Hospital Nurses...
Monday, January 23, 2006
We called the doctor about the contractions. She said that Braxton Hicks contractions are not that regular and we should go to Labor and Delivery to see if I was in labor. I was sure to tell her that the contractions didn't hurt at all and the doctor said that that sometimes they don't. So, we drove the whole 3 minutes to the hospital and checked ourselves in with Labor and Delivery. We knew I wasn't in labor, but since the doctor suggested that we go, we thought it was a good opportunity to see how baby is doing after having contractions that were about five minutes apart for more than 24 hours.
The most incompetent nurse ever, hooked me up to the monitors. She put the contraction monitor above my uterus! Hello! If you're going to measure something maybe you should put the device over the thing you're trying to measure? So, of course, the contractions didn't register. I told her that I didn't think it was in the right spot. She moved the monitor down a little and it started to pick up some contractions. Wouldn't you know it - my contractions slowed down so that they were ten to twenty minutes apart! And the dumb nurse looked at the strip and said, “Gee, you only had two contractions in 45 minutes”. Hello! The monitor was not in the right spot for half of that time!! I let it slide though.
Anyway, I told the incompetent nurse about how I was feeling all this downward pressure yesterday and she told me that it was impossible because when she checked me, I was still not dilated, just 25% effaced, and the baby was really far up (she couldn't even feel it). Okay... She didn't feel this pressure - I did. And it wasn't my imagination because I could hardly stand up at times! And after all that downward pressure and the contractions, I cannot believe I wasn't anymore effaced or dilated.
So, the nurse proceeds to tell me that I should just lie down and the contractions will go away. Gee, didn't she hear me when I said that the contractions went on like that all night long when I was in bed? By this time we just decided she was an idiot and adopted the "smile and nod" philosophy. We were out of there in about an hour with a "kick count" chart (you don't want my thoughts on that) and a checklist of symptoms that should prompt a call to the doctor (downward pressure, more than 8 contractions per hour, nausea, etc... sound familiar?).
We stopped by the newborn nursery on the way out. There was a new baby who was getting his first evaluation (shots, eye goo, temperature, etc...). He was screaming and it actually made me cry to see him scream like that with no one to comfort him. The father was observing from the inside and the family was next to us, behind the glass. When they were finished, the father came out to talk to the family and that poor baby was left screaming all alone. Hubby and I agreed that our little precious wouldn't be left alone like that - especially after such an experience.
posted by Avorie @ 11:39 AM,
4 Comments:
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At 1:37 PM,
Kristin said...
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Oh, it is sooooo frustrating when you feel like you know more than the health care professionals. When my husband went to "Boot Camp for Dads" he was told that you can request a new nurse at anytime. It takes a little bit of courage, but it's all in the best interest of you & your little family. Hopefully you don't get this nurse again when it's the real thing.
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At 1:47 PM,
Isabel said...
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Well, sorry that your nurse was so dumb.
I agree, you can't leave the baby alone right after being born. I am sure that is so scary for them.
Thanks for the update. Good luck with the rest of the day! -
At 2:41 PM,
Corinne said...
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Sounds like there are some pretty incompetent people out there. I'd have slapped the nurse. Did you call your doctor? Maybe they can check you out for those contractions. Hope next time you have a more competent nurse
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At 3:42 PM,
The Mommy Blawger said...
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My husband was not allowed into the nursery with our first, had to stand outside and watch him fuss until I got up to a room. He was so angry and it was one of the main reasons we opted for a homebirth with #2 and #3.
