When I checked in I made sure to tell the receptionist that that Natalia was an extremely hard stick (that’s lab lingo for impossible to find veins to draw blood from J ). I also told her I thought it was a good idea to get the CHET Team, who are like paramedic superstars, to draw the blood since they’re the only ones that have a red light in their equipment that makes Nati’s tiny thin veins visible through her skin (imagine a thick laser pointer), it’s been the only way we’ve been able to put an IV in her when she’s needed it. I think she thought I was an overprotective mom, but humored me by making a few calls. “The CHET team can come at 9:30am”, she said, but I’ll ask our most experienced nurse to take a look, and if he can’t then we can wait for the CHET”.
20 minutes later, in came the Super Nurse and tried to find veins everywhere: arms, wrists, feet, ankles. Natalia hates to be held down and hated even more having tight rubber bands on her arms and legs so there was a bit of drama. And, you guessed it, no veins! That nurse called another, and another, they all seemed pretty amazed that there was not a vein in sight. So with a big I TOLD YOU SO face we left the Lab to wait for the CHET Team in the Hospital’s cafeteria.
Two CHET Team members arrived at 10am and since we only needed 3 cc's of blood to be able to have the study done they thought it was going to be a piece of cake… Nati had something else planned.
To make a long story short: after 30 minutes, 4 unsuccessful sticks and one exhausted baby girl, they only had 3/4th of a cc. At 10:45 they called it an unsuccessful mission, a first for both CHET members… I think it hurt their superstar ego's.
Now I have to regroup with our genetics doctor since we really want to have the study done. Although I think it’s a good idea to wait till Natalia is bigger so her muscle tone is better and her veins don’t play hide and seek.
PS. The Ophthalmologist said Natalia’s eyes are perfect and her vision is exactly where it has to be. Yayyy!!
5 comments:
Wow, we had an almost identical experience getting Ben's blood drawn earlier this summer! It was his first time having blood drawn as an outpatient, and I had no idea it would be so difficult. Maybe being a hard stick is a CdLS trait. We did manage to get what we needed from one of Ben's poor little feet.
:(
Oh, and I'm glad that Nati's vision checked out perfectly! Ben goes later this month for his first eye exam.
I was told being a hard stick had to do with low muscle tone...which is a CdLS trait :( . And their veins are SO TINY!!
This was also our first experience as outpatient. Natalia's been seen by an ophthalmologist since birth cause she's a preemie. So far so good!! He says she has a 6/7 month old vision, which checks out perfectly with her level of development.
Way to go Mom :) you are becoming very knowledgable in hospitable stuff. You would think that the hospital would have a place to put comments like that in Nati's medical history so that they do not put you through all of that trouble more than once.
Gracias Hermana!! You should see Nati's Medical Chart... it's HUGE. I guess it's just to much info for them to check each and every time we have an appointment. :(
Besos a Sofía & Isabella.
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