QEH Chronicles Rant 1

Good morning everyone,  welcome to the QEH Chronicles Rant 1,  where we try to understand the infectious case of "unmannerlyism" that pleagues this institution. While sitting in the waiting room of the labour ward, there were countless people both male and female singing the same tune of how rude the nurses were. One or two stood out as actually being nice and wanting to be in that profession, but collectively it seemed they were all dug up from a dark pit and dropped in the hospital and forced to care for patients. Many of them don't look like they want to be there and the rest seem angry that you have to be there as well... The only difference is that the patients didnt choose to be there, and you can bet your bottom dollar that if they could've afforded it, they would have gone elsewhere.

Now imagine this, Kai starts up crying and Deborah took him up out of the little cot and started to nurse him. He settled for a few minutes then refused the breast and was crying again so she proceeded to burp him incase air had him uncomfortable. A wild nurse appears an tells Deborah to nurse the child... no questions asked. She tries again to which Kai does the same thing and all the while he is crying. Now understand my child does not cry very loud. Same wild nurse reappears and takes Kai from Deborah and grumbles if Deborah thinks she want to hear a baby crying in her ears whole night... really? Why be a nurse, and a nurse in the section with newborns if crying babies annoy you... So she takes Kai and walks away, gave him formula and brings him back.

Then I get a message from Deborah at 3:19 am this morning with this " This evening  i tell the nurses i can hardly catch my breath it 2am i callng this same b! $ch told her again n that no one came i weezing now she gun tell me they had an emergency n walk way so i was to dead atleast someone no" See now why people in hospital keep their cell phones? All I would get is a phone call in the morning hearing how much they tried but she passed away, not know they ignore patient a whole night and wait till she cock up to pay attention. The doctor finally came and took blood to see if she getting enough oxygen and she has to get her chest xrayed. Around 4:30 am she finally got nebulized and breathing alot easier now. Would you know it that the shift change and yet another nurse that doesn't want her job on duty? I swear there's a course in medical school called Rudeness 101, with a masters in b!#chology.

Another thing is how someone is still in hospital this long after giving birth because of pressure and they serving macaroni pie and salt fish and all other things then telling you that reducing salt helps to bring down pressure... go figure.

End of rant, and I know a nurse's job is stressful but thats what you signed up for and that's what you are being paid for. So unlike you, don't take it out on the people who have nonchoice but to be there. If you dealing with an idiot then deal with them accordingly, when you have a nice patient you treat them with respect and each case on its own, don't just come it cranky and cast a dark cloud on the entire ward.

P.S unless you are the baby coming from between your patients legs or have a device to sync your feelings with theirs, stop telling women "man your water aint break" without checking, telling them "man you never had a child how you know baby coming" then scrambling when baby start to crown. Telling women "don't push yet" then got to pick up baby off the mattress. Who does really train wunna though?

First mobile post so will have to see how it came out later

Kai... nuff said

Hey everyone, said in the last post that Kai's eyes were brown but he opening them for his mother today and she told me they are actually grey. Unfortunately I'll have to get a picture of his eyes later as it was nap time when I got there.

Kai is 5 lbs 9 oz and is by far the sweetest baby in the hospital. Why you ask? Or rather, how did I manage to come to this conclusion? Simple... he's mine! :)

While all the other babies were crying their heads off, this was Kai. Deborah also realised that as long as she met his needs promptly then there no need to cry. When he is hungry he puts his little lips together and starts to make a sucking noise so mommy knows it's time to eat.

He is happy and healthy and hopefully should be home on Monday so I can spend more time with him. I remember Dominic was equally quiet and had "volume control", meaning he didn't cry to rival police sirens. That was one of the most joyous times of my life and it felt like we would have the most interesting conversations... when really we were just laying side by side and staring at each other for extended periods. Now that Kai is here, it's time for another round of whirlwind emotions, fear, love, admiration, joy, pain, ups, downs... life. Any parent would understand the "new baby" feeling, to try to protect from any and everything an the heartbreak and defeat when you realise that there are just somethings you can't control and protect them from. 

