Friday, April 10, 2009

Dang Cord Blood Collection...

The board looked like crap when we came on at 0700...we cleaned it up and actually sent on of the 2 extra nurses home...then we had about 10 patients walk in and there was not ONE EMPTY room when day shift came on. We had put 6 inductions on hold to...oh brother! I wheeled a C/S out of the OR and did about 20minutes of her post-op recovery before they decided they needed me to traige, so I handed my C/S off to a scared-spitless mom/baby nurse who'd never done C/S recoveries before while I went and got N/V chick in a room and an IV started.

Things calmed down for a while, then I took a rupture, then while I was getting her blocked in came another girl who according to her doctor was "dying" over the phone, got her blocked, etc, etc. The rest of the night flew!

I loved my SROM couple, I wish all women went into labor like that! Her water broke, she came in, was feeling "tightening" but not hurting, decided to just be done with it, got a block before she was dying, got some pit started, she labored great, pushed about 15 minutes and we had a baby about 0630! I will take a no-drama delivery like that ANY day of ANY week! The kidd-o came out in some way I haven't seen before, and neither has the doc. You could tell when mom was pushing that this kid was twisting his head all around and it spun every which way. When the head delivered he was looking at mom's L thigh, then when the doc went to deliver the top shoulder like usual, no the kid flipped totally around and the bottom shoulder came out first with the hand way up by the chin. That kid did AT LEAST a 180 degree spin on the way out. We were all just kinda looking down there trying to figure out what was going on, but mom was intact...can't ask for much more than that!

I had the cord blood collection kit all filled out, then totally forgot to throw it on the table for delivery. As the doc's about to walk out of the room it hit me...what a horrible feeling! The poor doc was super good about it, we played with the cord, we played with the placenta and actually got a good 100cc into the bag for collection, that's WAY better than I thought we would...thank goodness! I think nurses should get an extra bonus for a cord blood delivery...just another thing for me to remember after a 12-hour shift!

I'm hoping that last night is not a pre-cursor to what's going to be this weekend, that was just a little too crazy! It's the storm + a full moon...not a good combination!

Babies today: 1m
Babies total: 41M/42F = 83
Vag:30M/32F = 62
C/S: 11M10F = 21
Babies 'caught' = 1f

3 comments:

  1. Was this cord blood collection just for tests or was it for banking? How much cord-blood banking do you do on average? I'm curious, because I see a lot of advertisements about it, but don't know anybody who has actually had their baby's cord blood banked (of course, most people I talk to don't clamp & cut the cord at least until it has stopped pulsing).

    -Kathy

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  2. My wife and i just got our baby delivered today and the doctor/nurse team forgot to collect the cord blood. During our registration, the nurse took blood samples that were to be sent with the Viacord package, but after the baby was delivered (C-section) and we returned to our room, it occurred to me to ask about the cord blood, but they said they were not aware of it and tried to play it down...We are not happy, and this ruined what was supposed to be the best day of my life... It still is - our baby girl is very healthy and beautiful. However, I'm not sure how to proceed with this craziness...

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  3. Carmen (and family!) - first off, congratulations on your new happy, healthy baby girl! I'm excited for you that your newest family member arrived safe and sound!

    I'm very, very sorry about what happened with your cord blood collection. I know how important that is to the parents who collect it, for whatever reason (banking, donating, etc). It is an incredible thing to do! I can only speak from a nurses' perspective, and say that there was no reason that it could NOT have been drawn for you guys, since it's all a sterile procedure the C/S wouldn't have made a difference. I am sure the delivery team did not intentionally not collect it for you. It probably was simply forgotten (if the C/S was an emergency it would have been very easy to forget in rushing your wife to the OR for her and the babies safety.) Whatever the reason, it still is not an excuse for it not being done, and I am very sorry. Cord blood collection is still the exception to most delivery rules, and sometimes unless the kit is sitting out in clear view, or someone (a parent, doctor, nurse) says something right at delivery it is something that is forgotten, and that is very unfortunate. I do apologize for your delivery team, and I assure you they did not do it on purpose. I am sorry that it put a damper on the delivery/birth experience. I am not sure what steps to suggest you take after this. You might contact the collection agency and ask if there is any other options (depending on your reason for collection) they may suggest. If they have useful suggestions, please pass them on to me!

    Congratulations again on your new baby!

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