Babies, babies, babies!

So we're still not sure whether Martin got the job, or not. He had orientation and a road test on Monday and Tuesday of this week, but they're not sure if they're going to hire him on or not. It's very frustrating, and it seems like no one really knows what's going on. He should find out for sure tomorrow, or at the latest Friday, and if he's hired he'll leave Friday for the first 14 days of a 42 day run with a trainer. I'm just praying right now that this will work out.

On a happier note, I'm 3 shifts away from finishing my 80 hour preceptorship on the labor and delivery unit. It's so much more interesting than I thought it would be (so different from what our OB clinicals were like), and makes me think I'd like to work L&D someday. Someday, when I'm ready to settle in somewhere, and when I'm past the age of having little ones. It's a wonderful place to be, with babies being born all day long (17 on my first day) and there's so much to learn and so many things to stay on top of. Labor and delivery nurses have a lot of autonomy (at least at the hospital I'm at) and need to make split second decisions that affect not only mom, but baby too.


Unfortunately, there's also a sad side to labor and delivery. We had an IUFD (Intrauterine Fetal Demise) come to the unit last week, one of several over the past several weeks. The mom was 36 weeks pregnant, and the baby had a reactive NST (non-stress test) and a positive biophysical profile (BPP) just days before. It was suspected that the baby had some kind of chromosomal abnormality, based on some early testing during the pregnancy, but mom had declined an amniocentesis. They tried to induce labor, so the mom could deliver vaginally, but unfortunately it didn't work and she ended up needing a repeat c-section. After mom, dad, baby and the rest of the family had a bedside blessing ceremony and had time to hold, take pictures, and spend time with their baby girl, the baby's body was taken to a room to await transfer down to the morgue. My preceptor thought it would be relevant and important for me to see the baby. It was the saddest thing I've ever seen. I know that God has a plan for everything, but my brain can not make sense of why babies die. 

I had intended for this post to take a different direction, but I think I needed to get that experience out. Next time I'll focus a little more on the positive (and sometimes funny) side of working on the L&D unit. 

And I'll try to post some pictures of the munchkin. He's getting so big, so fast, and learning new words everyday. It's absolutely amazing!!