Posted by Hanneke on October 15th, 2009 |
2 comments
Yesterday I started in the NICU, the nurse that is normally there is on vacation and I was asked to look after the place until she comes back. Now NICU brings views to mind of babies surrounded by ventilators, IV pumps etc. while laying safely in an isolette, snuggled up between wires, maybe a toy and blankets to snuggle. Well, not so here. The ICU holds babies that are born premature or sick, just like in Europe or the US. However, no isolette. Or a ventilator. Or surfactant. So what happens when you are born very prematurely here? Today I took care of a baby, born at 29 or 30 weeks by emergency C-section because the sibling had a prolapsed cord and unfortunately was stillborn. The surviving twin was rushed to the NICU, looking very poor. Pale, no respiratory effort, heart rate less than 40. So here I am, with the MD and another nurse (mama Kudoku) and what great team work we had. The baby recovered fairly quickly but needed more. Now if this little boy had been born back home, we probably would have intubated him and given him surfactant and he would have been fine. Here not so. Dr. Kent, a visiting family medicine MD from Colorado had brought some anesthesia bags (for you non medical readers… a breathing bag that you can use to give positive airway pressure to open up the lungs) So for the first time in a couple of years I started an IV on a preemie (on the first stick…) and then I ended up being the ventilator for about 4 hours. Now imagine sitting in a moist environment, about 33 degrees Celsius or 91 degrees Fahrenheit for about 4 hours, holding a mask on an infant that weighs about 1 kilogram or 2.2 lbs. Luckily Dr. Kent ended up getting me lunch and a Sprite. Gulping down the drink I wondered for about 2 seconds how many calories a regular Sprite has, but it tasted so very good that this thought kind of disappeared very very quickly!
Now I have to let go. The baby has a strong will to survive but does not have the best environment to survive in. The student nurses are taking over the CPAP via mask for the evening and night. Tomorrow I’ll see how the baby did. It is a very strange feeling to go back to my room and not know how or if this baby will survive the night.
So take a look at the pictures I took today. They are not my best ones since I took my little one but hopefully you will get a good impression.
Comments
Wow! Back in the NICU, huh? It sounds like you are really getting the most out of this experience. I am enjoying reading your blogs and seeing the pictures. Your photographic talent has definitely allowed you to capture this trip in the perfect way. I hope that you return with a renewed spirit after having the opportunity to help people who truly appreciate you. Thinking I would like to go next year after graduation. I’ll pick your brain when you return.
Lieve Hanneke, ik ben erg onder de indruk van je verhaal en van de foto’s. Ik wacht in spanning op het vervolg.