Tuesday, August 5, 2008

About Last Night...

...it was like night and day. My shift started at 1900 and I was listed as working in Periop. This means I either go into the OR with a C Section mom and "do" the baby. Meaning I take the baby fresh from the open womb and dry him/her vigurously with the Pediatrician and assess the baby; give the meds; put bracelets on, ect ect. I'll try not to bore you lol.

Anyway last night I commented on my Moms Huge belly as we prepped her for the surgery. I mean she was Ginormous! Well you can always get a pretty good idea about the size of a baby as soon as the Doc pulls the head out. This babys cheeks were just fatter than I've ever seen! Weight of this baby was 12lbs 1oz. I'm Not kidding you!! Wow she beat Me I said lol. My first baby was 11lbs 7 and 3/4oz. Peanuts compaired to this little boy!! Sad thing was he had to go to NICU tho. Baby was grunting and had a low blood sugar. But he will be fine. Just needs a bit of help to get his system working well. He was absolutely adorable. I could of just kissed him!

Later I was covering for a nurse who had to leave the unit for her break. Her pt. was 20 weeks with twins and in PTL. Pre Term Labor. She was lying in Trendelenburg position which means her feet were higher than her head! Looked Uncomfortable! Her BIG problem was one of her babys amniotic bag had ruptured and his little leg was down in moms vagina. NOT a good thing BTW! Basically this is a death sentence. The baby is too young to save...and its only a matter of time, probaby days before he is born. A baby is not viable ( I hate that word!) until about 24 weeks. She put her light on and I answered it..
"I feel more movement in my vagina than I did earlier" she said. Ohh no I think. I get the resident and she does a speculum exam. She points out the little leg protruding in the moms vagina. This is a heartbreaking situation. The parents are in their mid 30s and have no children. This is an IVF. In Vitro Fertilization pregnancy.
The "hope" is to sew her cervix shut once baby A is born. Can this work? Probably not...but it could. So I reassure the mom and say a little prayer in my mind as I walk out her door. I also said a prayer for her NOT to deliver while I was in charge of her for the next 30 mins. Lucky for me she did not.

So I had highs and lows at work last night. Great joy for a sweet fat little baby boy and great sadness for the small living but doomed babys still unborn.

..I still love my job tho. It's strange the strength that comes to you when you need it. When I think about some of these things I feel really saddened and ackward about dealing with the situations. But when they actually happen, I step up to the plate. I get pleasure in doing what I can do to help. Thank God!!

2 comments:

slh35661 said...

That is definitely the nature of working with pregnant women in the settings we do. We work mostly with the highs, and we work with the very lows. Yet, it is the greatest service to others...to care for them as they go through these times that are life changing.
This is my first visit to your blog. I have enjoyed reading your stories.

Prisca: said...

I love big babies-they are YUMMY! ;)