[CA CoCoRN]

There truly is a higher being watching us...watching the children and babies.

Yesterday, an ordinary day, I was at work as scheduled. A relatively slow day, I'd even had time to attend an hour+long meeting. I come back, relieve my friend who's relieved me, and check my patient.

As I'm coming out of my patient's room, I hear the overhead announcement of our code for fetal distress. Remember, I'd said the unit had been slow, and I'd just looked at the central monitor in my patient's room.

"Hmmm...what's up..." I thought. So off I go down the hall to the OR to help...and be nosey.

Lo and behold, most of our floor RNs, the unit Manager and Department head are congregating in this great rush to get a patient into surgery and get this baby out. NICU team present, with two Neonatologists too! Two anesthesiologists...

So, I start doing stuff. The pre-op counts, grounding the pt, connecting suctions, getting equipment, etc. I want to write the patient's name on the board, but there's no paperwork yet. It's that much of an emergency. Imagine: not even a consent was signed. I go to the anesth. area and ask why the pt doesn't have an armband.

My fellow nurse screams at me, "WE DIDN'T HAVE TIME FOR THAT!! IT'S ********(fellow nurse)!!!"
Tears welled in my eyes. Mind you, I'd looked briefly at the pt and noticed that she wasn't our typical pt demographic...but I hadn't looked at her to recognize her. When I realized...I lost it...well almost. I did shut down...and go into overdrive; numb. I could only think, "Why?? What?? How??"

Overheard, above the questions in my head, and the din in the OR was that she was massively hemorrhaging. Baby was out within about 10 minutes of her getting on the table...from prep to general anesthesia.

She was only 34 weeks along with her first baby.

Baby came out limp and lifeless and the uterus was dusky.

BUT THROUGH INTERVENTIONS (which didn't even require intubation) BY THE 5 MINUTE APGAR BABY WAS "8" AND COMPLETELY PINK BY THE TIME WE WEIGHED HER.

Here's the rub...had my coworker not been at work, in a hospital, in L&D, it's doubtful the baby would have made it. She suffered an almost total abruption, acutely. No prenatal risk factors. And this day was to be the last day before she went off on leave.

She'd been working and complained of feeling like she wanted to poop. Went to potty and no result...but still felt cramping. Another friend goes to put her on the monitor, when "Blessed Mommy" complains of feeling wet. Thinking it's ROM, Co-worker pulls off her scrubs and reveals blood everywhere. Off to the OR we go. From monitor to baby was about 21 minutes total.

And we have an early addition to our L&D family. Blessed Mommy and baby--and we-- were very lucky. It was a tearful morning.

[minneRN]

Thank you for sharing this story. Thank you God for having a hand in saving this baby and mother.

Originally Posted by CA CoCoRN

There truly is a higher being watching us...watching the children and babies.

Yesterday, an ordinary day, I was at work as scheduled. A relatively slow day, I'd even had time to attend an hour+long meeting. I come back, relieve my friend who's relieved me, and check my patient.

As I'm coming out of my patient's room, I hear the overhead announcement of our code for fetal distress. Remember, I'd said the unit had been slow, and I'd just looked at the central monitor in my patient's room.

"Hmmm...what's up..." I thought. So off I go down the hall to the OR to help...and be nosey.

Lo and behold, most of our floor RNs, the unit Manager and Department head are congregating in this great rush to get a patient into surgery and get this baby out. NICU team present, with two Neonatologists too! Two anesthesiologists...

So, I start doing stuff. The pre-op counts, grounding the pt, connecting suctions, getting equipment, etc. I want to write the patient's name on the board, but there's no paperwork yet. It's that much of an emergency. Imagine: not even a consent was signed. I go to the anesth. area and ask why the pt doesn't have an armband.

My fellow nurse screams at me, "WE DIDN'T HAVE TIME FOR THAT!! IT'S ********(fellow nurse)!!!"
Tears welled in my eyes. Mind you, I'd looked briefly at the pt and noticed that she wasn't our typical pt demographic...but I hadn't looked at her to recognize her. When I realized...I lost it...well almost. I did shut down...and go into overdrive; numb. I could only think, "Why?? What?? How??"

