April 21, 2008 Blood Tests

I sleep the best when it rains outside, so I REALLY wanted to sleep in this morning. Doug Fortney had to go to work, and he is my ride...so I was up at the crack of dawn to go to the hospital. I have definitely hit a wall, and my body is exhausted.

Allison was our nurse today, and we really like her. She is so freaking smart, and she is all about the NICU being a family care center. She, along with every other nurse, had heard about what Terry did last week...and assured me that Terry was very inaccurate in what she said to me. Tara, the nurse manager, tracked me down and we had a long meeting in her office about the episode. I told her that I wanted to take positive things from Terry...and I expressed my ideas that I thought would be beneficial if they implemented them in the NICU. She liked my ideas, and asked me to be a part of a parent group that meets once a month with 20 faculty members. I would not be able to be part of the group until Kaydence has been discharged and out of the NICU for at least 6 months. She commended me for my patience and my will to stay strong with Terry. Tara admitted that she would have knocked her out if it had been her. So that made me feel very proud of myself for not losing my cool. :)

I told Allison about my ideas that I told Tara about, and after lunch she told me that she wanted to help me out and create it for me. She went to one of her superiors and she said that we could get it approved faster than waiting for the parent board meeting to do it. I am so excited that we could get things rolling! The hospital has a "bear" theme in a lot of things they refer to. Allison and I are creating a care sheet called "Momma & Papa Bear Care" and it will be posted by each baby in the NICU. This is a sheet that the parents can give their input on what they would like done with their baby. Most parents cannot be with their babies, and may just want the nurses to tell their baby that they love them and miss them. Other parents, like myself, are there every day and know what their babies like. For example, Kaydence likes to lay on her left side, and likes her dog on her head when she is cranky. I might not be there for every shift to make sure each and every nurse knows that. During shift change, these little things are not passed on to the next nurse. They are worried about what medical test has been or needs to be done, blood work, ultrasounds, ventilation, etc. This extra care sheet will help ease the parents, and help their babies heal faster. Allison wanted to add a progress sheet on the bottom of it for the parents to refer to. It is a gestation chart, and shows what goals you should have for your baby depending on their age. This chart will help them with their decisions on what they might want to request. Cool, huh?

I was thrown off guard today when a person came to her isolette to take blood. She asked my nurse if I needed to leave, and I said that I was not leaving...and I wanted to know why she was taking her blood. In very medical terms, she was telling me what they were testing for. I kept asking her what she meant, and she would give me more medical terminology. She kept saying that she was testing her AFP. Well, her AFP was checked back in January when we had to get an amnio done...so why are they testing it now. I also saw in her charts last week that she had an AFP test done, and no one told me that her blood was taken then. So the lady took her blood, and I still don't have a clue why. I am going to ask the physicians during rounds in the morning. I feel like they are hiding something, and I have a bad feeling about it.

I spoke with two Lactation Specialists today because I feel like I am still making an inadequate amount of milk. Both think that I am just way too tired and stressed to produce more. One of them mentioned that I may need a prescription of a certain med that will help me produce more. Another one told me about an herbal tea called Mother's Milk Tea that could also help. I am not giving up on breastfeeding yet. I really want to make it work not only for my baby, but for financial reasons as well. It is nutritiously better for her, the bond is very special, and it will save us hundreds on formula....I will make this work!! The specialists were shocked that the physicians weren't letting me try to breastfeed yet...so they spoke to them to see why. After explaining to the doctors that she would not be getting a whole lot from me, but needed the practice of latching on and sucking, they allowed me to try. So Kaydence and I tried for 30 minutes and at first she was clueless. She is very stubborn (LIKE ME) and was totally against having to work for her feeds. Once everyone gave us some alone time, she relaxed and finally latched on. She has realized now that if she sucks, she gets milk...but it was not consistent. Even still, she learned a lot from trying...and practice makes perfect.

Early afternoon, I was starting to get really tired and fall asleep at her crib side. Chris Fortney was not feeling well, and wanted to get some things done back at the apartment, so she was taking a taxi home. I told her that I would go back with her. I need a nap in the worst way.

Update:
She is now on room air with no nasal cannula
Plenty of dirty diapers, and they have no concerns with her movements now
They took blood to test her AFP levels (whatever that means)
She tried to breastfeed
They are weaning her from the isolette
Started to give her a multi-vitamin once daily