The day before my life changed forever was this last Tuesday. I had a Down Syndrome patient who has a very bleak prognosis. Not that we couldn't get him through the acute phase, but it was difficult to imagine he would have much quality of life anymore. It was so hard on his family, and I really connected with them. I felt like I did some real good in the world when they told me that I explained things so well, and wanted me to talk to everyone else in the family. It seems like a lifetime ago, but it was a great couple of days taking care of them, and made me realize again why I do what I do.
I was also told that some of the "gossipers" had been saying I was lazy. I was so annoyed. Mostly because I don't like to not be liked. I feel like I am SO nice to everyone, and go out of my way to offer my help. If I have downtime, and someone asks me to help them, I'm there in a second. I'm happy to do it. These particular co-workers do not even talk to me. They don't ask me for help or include me in any conversation at all. Nevertheless, should they ask me anything, I would happily help out.
Grrrr. I really don't like that feeling. Such snobishness. It's way less than on my last unit, but it's still there. I just don't have thick skin, no matter how I try.
So on Tuesday I was glued to my phone (even though I try never to carry my phone around with me while I'm working) because I was waiting to hear if I would receive my very first foster placement since I was licensed in April. And it happened. I am now the proud (tired) foster mom of an adorable 3 month old little boy I call "Moose". He was a premie at 29 weeks, so his adjusted age is 3 weeks old. I love him to pieces!
The nursing part of all of this is that he's still on O2, and I'm managing his sats and tracking how much O2 he needs until his next steroid injection. I've got a little O2 and HR monitor, concentrator, and humidifier all set up. It's the little mini one baby ICU in my living room. It has made becoming a mother overnight a little easier, because I can feel so in my element as half nurse as well as mother.
If you want to follow the my foster care story, head over to All My Pretty Ones.
3 comments:
Congratualtions on your new foster baby! As a mom of a 26 weeker, here is a bit of advice. The little round patches they give you to keep his oxygen cannula on suck. And they are expensive. We outfitted Ian with the tegaderm-type Band-Aids. My older kids would get to pick out which character he would wear that day (Lightning McQueen, Spongebob etc) They stayed on much better, and were much cheaper too. You will grow to hate that apnea monitor, we had one true alarm in 5 months of monitoring at home. However, that stupid thing went off at least 20 times a day, especially when he got older and would pull off the leads. You're in for the most wonderful roller coaster of your life.....enjoy!!!!
Thanks for the tips on the round patches! Where do I get these tegaderm type bandaids? I'm going to look for some. He's a sweaty baby, he needs something better. And it's not an apnea monitor, it's a pulse ox, so much better :)
You can get them at wal-mart or target. Nexcare and Band-Aid brands both make them, just look for the cartoon character bandages and then look at the product photos, you'll see the difference between the tegaderm type vs the regular bandaids. Regular bandaids work in a pinch, but they don't hold up to the movement and water as well. Plus they aren't as cute. Thank your lucky stars you don't have the apnea monitor.
Good Luck, preemies are a lot of work, but they're so worth it!!!
Post a Comment