Rule #131: NICU nursing is for life

People often tell me that my job must be very rewarding. This usually comes on the heals of a hard week, deaths or saving children that I do not think should have been saved. So all I can answer is "sometimes."

Which makes me feel bad, because they clearly expected a different answer. But most people also think I work in a well baby nursery and get to cuddle and feed babies all night long.

Totally not the case. While I do get to cuddle and feed some babies, it most certainly isn't all night long, nor is it even every week. As I've been at work longer and gained more experience, I have been getting sicker kids, less able to cuddle and not going to eat for weeks kinda of kids.

I love both types. I love to use modern medicine to make a tragic situation better. I love to be able to collaborate with some amazing minds to save a child's life. I also love to cuddle and feed. :) It really is the perfect job for me.

And yes, my job CAN be very rewarding. This is one of those times.

Spring of last year I met Gibson. Darling baby, sweetest parents, big medical problems. He had been extremely critical, and the night I took care of him was taken off major support in hopes to have surgery the next day. It was supposed to be a chill, just get through 12 hours without having to change much kind of night.

It wasn't.

Gibson decided that he needed to be fixed. Now. Babies do that you know. We think we are in charge, we're not. They run the show, we just tag along for the ride.

There's no other way to say it, Gibson was dying. All that we were doing for him was not enough. I was heartbroken. Those sweet parents...

Luckily we had an amazing surgeon on that night. A lot of surgeons would have refused to do surgery because the baby was so unstable, and surgery might in fact kill him. At this point Gibson was going to die anyway, so the surgeon talked to the parents, and promising nothing, offered to try to repair him.

It worked. I work with some amazing people.

Gibson stayed in my hospital for the next three months. I fell in love with him. I took care of him nearly every time I worked, and I looked forward to it. This is him just a few days before he was able to go home!
He looks a little worried here, but I think we had to wake him up for this picture. But I'm telling you, cutest kid ever! As you can see, he still had a lot going on with him. Tubes coming out of his nose, oxygen, a bunch of mediation. Not to mention he still had his main problem to live with for the rest of his life. Clearly not a "well baby" at this point.

But home he went with his loving and very capable parents. And he has done amazing!! He and his parents came by the hospital a few nights ago. They were in town for some doctor appointments for Gibson.

He's huge, I can hardly even stand it! He's got teeth (more than Graham I might add) and gives kisses, tells his therapists "no" (with his head). He's 10 months old now. He's a curious little tyke that very well may walk before he crawls, loves his parents and seems all in all to be a regular old kid. Granted he still has some difficulties, but this is way better than we had expected at his age! I'm so pleased!

When I get to see a baby that was literally on deaths door, smile at me, and I get to hear just how well he is doing, it makes all of the "less rewarding" moments easier to bear. So yes, my job is rewarding.

Very rewarding.

*Pictures and story posted with permission of parents.