Last Night of Orientation

Okay, so I have been working so hard these past 4 months... I have been reading and racking my brain to saturate everything I learn on my floor... Finally, I'm done.  However, last night was a true test of my new found ability..

Okay, so there is a 2.8kg, 2 week old baby in with apnea spells.  MRI shows minor infarct to parts of the brain, otherwise within the normal limits; truly, she looks like a healthy baby. (and let me tell you, she CRIES & POOPS like a healthy baby!) 

However, for some reason during/after all feedings she totally checks out and tries to die on me! (5 times last night).  She'd brady down into the 70's (normal is 120-180 typically for neonates) and saturations would PLUMMET within seconds to the 50's (and yah, normal is 95-100%)!  Her eyes would roll back in her head, be totally unresponsive, blue lips, dusky skin and limp.

Lets just say vigorous stimulation was applied with O2 blow-by several times.  And with that, thankfully, she'd come back to life all disoriented and exhausted.  Crazy baby.

Yesterday they did a video EEG on her and captured a good spell during the test; they decided she only had central apnea.  (I say Bull-crap)

So that was baby number 1.  My 2nd baby recently received a tracheostomy.  Last night, after a feeding, my preceptor & I decided to change his trach ties and clean the site.  (Ok, lets back track, TRACHS are the only thing that made me almost ralph back in nursing school--).  So as I'm cleaning the site, he starts to get all worked up and decides to PUKE up his food thru the trach site like projectile vomit across the room.  Luckily & amazingly, he seemed to miss my scrub top by like 5cm, or else I would have been going home smelling like curdled milk.  Gross. 

Needless to say, he was a bundle of joy.  

Happy weekend to all!