Friday, November 27, 2009

sorry baby but we tried

A poem written by my daughter when she was still a student nurse. Like me, my daughter writes poems that show details of an experience. I hope she could find the desire again to write and not wait till she is 40 before she finds it again. (like I did )

sorry baby but we tried

QMC, June 25, at the NICU Department
Gotta go now, I say, as I leave my apartment
On duty today from 6:00am till 2:00
Attending to babies in QMC’s NICU

at 8:40am, a baby girl was delivered
as i pushed the crib, still no cry was heard
Cyanotic, bradycardic and apneic
Oh my God help me, I am going to panic!

I suctioned quickly
her secretions were bloody
I swabbed the oral cavity,
still no cry or sign of air entry

so small, so fragile
I am almost scared to touch
But then I came to my senses
I only got a little time to catch.

At long last I heard a cry
was that me? my heart pounding as i try
ambu-bagging, not a joke you would buy
If this won’t work,i am pretty sure
it’ll be hard to keep my eyes dry.

I noticed some flexion of the baby’s extremeties
but still not enough to call for parties
Oil bath, then warm bath, both were rendered
anthropometric measurements, vital signs taken and recorded

I applied terramycin eye ointment on both eyes
Vitamin K was injected on her left upper thigh
her umbilical cord ligated and dressed aseptically
umbilical arteries and vein, I checked properly

At exactly 11:00 am, her RBS was taken
For umbicath, I phoned the intern
at 11:20, she’s again cyanotic
it worsened, she’s now bradycardic and apneic

CPR done, epinephrine given
I prayed for a heartbeat right when i listened
Lay baptism done, her name, is "ANGEL"
Yeah I know she is one — anyone can tell.

Gave another dose of epinephrine
the doctor ordered continuous ambu-bagging
Pupils dilated and sluggishly reactive to light
I can see an ANGEL getting ready for her flight

at 12:45 she seemed "well", for just a little
I prayed so hard that ANGEL will win this battle
We did our best and then I saw that her father just cried
I’m sorry baby Angel, but we REALLY tried.


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