so far so good

Thus far I have completed 3 nights out of 8 in my preceptorship.  It has been a wonderful experience and I am truly enjoying my time there.  I have an amazing preceptor. She is smart, kind, funny, and just a wonderful person all around. 

My first night there, we were assigned a patient with HELLP syndrome.  In case you don't know what HELLP syndrome is, it stands for Hemolysis, Elevated Liver enzymes, Low Platelets.  It is a severe form of preeclampsia/ eclampsia.  In a women who has high blood pressure, they can get eclampsia or preeclampsia and HELLP can develop.  As the hemolysis develops, the liver gets congested causing it to fail. You can read more up on it HERE.

My second night I had a patient with a fetal demise.  She was 30 weeks along when she stopped feeling the baby move, came into the hospital and no fetal heart tones were there. It was absolutely heartbreaking watching that mother cry and seeing her pain.  It was hard for me to not know what to say.

My third night was a bit better. We had a new mom who ended up getting a C-section because of multiple reasons. Baby wasn't tolerating contractions well, mom got a fever, and she wasn't progressing quickly enough with being on Pitocin, and baby ended up being in a transverse position.

I did have this huge post with more details to my nights, but I decided that it's not appropriate for public eyes.  I am just grateful for this opportunity to be in the Labor and Delivery department right now.  I am grateful for the experiences I have received.  Not very many students get the opportunity to see what I have seen.  yes the fetal demise was so sad, but I am grateful that I had her.  I was able to watch my nurse and see how she explained things (paperwork) and listened to what she said to that devastated mother.  I didn't know what to say.  I know I learned from this experience.

Happy deliveries happen all of the time.  the c-section was happy delivery, but I know the Mom wanted a normal delivery, but things happen and the ultimate goal for her was to have a healthy baby.  I've said this before and I'll say it again, after seeing that major surgery, I hope that I NEVER have to have one.  Yes it's quick and you can plan when you have your baby, but man! the trauma that puts on your body.  No thank you. 

I am looking forward to my next 5 shifts and I hope that I will be able to get a job in that department.  I am going to be sad when this is done. I really have enjoyed the girls I have met as well.