Thursday, January 10, 2008

Stressful with a Capital S, But Success Nonetheless!

Today was the day ... the day I've been avoiding for weeks ... the bloodwork!  It was as bad as I expected, maybe even worse, but that's probably my own fault I'm afraid.  We set out at about 10 am to check and make sure the lab could handle a toddler and to make sure I applied the Emla patches properly ... then we were off to waste about an hour and a half while they did their magic. When we returned to the clinic Cadence was fast asleep but NOT for long.  Unfortunately the poor infant in the next cubicle woke her up and tipped her off as to what was about to occur.  The nurses attempted ... a number of times ... to hit a vein but with no success ... all while my sweet little girl screamed incessantly ... who could blame her.  From there we were sent to the lab at the hospital ... where I contemplated going in the first place.  By the time we got there, Cadence was 'spent' ... she had been through one trauma, missed her nap and was starving!  I managed to grab her some yogurt, cheese and a tea biscuit to tie her over ... poor little soul.  These nurses seemed much more prepared to handle Cadence, although it certainly was not a walk in the park!  They stuck her in the first arm and were unsuccessful, gave us some cuddling and consoling time and then went for the other arm ... success!  Thank God!  Given the amount they needed and the slow flow caused by her being so worked up, I was afraid we would have to go back a second time.  So ... that's done ... hopefully ... and ... hopefully everything's going to come back normal.  Photos to be included in the next post ...

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Poor little Cadence..I feel her pain! I had to get blood drawn a lot when I was little and they freaked me out with their 'butterfly' needles. I was afraid of butterflies for a long time!

Poor Mom too!

Donna Paonessa said...

Which is exactly why we tell families that it's worth the drive to Sick Kid's (or another children's hospital). *grin*

PennyWolfe said...

Poor Cadence!! At least it is over and done with. We did Lucy's the first week we were home and with Lisa we waited a while. I think that makes it harder - they are just starting to trust us and we pull this stunt! We knew what we were up against. It took us two separate trips with no success the first time. (I only gave them two chances - experience the first time told me they'd treat the baby like a pin cushion if you let them.) The second trip was successful but it was one in each arm and one in the hand to get what we needed.

And I'm afraid a four hour drive (one way) to Halifax wouldn't have been in the cards for us to go to a children's hospital so we toughed it out here. And if attempt number two failed we had our favourite RN (Dianne) on notice and we were going to go to emerg and have it done there.

Keep us posted on the results. Lisa came back all okay on the blood and we're still waiting for the results of that other sample. :)