Nursery is the biggest test of a child's life, because believe it or not, you don't send your child to nursery for them to be looked after and cared for... you send them to nursery to get sick. Think about it for a second... I can guarantee you that the first month isn't going to pass without your child getting sick, sometimes not even the first week. The upside is that it's also supposed to be their time to socialize, even at that young age your child will encounter all types of personalities, the spoilt child that doesn't like to share, the bully that believes every toy, chair, and table is theirs, the quiet ones that just enjoy playing quietly alone, the loud ones that don't stop talking and do it like they're at the train station, the friendly ones that are like the fun sized version of hippies and love everything, try to get along with everyone and quick to try find solution to arguments of other kids.

I can just see it all unfolding before my eyes, and as with any parent, I have high hopes for my little man and will encourage him to pursue his passions and interests. Just hope the income can keep up so he can have the opportunities to do it all.

...Kai

The Bloody Show

For those who don't know, I will start by explaining what the bloody show is; those who know can skip this part.

"A cervical mucus plug (operculum) is a plug that fills and seals the cervical canal during pregnancy. It is formed by a small amount of cervical mucus.^[1]

The mucus plug acts as a protective barrier by deterring the passage of bacteria into the uterus,^[2] and contains a variety of antimicrobial agents, including immunoglobulins, and similarantimicrobial peptides to those found in nasal mucus.^[3]

Normally during human pregnancy, the mucus is cloudy, clear, thick, and sticky. Toward the end of the pregnancy, when the cervix thins, some blood is released into the cervix which causes the mucus to become bloody. As the woman gets closer to labor, the mucus plug discharges as the cervix begins to dilate. The plug may come out as a plug, a lump, or simply as increased vaginal discharge over several days. The mucus may be tinged with brown, pink, or red blood, which is why the event is sometimes referred to as "bloody show". Loss of the mucus plug by no means implies that delivery or labor is imminent."

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cervical_mucus_plug

So now that we are all on the same page, I shall begin.

Deborah is 35 weeks into her pregnancy and as stated in a previous post, we had started packing her hospital bag just in case Kai got impatient. Well last night that impatience started to materialize when Deborah got her Bloody Show, now as with all first time mothers who are just rolling with the punches and not sure of the fine details of pregnancy, the bloody show was cause for great concern. I usually keep in contact with her when I'm on duty via whatsapp, and after she googled this strange discharge, sent me a message saying she found it was the first sign of labour and she thinks I should come home. She was even nice enough to google a photo of what it looks like and sent it to me... awesome right??!!

Since she wasn't having pain or contractions, I instructed her to call the hospital and ask a question to which they told her come in through Accident & Emergency and bring her and Kai's things. Now! I don't have to tell you the panic that ensued after that phone call. First thing she stated was that she was afraid, I'm assuming since she was only 35 weeks... but that wasn't important as the important thing now was to keep her as calm as possible. I came home and took her to the hospital, (never, ever, ever, EVER as long as you can help it, wait for an ambulance in Bim) they got her a wheelchair and with her mother, mother's boyfriend, Deborah's bestfriend and myself in tow, we headed to the labour ward.

We reach the labour ward around 9:15pm and it is only when put in these situations you realise the hospital doesn't give updates AT ALL. A few people where there when we came in and it was only after a doctor was came out to see off a girl who came in too early that everyone had questions about the condition of their loved ones inside. The funny thing about it was that he came back out and stated the person gave birth a good while ago and the baby and mother are doing fine. Unless they are leaving, and even then there is a seperate staff entrance, you don't see anyone to even ask a question to, so make sure the person goes in with a full charged cell phone... at least you will be informed up until the actual event. 

She was assessed and blood pressure taken, baby heart monitored etc. and after a brief encounter with the dreaded Speculum, she was told she could go home and return when the contractions are at least 5 minutes apart. We got this message at 10:30pm... do you know we did not leave QEH until 12:45am? waiting for the doctor to Officially discharge her? If you are lucky you will encounter nice nurses but the nurses at QEH are not nice at all. They are also very spiteful so you have to take any abuse in silence and be polite or face neglect and rough treatment. All in all I think we only encountered two unmannerly nurses and kudos to Dr. Chatrani (hope it spell right) as this man is very kind, polite and a ray of sunshine in that hospital.

Until next time, I hope you enjoy reading the Book of Kai.