code on a baby

Kellie626 · Jan 1, 2011

I'm so sorry you had to go through this. Hopefully the little peanut will be fine. I'm sure you did all you could and you can't beat yourself up over it. Things happen that are out of our control all the time. At least you were there to take care of him, that's what matters most.

nghtfltguy, BSN, RN · Jan 1, 2011

sorry you had such a bad experience.. and it is a very normal thing to be emotional over something like that.. it is part of the job.. are we ever really *prepared*??... good luck to your sister in law~~ and congratulations!!

for being a caring nurse...our profession needs more like you!

:cool:

CrazierThanYou · Jan 1, 2011

Wow, sorry about that....

JustinAllen · Jan 1, 2011

Babies are scary. However unless you were pushed out of the way for freezing up or doing something wrong then be proud of yourself. Baby is pink, breathing and Mom and Dad are extremely happy you were there.

While I am only starting my second semester of Nursing school I was a Paramedic for 10 years...and while you may get better on the mechanics of the deal...it very rarely gets any easier on the emotional side of it when it's all over.

Enjoy your evening and realize that you were as prepared as you could have been...and the next time you will be even better prepared!

lorjie · Jan 1, 2011

that baby lived because of your and everyone else's quick thinking. way to go!!!

prettyinblu · Jan 1, 2011

Im very thankful that your a caring nurse and was there to do your part in giving the baby the best care :yeah:

BabyLady, BSN, RN · Jan 1, 2011

I had an awful end to my shift.
We did a c/s on a pt for failure to progress, tracing was fine with an ISE.
I was baby nurse and we had Peds resident back there.
The baby came out AWFUL with no warning.
Apgars 1,1,4,5,7....
We did bagging, chest compressions called the NICU fellow, resus, intubated, placed an umbilical line....
It was terrifying! I felt so overwhelmed and unprepared.
And now I'm beating myself up over what I could have done differently - reacted faster, called resus sooner....
Baby went down to the NICU intubated. At least it's pink now and has a good HR.
How did this happen?!
I'm super emotional about it because my sister in law is in labor RIGHT NOW and all I could think about was that this could be her baby.
I cried the whole way home....
Not a good way to end the year....

At our hospital, NICU is called on ALL c-sections and any other delivery where there is a 1% chance they might be needed.

The goal is to have them there before the delivery....especially with c-sections where babies are born with wet lungs and have difficulty breathing to prevent the very thing that you described.

greenfiremajick · Jan 1, 2011

:hug:

I had an awful end to my shift.
We did a c/s on a pt for failure to progress, tracing was fine with an ISE.
I was baby nurse and we had Peds resident back there.
The baby came out AWFUL with no warning.
Apgars 1,1,4,5,7....
We did bagging, chest compressions called the NICU fellow, resus, intubated, placed an umbilical line....
It was terrifying! I felt so overwhelmed and unprepared.
And now I'm beating myself up over what I could have done differently - reacted faster, called resus sooner....
Baby went down to the NICU intubated. At least it's pink now and has a good HR.
How did this happen?!
I'm super emotional about it because my sister in law is in labor RIGHT NOW and all I could think about was that this could be her baby.
I cried the whole way home....
Not a good way to end the year....

SBarn · Jan 1, 2011

I am so sorry. God bless you, the parents and that sweet baby. Praying for a healthy niece or nephew. I am sure that you and everyone else did everything that needed to be done.

merlee · Jan 1, 2011

Seems like you did everything right. As long as you didn't panic during the emergency, and kept it together, you reacted appropriately.

Try not to beat yourself up about the situation. Hopefully there will be a de-briefing session, and it will all be discussed. Be proud of yourself, you were part of the reason that the baby survived!

Best wishes.

adpiRN · Jan 1, 2011

Thanks everyone!! Though honestly I felt like I barely did anything. I called NICU for help and they took over the code. I was keeping notes (or attempting to). I barely understood everything they were doing - it was all happening so fast. You see this stuff in NRP class but it's so different in person.

The real hero in my opinion is the anesthesiologist. While I was calling NICU he stepped in and started doing chest compressions on the baby while the Peds resident bagged. I was impressed!

I had a nightmare about this last night and woke up bawling.

I'm terrified to go back to work. Sometimes I feel I'm not cut out for this job....

I'm also just so confused and want to know why all this was necessary on a term baby born by non-emergent c/s?!

I hate that you can have a terrible tracing and the baby comes out screaming and an ok tracing and you end up intubating!

In other news my new niece was born at 12:01 AM on New Years Day. I hear she's healthy and beautiful and I'm going to see her today :)

Happy New Year!!