Sjoe! What a day(and night!)

I was on call on Monday in the nursery i.e. Neonatal ICU/High Care - boy was it hectic! This was my 1st call in nursery and the 1st time I worked in nursery as an intern. I'm glad I didn't know beforehand how hectic it would be otherwise my whole (free) weekend would have been spoilt! Ja so anyway it ended up being a 27hr call and I  literally didn't sit at all except for 20mins around 5am this morning because I really thought I'm gonna collapse!(There was no time for supper either!)

Inserting IV lines on little babies is really no joke:( It actually gets quite depressing. I spent like almost 90mins with some babies, poking them like a hundred times, constantly reading Allahumma La Sahla Illah Ma Ja Altahu Sahla and I still failed in some of the prems - they soooo tiny, some weighed just more than 1kg! I had to call my senior to help me out with quite a few of them because I just... failed! I know this sounds dumb but I was kinda happy, you know in weird sort of way, when she also failed with 2 babies! So at least I felt these 2 babies could be described as 'un-dripable' and my self-esteem was restored a tiny bit:) But seriously it is torture to be standing and trying to insert an IV line (alone mind you because the sisters - who only work 12hr shifts btw - are sleeping at the nurse's station!) and having to eventually give up - because you just can't. I was almost wondering if I've just forgotten how to insert an IV line. I almost felt like running to some adult and trying to put up and IV Line on them just to boost my self-confidence ;)

Besides this 'ward-work' I also had to go to theater for C-sections to 'catch' the babies and resus if necessary. We've done a whole neonatal resus course so I know basically how to resus but I just didn't want to be in that situation, so while they were cutting each c-section, I was busy making dua that the baby doesn't come out 'flat'. Alhamdullillah all the babies came out crying loudly Yay:)

Oh ja and then the walk to the lab....don't know if I've described this before, but the walk to the lab is absolutely dreary at night:( The lab is situated on the 1st floor but it's sort of out of the main hospital building and you have to walk down this long corridor that's enclosed with I think it's called corrugated iron? There's places it's broken, so you feel the cold wind and can see the bats flying around (or they may be birds I'm not sure but they make a lot of noise!) Anyway its dimly lit and there's another 2 entrances to this corridor from outside the hospital - 1 near the lab entrance and 1 on the opposite end. It is so scary! I constantly read Haa Meem La Yunsaroon while walking down there and keep checking behind me every few steps until I reach the lab safely and thank Allah for keeping me safe and then the process gets repeated on the way back. (I have tried running but then my footsteps on the cemented floor just adds to the eeriness!) Really wish they'd make it safer.

(Drove home in a bit of a daze - I was just too tired. There was a huge truck in front of me so I took a few side roads in an attempt to overtake it and then when I got to the place I had to join the main road again... yah... the same truck passed just before me!)


[Sorry just realised my post seems to be overpowered with exclamation marks!!!!}