Newborn Nursery Day

Yesterday was my day in the newborn nursery. Here's what I did yesterday:

• I got to give a baby a Vitamin K shot. Vitamin K is synthesized by the bacteria in your gut, but babies' guts are sterile and therefore cannot synthesize the Vitamin K by themselves. The vitamin K is important because it plays an important role in blood clotting. To recap, babies do not have bacteria in their gut. Bacteria synthesizes Vitamin K, which the babies cannot do. Vitamin K is needed to clot blood. Without it, babies can be in big trouble. So they are given a Vitamin K shot. I gave a baby a vitamin K shot.
• I got to put the Erythromycin Eye Ointment on the baby's eyes. the ointment is used prophylactically to prevent eye infections from bacteria the baby's eyes were exposed to during childbirth, even in c-section babies (at least at this particular hospital). You basically pull the lower eyelid down and apply the ointment to the very edge of the eyelid. Then you let the eye close as normal. I got to do this.
• I gave a baby his first bath.
• I did a newborn assessment and an exam to assess the baby's physical maturity, called Dubowitz/Ballard Exam for Gestational Age. This is done in order to correctly meet the baby's needs if the dates of pregnancy are uncertain, or if let's say the baby is smaller but happens to be more mature than thought. Babies will need different care depending on their maturational needs, so this will closely estimate their gestational age in order to ensure the receive the appropriate care. I did one, for my clinical grade, not officially for the baby/doctor/nurse or anything, but I did one.

Yesterday we had something a little interesting. One of the babies was going to be put up for adoption. The mom already had an agency she had been in contact with. I guess she wanted to see him one last time, so after his bath, we brought him over and while I stayed out of the room, the nurse said the mom was pretty emotional (which I could guess would be the case). Mom wasn't young- over the age of 30- has 4 kids already and is, from what I heard, a single mom. I guess she just wasn't able to care for another child on her own. I can't even imagine how hard this must have been for her- what a crazy difficult decision to make. I stared over her son for quite some time yesterday, he was so cute and oh how I wanted to just bring him home with me. But I know some wonderful family, some loving mom and dad, will take this boy into their home and love him. He already has more love in his first few hours of life than some people ever receive. His mom loved him enough to bring him into the world and make an unselfish decision to give him to someone else who can better take care of him than she can. *deep breath* I will keep her in my prayers during this tremendously difficult time. I can't even begin to imagine her pain, but what love she has for this boy.

The nurse we were working with in the nursery was a nurse who usually is in the NICU but was covering for someone yesterday. She was in NICU last week when I was in there and told me that the little baby I had mentioned in my last clinical post, the one with Trisomy 18, had passed the day before. Her parents made her a DNR (do not recussitate) and she was taken off life support. I overheard one of the students saying this, so I don't have the complete story as to where the parents were exactly or anything, but apparently one of the nurses held this baby for 45 minutes until she passed. How sweet, loving and courageous of this nurse! (sorry, need a tissue break)

I hope to be a nurse like that one day.

Anyway, I am really bummed next week is my last clinical. This has been, BY FAR, my favorite rotation. We'll see what happens next week as I will be in labor and delivery once again. It seems as if every week but the first had vaginal deliveries in addition to the c-sections. I am hoping next week is a crazy busy week, or rather a crazy busy Wednesday! I'll keep you posted.