Butchered
One of our midwifes (M1) is going on holidays on the 8th of June. We are due on the 1st, but in the event that we go over and our other midwife (M2) is not rostered on, we may end up with a different midwife (M3).
M1 thought it would be nice for us to have an appointment with M3, so we are familiar with her. Fair enough, sounded like a reasonable idea. The appointment took place last night, just before our first ante-natal class which coincidently was being run by M3.
As I mentioned in my last post, yesterday was the day for my 36 week iron level blood test. When M3 saw this on my notes she said...
'how do you feel about that?'
While I don't like needles they seem unavoidable in pregnancy, so I said (trying to be brave)...
'yeah, fine, let's just get it over with'. After all, this is the last one!
I should add at this point I have always had a bit of a phobia over needles. When I was a kiddie they once had to actually lie me down and strap me to the bed because I kept pulling my arm away everytime they tried to jab me.... And like I mentioned in yesterday's post, this phobia has been dissipating bit by bit over this pregnancy with each blood test that goes well.....
Back to the Story.
Now... I should have realised what she was infact saying was something along the lines of..
'I don't think I really want to do your blood test'.
After examining my stomach she started to prepare for the blood work. I was still lying on the bed and stayed there. She eventually put the needle in and I was lying there thinking how well I was coping and was busy reassuring myself that it was nearly over when she said..
'Oh sorry.'
'Um, that's ok'.
'Ohhh, we are not going to well here...'
'What do you mean?'
'I don't think I have got enough blood...'
Meanwhile the needle is still in my arm, I can feel it somewhat pulling and am busy trying NOT to think about my blood flowing out into the hollow tube. I think about it. I feel funny.
'Sorry, I did get some blood, but it seems to have stopped flowing'.
Tug, tug, tug. Fumble, fumble.
'What do you mean?'
'I don't know. You went all clammy and then the blood stopped flowing, the vein must have constricted'.
WHAT THE HECK? I am still lying there thinking, you must be joking, you are a professional, everything is fine, this blood test is nearly over, right.. right?
She withdraws the needle after what seems like hours and proceeds to push on it with a cotton bud HARD. REAL HARD, like she is desperately trying to stop me from bleeding to death.
I turn my head weakly towards her, (my head has been firmly facing the wall all this time).
'I feel faint', I say.
She holds up a small vial that contains about 1/8th of blood!
That's all!!
'I don't think it will be enough for them to test on, but I will send it anyway'.
Too right you will send it and they will test it and it will be fine, there will be NO MORE blood tests for me. I start to pray that there will be enough blood for the test to be completed.
I am confused.
And she is still pushing my arm so hard it makes me feel queasy.
'What happened?' I ask.
'I don't know.. I definitely got the vein (holds up the tube, shakes the blood) but then it just stopped flowing and you went all clammy'.
Yeah, probably because you were FREAKING ME OUT!!!
Now, I don't know if there is such a thing as a vein constricting, I don't know how it could stop flowing... but me thinks it is very possible that SOMEONE who is not super confident doing needles could easily MISS the vein, SLIP off the vein and therefore STUFF the blood test up!!!!
I was relieved to hear that she was not going to try again... she quickly turned away, put me in charge of pushing the bleeding vein (I proceeded to do it MUCH more softly) and started writing stuff up at her desk.
I lay there thinking, yeah, she doesn't want to attempt it again because she is scared she can't do it! Because she can't! And she didn't.
THEN......
She decides to take my blood pressure on the SAME arm that has just been molested. She straps it up nice and tight, pumps her little pump, and proceeds to time my blood pressure. When she takes the strap off my vein is protruding like a mini volcano with dark, red blood peaking from the open hole.
'Oh sorry' she says, 'it's because I just did the blood pressure'.
Well `DUR!!! Did you think it was going to make it better? Soothe it perhaps?
When she turned back away I sat there looking at Caleb with wide eyes , desperately wishing I had a glass of water and didn't have a throbbing, hole punched arm.
Today, I am sporting a BIG, LONG bruise the size of a strawberry. It is my war wound. I was butchered. I am continuing to pray that the small amount of blood she so clumsily extracted is able to be tested and I DO NOT have to have another blood test. I might be back at stage 1 again.......If there is a next time, they may just have to tie my down to the bed again.
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