25-year-old labor nurse puts a bead in a jar after every delivery — her reason has people in tears

A labor and delivery nurse plays a vital role in a family's big yet special moment. Not only new parents but also the nurses cherish these powerful moments. Similarly, in order to commemorate each delivery, a nurse named Jayuanna Thomas–who goes by @jayuanna.lenee on TikTok–has started a special bead jar. The 25-year-old labor and delivery nurse has been collecting different colored beads for each baby she delivered. Thomas shared the meaning behind each bead color in a video and people on the internet were overwhelmed with emotion.

Thomas shared that she received a lot of questions about the baby bead jar. "I started this baby bead jar whenever I was working as a nurse, at the time when I was still at nursing school, working nights." The registered nurse shared that there were 211 baby beads in the jar (the number had turned into 218 by the time she posted the video). There were 117 blue beads for all the baby boys she had delivered and 90 pink beads for all the baby girls she had delivered. "I use yellows for the babies who are born sleeping. All of my babies, of course, are super special to me, but I want to make sure that I always remember my yellow babies and all of my yellow families. Because they are just as important as my blues and as my pinks."

Also, she had one purple bead for a "nurse delivery" for the one time she delivered a baby by herself without the doctor in the room, as the baby had come too fast. "That is something that happens to a lot of delivery nurses. So I went ahead and denoted it with purple because I think it was really cool," Thomas explained. She had two green beads for two special families that she "never ever ever wanted to forget." Those two deliveries touched her heart in a special way, and she always wanted to remember them. She had also delivered one set of twins. "I like to get to know my patients as people and not just as my patient for the night. This fosters such a strong connection between me and their families and makes the entire birth experience more enjoyable!" Thomas said, per Newsweek.

About her bead jar, she expressed, "I thought it would be cool for me to have one to remember all the deliveries I have attended. Since then, I have been consistent with remembering to add a different bead every shift!" Thomas revealed that she wanted to be an obstetrician-gynecologist (OB-GYN) and deliver babies since she was five years old. "I never wanted to be anything else. One of my favorite parts of my job, outside of being able to see life being brought into the world, is sitting in my patients' rooms for hours getting to know them, their likes, dislikes, music preferences, what books they're reading, etc."

People in the comments shared their thoughts on her tradition. @kenziiemeijer_ wrote, "You should attach twin births to a string! So you can have them connected!" @michellepederse14 commented, "Labor and delivery nurse here…31 years. There isn’t a jar big enough for all my babies. Around 9000!" @indiargriffith shared, "My daughter is someone's yellow bead, but she is forever my first pink bead." @karin.ashley1 expressed, "As the mom of a baby boy born sleeping, 41 years ago, 3 weeks overdue, it was the nurse I remember after all of these years. She was a bright light at a dark time."

You can follow Jayuanna Thomas (@jayuanna.lennee) on TikTok for more lifestyle content.