..saw this at work last night. Seriously, I have done all of these...except #29!!
I thought after that last post we all needed some humor.

You know you are a NICU nurse when…
1. You’ve eaten hamburger patties bigger than most of your patients
2. You define colors by the color of stool you’ve seen- i.e. baby poop green/yellow
3. You don’t understand why talking about sticking a needle in a baby’s head is making other people at the dinner table ill
4. At one time or another have had breast milk, poop or urine on your work clothes
5. You have affectionately called a patient cletus the fetus, wimpy white boy, troll or FLK (funny lookin’ kid) in report
6. You can change your patient’s bed linens with one hand while holding your patient in the other
7. You can make an IV arm board out of some 4x4 gauze and tape
8. You’ve almost caught your hair on fire while in your patient’s bed…a.k.a. radiant warmer
9. You’ve used a sock or a piece of tape for a restraint
10. You check out the scalp veins, cap refill and fontanels on a friend’s new baby
11. You use a cotton ball to obtain urine samples
12. You use saran wrap to keep your food fresh and your patient’s warm
13. You think all crying babies need benadryl, versed or intubation
14. You think the pulse oximeter, CPAP and those crappy no sticking leads were created by the devil
15. You have ever shown a doctor a green residual while they were eating
16. You have obtained a 10cc residual when the patient only gets 1cc
17. You have put an intensive care patient in a swing
18. You don’t get excited if your patient has a heart rate of 180
19. You do chest compressions with two fingers
20. Most of your meds come in TB/1cc syringes
21. You prepare your patient’s bath water in a Dixie cup
22. You draw blood from your patient’s heel
23. You use a rubber band for a tourniquet
24. You’ve seen two complexes on EKG screen and not been excited-you merely pat your patient on the butt and it’s all good
25. Newborn babies look like preschoolers to you
26. You tell people what you do and they think you sit around and rock babies all day
27. When you tell people what you really do they start to cry and/or vomit
28. You have assisted with surgery on your patient in their bed and on the unit
29. You have at one time or another in the heat of frustration threatened to throw your patient in the trash can
30. You have considered using duct tape to hold a pacifier in a screaming baby’s mouth
31. You have met your patient’s father, mother’s boyfriend, and husband all in one day
32. You have made a mental note that no matter how stupid people are they still know how to get their groove on!

Have a great week!

Christmas.......

I would like to share an experience that I had at work a few months ago. It seems especially applicable today.
At work I take care of very sick, sometimes very tiny little babies. One night a few months ago I was assigned to care for a tiny little boy, weighing just over 1 pound. He had been born about 16 weeks early. His hands were so tiny, his little leg was about as big around as my finger, his foot about the size of my thumb. About 50% of babies born this early survive. He had severe respiratory problems among other things and it was believed that he would not live through the night.
It is always a very tense situation when a baby is this sick. A quiet hush falls over the entire unit. There is increased pressure on everyone, especially the baby’s nurse and tonight that was me! The parents had been with their baby most of the day but they were exhausted. The mother having just given birth, couldn’t be with him all the time and so she had returned to her room to rest.
Because he was so ill and needed such intense care I didn’t have any other patients that night. I would at his side all night doing everything we could to keep him alive.
His private room contained the isolette, or incubator, monitors, ventilator, IV pumps, all the mechanical equipment that was keeping him alive. I would be busy with medications, monitoring, treatments, etc.
As the night worn on I tried to imagine how I would feel if I were his mother. The heartache would be unbearable. I knew she wanted to be with him, to spend every minute she could looking at his perfect little face, caressing his soft, delicate skin. But she couldn’t be there, only I was there.
It was overwhelming. I fought back the tears, trying to be professional. Nurses, especially NICU nurses, see death far too often and we need to be able to function without allowing emotions to cloud our judgment.
I wondered what I could do. This precious, innocent little spirit would soon be returning to his Father in Heaven. His life would be so short. I gently washed his face, touched his little hands and feet, gingerly changed and positioned him in a soft new blanket, trying to make him as comfortable as possible. What would his mother do? What would Heavenly Father want me to do?
Other than the sound of the machines, the room was quiet. I wondered if my little patient was afraid. When my children were little and afraid I sang to them, I Am a Child of God was their favorite. So, choking back the tears, I sang to him.
As a nurse when I looked at my patient I saw the tubes, the blood, counted the rise and fall of his chest, listened to the beating of his heart, watched the numbers on the monitors. But I also saw a perfect, celestial spirit, greater than myself and I wondered if I was worthy to care for him.
As the night progressed his health deteriorated. He developed a condition called DIC which caused him to bleed into his lungs, even his skin began to weep. My thoughts turned to my Savior. The suffering of my little, sinless patient reminded me of the suffering of our Savior and I wondered what it would have been like to care for The Christ when He suffered for us. What would I have done if I had been at His side in the Garden? Would I have wiped His brow, held His hand, sang to Him to comfort Him. I hope that I would have. I hope that I would have recognized the magnitude of that moment and offered all that I could, all that I had, to ease His suffering. In Luke we read that an angel did appear with Jesus and strengthened Him while he prayed in the Garden. What would it have been like to be that angel?
My little patient died in his mother’s arms later that morning.
I testify that the veil is very thin. I know when he passed through the veil he was welcomed home my His Savior, our Savior. I know Christ lives. He was born in Bethlehem. He walked this earth, half-mortal, half-God, showing us the way we should live. He felt pain, physical and spiritual pain, on our behalf and He did it because he loves us.
I grew closer to my Savior that night. I have a greater understanding of His suffering, His love for us, His love for me. I also was reminded, even surprised how much I love Him.
He asks us to be a little more kind, more gentle, more forgiving, more compassionate, to try to be more like Him. I pray that we will try, one day, one moment at a time.
May you feel the love of Christ in your life every day.
Merry Christmas

gratitude

It seems appropriate that the first post to this blog should be about gratitude. I have so much to be thankful for! The tree is our "gratitude tree". It was on the kitchen wall throughout the Thanksgiving week and each member of the family listed things they were thankful for on a leaf and taped it to the tree. As you can see we are a very blessed family. We expressed gratitude for many things, ranging from family to electricity to Dora to bacon. (We are a very diverse group!)

Seriously though, my life is full of wonderful experiences, some joyful and some really, really difficult. I am truly thankful for all of them.

I plan to post updates about family members, activities, random thoughts, etc. Feel free to comment. I will try to avoid the horribly embarrassing moments. Let me know if I cross that line. The intent is to build family unity and entertain at the same time. Please send pictures, etc that you want to share with the fam.