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Monday, August 2, 2010

To My Smallest Patient

To My Smallest Patient,I wish I had a name by which to address you, but to me, you will forever be emblazoned in my mind as Baby Boy. I got the call that you were arriving at 11:30, and made the necessary logistical preparations. Airway equipment ready. Ventilator ready. Suction supplies ready. But the transition from your mom's nine centimeters of dilatation and your arrival into this harsh world took all of 10 minutes. I thought I was ready.

I won't forget how I held your feather-light head in the palm of my hand as your chest fluttered like a baby bird's. How you tried to protest the things we were doing to you but just weren't strong enough to cry. The bones of your tiny face felt so fine as we pried you open to insert tubes to sustain you. My hands shook as I breathed tiny puffs of air into your fragile body. My tears burned the backs of my eyes as I held them in. It is unprofessional to be that affected. Yet I could not help but think that if I did my job correctly, I would never know the outcome. Will you suffer lifelong disabilities because you came into the world so soon? Or would you grow up to lead a normal life? To run the 50 yard dash in gym class and dance with your date at your senior prom?

I will never know. My role is to be anonymous. Your mother never saw me. I was waiting for you in the NICU as she was pushing you into this world, far removed from the drama of her work. And you will never know me for being the one there to take over your vital functions when your own body was unable. You will grow to remember your first date, your first bicycle, your first kiss. I am the one who gave you your first breath. Anonymously.

I did what I had to for you. And then I left you in hands more capable than mine. Hands that do this multiple times a day. I gathered my ventilator and dirtied equipment as they took you away in your plastic box, and it was all high-fives and pats on the back from the team who essentially kept you alive. And I left. And as the elevator doors closed, creating my sanctuary, it was then that I cried.

I cried for you as you endured more pain than anyone should. And I cried for your mom and the tough journey she has ahead of her. I cried for myself and the career I love so much that takes so much out of me. And I cried out of gratitude for the healthy sons I have at home. Either one of them could have been you, as you lay there while people who do not know you fought for your life.

Perhaps the greatest gift is that you will not remember the feel of the endotracheal tube as it slid into place, of the cold blade of the laryngoscope as it pried you open. The needle sticks and chest compressions on still-soft bones. You won't remember my face as you felt these things. And you will never know that we had to keep you from your mother out of medical necessity.

You gave me a great gift last night. You showed me that I can do this. That it is time to shift my career to a different objective, to take on the role of helping other moms and babies who are in the throes of surviving what I did. So thank you, Baby Boy. It is my most sincere hope that I helped you last night instead of hurt.

Lovingly,
Andrea, RRT



Image credit: http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A9G_bF4b8VZMS1oAlLyjzbkF/SIG=1392epco2/EXP=1280852635/**http%3a//babyelandaily.com/2010/04/20/premature-baby-awareness-march-of-dimes-discount/

Obviously, I cannot take a picture of my patient for my blog. He deserves his privacy and so does his mother.

6 comments:

  1. Ohh Andrea... what a touching letter! I'm having serious problems trying to figure out what I want to say- it is hard to say how reassuring it is to know there are people in hosptials who care as much as you do without it sounding bitter or patronizing. There was one nurse as wonderful as you who became so involved in my FSIL's pregnancy that she scheduled herself specifically for the C-section.

    I can only imagine how hard it must have been for you- I was tearing up along with you! ♥HUGS

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  2. I love your post. My sister works in labor and delivery and I remember when she delivered her first problem baby. It affected her greatly. Just having my 2nd child 6 months ago...it is nice to know that there are such caring people behind the scenes that we never even meet. Props to you for giving a human their frist breath!

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  3. Angel.
    This is absolutely touching.
    Thank you for sharing.

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  4. Beautiful letter. I love that your work inspires you, and that you aren't cynical. Thank you for sharing this. I'm so happy to have followed that link!

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  5. Thanks for the kind words, ladies. You all are new to my blog,so I should clarify that this was not the first baby I have had to resuscitate. But I just returned from a 20-week leave for my own complicated pregnancy wrought with preterm labor and contractions from 20 weeks through actual delivery. So this is the first time I was so torn up. I actually called my husband in the middle of the night to check on my own babies after this one.

    I'm glad you all got something from my post. And Welcome :)

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  6. This is exactly what I am going to be specializing in after my RN, so it definitely means so much to read this. It takes a very special person to be able to handle such incidents, and this definitely proves the beauty of your heart. I can't blame you for the call home--it's a reminder of what really matters in life.

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