The most helpless I ever felt was right after my daughter was born eight years ago.
Although she was considered full-term at 38 weeks, she was only 4 pounds and 2 ounces at birth and was born with a congenital heart defect. She experienced respiratory distress upon entering the world, and was immediately intubated and taken to the NICU. Just a few hours later she was transferred to the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit at a children’s hospital in another state, while I stayed put.
My daughter calls it “the blue hospital”.