Challenging week

I've had a challenging week at work. . .actually, 2 weeks. 2 weeks ago I was the nurse taking care of someone 23 1/2 weeks pregnant with twins for her delivery. It was not the best case scenario. They made it through delivery. . . . update on that later. . .

Later that same week I was the nurse in a delivery that went a bit south. . . poor heart tones with a vacuum delivery (2 vacs to be precise). Baby was perfect at delivery. . . but it was stressful all the same.

The very next day I took care of 3 sets of Moms & their babies - and all was well with that. When I came out of one of their rooms the father from the twins the Monday before asked if I could talk for a minute. His eyes welled up with tears & he told me one of their babies just died. I sat with him for a little bit & then walked down to the NICU with him to pay my respects to the little guy & the mom.. How heartbreaking.

Earlier this week I had a delivery that went well but then the cord broke off & we had to go to the OR to get her placenta out under conscious sedation. That wasn't pleasant. Then she needed a little more help afterwards with bleeding. . . All is well now.

Then on Friday I had a laboring Mother who the doctor wasn't quite sure would be able to delivery this baby vaginally. . . . but they gave it a try. She received an epidural but then when she was 8cm dilated. . .the epidural came out leaving her in excruciating pain that she wasn't prepared to tolerate. The baby wasn't descending so we had to go back for a c-section. THAT was not fun as it took at least 5 tries for them to get her spinal in. That poor mother. It was a big baby too. . . . 9 lb 4 oz. All is well now. But what a week!

I'm just overwhelmed that so much happened in such a short time frame. It makes me feel so insignificant in the world. . . .yet significant because I helped these people through these troubling times. I just always feel like I could do more. When it comes down to it. . . we can only do so much. The rest is up to God.

I pray for the life of the other twin. . . hopefully it will be a healthy life. I pray for his parents. They have been through so much in such a little span of time.