I have a profound new respect for nurses.
2 weeks ago, my wife and I went to the hospital for a check up for my then pregnant wife who was 30 weeks in. Still early but we had just found out our little baby girl had a heart issue and needed some close bi-weekly monitoring at the hospital. During the routine check up, my baby’s heart beat fell from a healthy 135 bpm to a low 55 bpm and then just was gone…
our nurse ran back into the room, hit the emergency button, 3 more nurses rushed in, they got an oxygen mask on my wife, our baby’s heartbeat climbed up to 155 bpm. we were in disbelief and denial at first, thinking they over-reacted, maybe it was an instrument dysfunction.
the nurse acted on what she sense was a pretty big red flag. we were sent to the labor and delivery floor for further testing. our 45 min appointment became a 3 hour-long thing. during the 2nd testing…our baby’s heartbeat fell twice. our doctor told us we weren’t going home that day, my wife was to stay for 48 hours.
we were both rattled but the doctor was saying it was all precautionary, an early labor may be possible but they would just be keeping an eye on us. the baby did better overnight as my wife was given IV fluids and the next morning the doctor said we may be able to go home tomorrow.
a few hours after that, our nurse ran in because she saw from her monitor station that our baby’s heartbeat fell twice! one of them was for a nine minute stretch! The nurse for this shift was actually a 32 week pregnant woman w/ twins, she was more pregnant than my wife, but her mother’s instinct kicked in, and because the doctor couldn’t make it back in time to make the call for the move to the OR, the pregnant nurse became a General and started rallying the other nurses with sharp and strong orders. within minutes my wife was on a gurney and flying down to the OR floor.
we were both in shock. my wife was actually shaking as she was not ready for this baby to come. it was an emergency C-section so I had to wait outside. within 20 minutes, someone came to get me saying “your baby is here, she’s crying strong!” I was so overjoyed I ran down the hallway towards my wife’s OR. the doctors and nurses were pushing a movable incubator for babies, I yelled out “whose baby is that?” they asked “what’s your last name” I replied “Park!”. “Congratulations! this is your daughter!”
She is beautiful!
because our daughter was a premature baby, she had to be transported to CHOC, they have a bigger NICU. As difficult as it was to part ways for our baby for a while, we knew so far she was healthy and mom had made it out of a life or death situation. We were so thankful and happy.
I have a new found respect for nurses. not only for the General w/ twins but also the countless nurses who helped and served my wife as she recovered from her emergency C-section surgery.
My hats off to the NICU nurses as well, who take such good care of my daughter. Little Abby is in the hands of these highly trained & highly compassionate nurses for the next 6-8 weeks. We see Abby everyday, and everyday we see the NICU nurses do their job of being primary care givers to our fragile baby and so many other precious babies.
Thank You Nurses for all that you do. The things that are not acknowledged. The unseen things that you do when our baby is sleeping. The countless checking on patients when they are resting/recovering/sleeping, assisting bathroom trips, changing bedding, cleaning bed pans, administering meds, knowing exactly what each patient needs, working 12+ hour shifts, working the night shifts. Thank You.
here’s a nurse taking care of little Abby 🙂
going back to my baby’s heart issue. it’s called coarctation of the aorta. we were told she needed surgery for sure at birth. we prayed and asked our friends, family, and church to pray as well, by God’s faithfulness her coarctation of the aorta is no more! it’s been ruled out! Thank you God for being faithful, healer, and loving Father.
my baby is now back to her birth weight of 2lbs and 9oz, she is a fighter and is breathing on her own as of day 2, eating as of 4 days ago. We can’t wait for her to come home.
EDIT: She is 2 weeks old today 🙂
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