Things I didn't know about my new job in Labor and Delivery!

This is actually a sad post, but Todd's not home, mom fell asleep in her chair and it's too late to call my sister or my girlfriends (except the nurses at work right now but they all already know) and I just have to get it off my shoulders. . .

I knew that being a labor and delivery nurse wouldn't always be happy. I knew that women miscarry their babies and then have to deliver them, sometimes very early, sometimes a full term otherwise healthy beautiful baby. But very rarely anymore- do you hear of women dying during childbirth. I had my first experience this week. There's a disease process called chorioamnionitis in which the the amniotic fluid gets infected, the baby obviously then gets infected and can result in the mother also getting infected. This week I had a patient who wouldn't give up her infected baby thus, infected herself with this "bacteria" which got into her bloodstream and very quickly shut down all of her major organs. She was transferred to ICU where our team of OB nurses had to abort the fetus and then the mom went into a type of shock called DIC (I'll spare the fancy medical terms) but it's when you hemorrage and clot at the same time- very hard to control as you can imagine. Well this little baby boy was so infected and so sick, and his mother is not expected to live. The ICU nurses explained that they are no longer trying to save her life- just prolong it until her family can all come and say goodbye- including her 6 year old son. It's been the saddest day for me and my heart is aching for this baby and this family. She had been in the hospital a couple of times in preterm labor and we tried to fight it, but her water broke and she didn't come in right away because she knew that meant impending birth- that's how bacteria was able to invade her. A beautiful 27 year old who was just trying to save her baby-and now they're both gone and I know why I'll never be an ICU nurse. There's been a lot of sad stories at work lately; a women who was pregnant with twins but one of them had a chromosomal anomaly called Trisomy 21 and she lost him (his twin sister is doing good), another patient who's baby has "Dandy Walker Syndrome" (multiple anomalies) and another who we flew out to University of Chicago so that when her baby is born he can immediately go on "bypass" (when blood is pumped out, filtered, and pumped back in). Needless to say, I am learning a lot and seeing a lot. There have been many many many happy stories too. I've cried with my patients and for my patients. I've delivered beautiful happy babies and sick, premature babies. I've learned why Obstetrics is so specialized- we're an ER for pregnant women, an ICU for premature babies, we take care of the woman and the "invisible" patient. We're responsible for 2 lives when they walk through those doors-one of which we can't see but they're there. And despite all this, I do love my job. Many of these babies will grow into remarkable human beings- and some will not. But their souls have meaning. Their presence was for a reason- no matter how short a stay it was.