Day 9: Finding "Friends"

Today was a somewhat regular day in the NICU. I was with Deb again, who had the 27-weekers (the very first babies I had on day one) with the addition of a third baby who was admitted at 1:30 a.m. last night for drug withdrawal. When I came in, three different people were trying to find his "friends" as they called them, but no one was able to feel them. They said either they are sucked up too far or he doesn't have any at all, and he will get an ultrasound done to find out. As soon as they were finished, I fed and cuddled him for over an hour.

Before today, I handn't done very much with my hands inside an isolette, but today Deb let me change their diapers, switch their oximeters on their feet, take their temperatures, and listen to their hearts. One of the babies still had a really distinct heart murmur, which I was able to easily hear. When I listened to the other baby's heart, the beat sounded crisp and clear, but I knew that he previously had a heart murmur, which confused me a little bit. I told Deb that I didn't hear a murmur, and she said that was because his medications worked, and he doesn't have one anymore! I was pretty proud of myself for being able to distinguish the difference.

Deb walked me through some of the important things she looks for in an assessment from top to bottom. First, she said she looks for ear tags, which apparently indicate that the baby has kidney problems or abnormalities! I would have never guessed that. Second, she said she makes sure they have a palate because sometimes babies can have cleft palate without a cleft also in their lip, so she opens their mouth to make sure they have a normal palate. Third, she makes sure they have an anus, because some babies can be born without one, which obviously is not good at all! In that case, they have to go to surgery to surgically create an anus.

Today I got to see one of the babies get suited up to be flown to another hospital. The baby was actually doing well, but the parents don't live anywhere near St. V's, so they flew the baby out to a hospital closer to the parents. Two of the nurses put on full-bodied navy blue suits that said "Neonate Team" on the back, and they were responsible for going with the EMTs and safely getting the baby to another NICU in a transport isolette.

St. V's has a cuddler program where occasionally people come in to hold and cuddle the babies, and today a cuddler came in, and it turns out she was Katie Holmes' mom! I talked to her for awhile and heard about what it is like to be the mom of a celebrity. Again...never did I expect that to happen during this intensive!

Some nurses that I have been with teach me a lot but don't let me do very much, whereas others are the opposite and let me do as much as I can. I've learned that both nurses complement each other and help me achieve different goals. For example, Kelli taught me so much about many drugs, syndromes and various medical conditions, as well as a lot of the different equipment and machines. She was really good at explaining somewhat complicated things in a very understandable way. On the other hand, Deb didn't teach in great detail but let me do a lot more than Kelli did, which really helped show me what it would really feel like to be in this role.

Baby selfie #3