Overheard, above the questions in my head, and the din in the OR was that she was massively hemorrhaging. Baby was out within about 10 minutes of her getting on the table...from prep to general anesthesia.

She was only 34 weeks along with her first baby.

Baby came out limp and lifeless and the uterus was dusky.

BUT THROUGH INTERVENTIONS (which didn't even require intubation) BY THE 5 MINUTE APGAR BABY WAS "8" AND COMPLETELY PINK BY THE TIME WE WEIGHED HER.

Here's the rub...had my coworker not been at work, in a hospital, in L&D, it's doubtful the baby would have made it. She suffered an almost total abruption, acutely. No prenatal risk factors. And this day was to be the last day before she went off on leave.

She'd been working and complained of feeling like she wanted to poop. Went to potty and no result...but still felt cramping. Another friend goes to put her on the monitor, when "Blessed Mommy" complains of feeling wet. Thinking it's ROM, Co-worker pulls off her scrubs and reveals blood everywhere. Off to the OR we go. From monitor to baby was about 21 minutes total.

And we have an early addition to our L&D family. Blessed Mommy and baby--and we-- were very lucky. It was a tearful morning.

[Grace Oz]

Thank you for sharing this ...... What a WONDERFUL outcome! :hatparty:

Now that's what I call; being in the right place at the right time!

WELL DONE to all involved.

To mother; .... Congratulations! (and Dad too, of course!)

And to baby;... WELCOME TO OUR WORLD LITTLE ONE!

Cheers from "Down Under" ....
Grace

[Spidey's mom]

Wow, thanks for sharing that wonderful story. So glad everything worked out.

That happened to a co-worker's wife - she was on a gurney being pushed toward for a routine 3rd cesarean, no risk factors other than previous cesarean. All of a sudden she felt something wet . . . and everyone noticed a large amount of blood. I don't remember how long it took to get the baby out but not long and he is a normal healthy 9 year old now.

Amazing . . . any other place and she would have died.

Thank you God.

steph

[akcarmean]

God was truly on her and the baby's side. Thank God she was in the right place and in good hands. Thank you so much for sharing with us. It's so nice to hear stories where premies actually survive. Hope mom and baby are doing well.


Angelia CArmean

[Gompers]

Glad to hear everything worked out well!

I swear, half the time when one of our coworkers has a baby (RN or MD) either she or the baby ends up in ICU. We swear that one of the risks factors for pregnancy and childbirth complications should be that the mom is in the medical profession - and especially if she works in OB or NICU!

[jnette]

Beautiful.. what a save !

Thanx for sharing this... hate that it was so traumatic and such a close call, but LOVE the outcome !!! Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay !!!

[lisamc1]

Wow and Praise God! I'm so glad that mommy and baby are doing ok now!

[SmilingBluEyes]

that was a wonderful outcome. great story!

[CA CoCoRN]

Thank you all for your thanks (to GOD, not to us).
I kept saying all day that the baby's name needs to mean "watched by God", because she truly was.

I still get teary eyed thinking about it.
For the backstory, I'm close to her because she was my preceptor when I first started out in L&D. On top of that, she's just one of those warm hearted, gentle spirit people that you want to "protect". Just knowing how much she wanted this baby, how long she'd waited; she's a newlywed. Remembering that I'd watched her belly grow and her body change with this pregnancy from petite framed, flat abdomen, to full, round belly rich with life.

When baby came out, still for the moment, I thought, "It can't be..." But to see baby stay with us and turn pink with life--there's no greater feeling. I'd always told "Blessed Mommy" that the world would stop until she heard her baby's first cry. She wasn't awake to hear it...but indeed it seems the world did stop to give her baby what she needed to cry. And I was there for her to hear those cries.
I rushed around to get the camera to take pictures so that the baby could be the first thing she saw when she awoke.
I showed the pics to her and she, too, breathed a sigh of relief and cried.

Other co-workers and I pondered the what-ifs of had she not been on duty and been home (or anywhere else) and what the outcome would have been, for her and baby. We stopped that. Call it a resurgence of faith: God puts you where you need to be at a particular time.


Can you hear the angels singing??:Melody: