Tomasso is rolled down the hallway and
into the nursery. He is placed on the examining table and undressed. The two nurses begin to prepare for a blood draw, one nurse puts
the rubber tubing around his upper arm and the other nurse gets the needle ready. She begins to search for a vein. A blood draw in the first hour after birth is not
standard procedure and I'm a bit confused. But I just watch, and don't ask any
questions. He lays there, one nurse holds his arm down and the
other inserts the needle multiple times... nothing. He is not crying
desperately like I have seen many times before during the delicate
procedure of the newborn blood draw. I wonder why. He cries a bit and then doesn't.
They don't find a vein and haven't
gotten any blood from him after what seems like an eternity of
trying. So they flip him around, take the rubber tube off his arm and
place it on the other arm. They work for some time on this arm.
At this point I ask them why they are doing a blood draw. They are used to me asking questions, for two years I have been following around these newborns and these nurses and asking questions. As I've never before seen a one-hour old get a blood draw, though surely it has happened, but I've not seen this before. They tell me that the blood sample from the cord blood, which is usually adequate, was not enough so they need to take more of his blood for normal testing. They still haven't found a vein and will have to take another try on another part of his body, but I can't watch anymore. I leave. What seems strange is that he doesn't seem to be suffering from this procedure as much as I am.
At this point I ask them why they are doing a blood draw. They are used to me asking questions, for two years I have been following around these newborns and these nurses and asking questions. As I've never before seen a one-hour old get a blood draw, though surely it has happened, but I've not seen this before. They tell me that the blood sample from the cord blood, which is usually adequate, was not enough so they need to take more of his blood for normal testing. They still haven't found a vein and will have to take another try on another part of his body, but I can't watch anymore. I leave. What seems strange is that he doesn't seem to be suffering from this procedure as much as I am.
Comments
Post a Comment