It was nice to have some normalcy and not talk about COVID and have people ask me about my life outside of what was going on. They were all happy to chat as we ate a meal together. Yes, we were in different places, eating different things, but we made the best of the situation. We were able to connect as humans, all experiencing the same circumstance and finding the peculiar situation something to be grateful for and provide one another with kindness, empathy, a sense of comfort, a sense of being known and not being alone. 

Afterwards, I was energized to do the same for others, especially my patients. Even with a very busy schedule, the best thing I could do when I walked into the room (unable to hug or shake hands or see my smile) was to offer the sentiment that I was happy to see them, and asked how I could help them. Normally patient visits were about their medical concerns, I realized that I was most likely the only person that they’d seen in a week or even a month. And by simply listening about their fears, the people that were sick in their lives or had passed away, I was privy to a story that probably was never intended to be heard. Being a physician assistant, my job was to evaluate their medical concerns but I felt that just by allowing the space for them to worry and grieve for the family or friends they couldn’t be with was far more important. I was just passing along the lessons learned from my virtual Thanksgiving meal. 

I continue to be so very grateful for the opportunity it afforded me to see my life from a new perspective and regain an appreciation for my purpose. As the world begins to open up, I’m grateful that my family and I got to celebrate together, my whole family, and we are all healthy. While Devouring  our  traditional vegetarian lasagna surrounded by my family, my thoughts  were to hope others – especially those who work in medicine – also felt a sense of gratitude, thankful for our health and the sacrifices we have made to help others.

After reflecting on the last 12 months, I am certain that I am doing exactly what I should be doing –working in women’s health care and teaching at Nested. Though we are not through the pandemic, I am thankful and proud of our Nested team for what we have achieved in the past year and the education and care we have been able to provide to our clients and community through our in-person and LIVE virtual classes. Our clients have been so grateful for Nested’s ability to continue with childbirth preparation, newborn care, infant CPR, and breastfeeding preparation courses, especially during such an enduring time for expecting parents. Last week one of the clients told me, “Your teachers practice medicine and have families – they truly have superpowers.” 

COVID-19 has taken its toll on the lives of so many healthcare workers, all deserving a shout-out. So, I am dedicating this newsletter to the intelligent, strong, and compassionate Nested team. Yes, they DO have superpowers, as you can see in these photos, for doing what they do and I am so grateful for their support and friendship!

NESTED CLASSES IN 2022

• Registration is NOW OPEN for Nested’s January – March 2022 classes! Did you know that Nested provides the SAME comprehensive curriculum content for classes regardless of the format (in-person, online VIDEO, and LIVE Virtual interactive)? Did you know that Nested’s HIPAA-compliant professional-produced online VIDEO classes have Closed Captioning (CC)? To learn more about our class format options, please visit our Class Overview page, and REGISTER TODAY!  Nested continues to closely monitor pandemic government & agency requirements, guidance and statistics. As stated on our website, in-person classes may need to be changed to LIVE virtual classes due to the pandemic. 
• In-person class locations in Washington, DC, Arlington, VA, & Falls Church, VA — Nested is thrilled to be able to offer our in-person classes at 3 locations: our headquarters in Arlington, VA with both an indoor AND outdoor classroom space; the Edlavitch DCJCC in Washington, DC; and, the lovely “living room-like” RE/MAX West End office space of The Chrissy & Lisa Team in Falls Church, VA.

TWO NEW CLASSES IN 2022!

Nested is excited to announce that we will be offering 2 NEW classes starting in 2022! More information, including detailed class descriptions, dates and registration links will be added to our website and class calendar soon.

• American Red Cross adult, infant and child CPR Certification classes
• Teen Babysitting and Child Care classes — to teach young people the basics of caring for young children, including how to know what type of babysitter they you, how to negotiate a rate, interviewing a family, and of course, CPR and First Aid

NESTED DISCOUNTS & GIFT IDEAS!

Looking for GIFT ideas for your friend / partner / family member who is expecting?

• GIVE the GIFT of Nested! Looking for the perfect gift for your friend / partner / relative who is expecting soon? Are your loved ones asking what you want for the holidays? Suggest a Nestedbaby.com GIFT CARD so you / they can register for Nested classes! 
• Visit our Collaborations & Partnerships page to find discount codes & more from Nested’s partners including Doulas of Capitol Hill, Monti Kids, MyKineFitness.com, and theSoupergirl.com!

We hope you know that we are thinking about you and are here for you on your pregnancy journey! As such, we would like to provide you with a gift of a $20 discount code: special20 when you register for one of our in-person classes. AND, be sure to take advantage of our December SALE for one-month access to our online VIDEO classes for only $150 — NOTE: Must be purchased by 12/31/2021, NO coupon code needed (regular price is $185)!

Wishing you and your family a safe, healthy and loving Holiday season!  

Nidhi & the Nested Team

Nidhi Reva | Founder & Managing Director and Instructor

Nidhi Reva’s passion for working with underserved populations inspired Nested’s mission of empowerment through education. Nested LLC’s mission is to empower women and their families, both locally and abroad, by providing them with childbirth and newborn care education as well as invaluable medical and public health resources.