Jac has had quite a few blood draws done over the last few days to check all sorts of things.
Yesterday he had his Umbilical Vein Catheter (UVC) removed - this line went into his umbilical cord opening - and was very useful for taking some blood draws - others they had to do by taking blood from one of his heels. Since the PIC line (which replaced the UVC line) cannot be used for drawing blood, the nurses had no choice but to do a heel stick each time they needed to draw blood - which was definitely non-ideal.
The doctor decided that it would be best to install an Arterial Line (Art Line) which would allow them to draw blood without sticking him each time - this line will stay in indefinitely.
Alexis and I were in the room while the doctor installed the line.
The installation process is much more difficult than a line that goes into a vein. The arteries are much deeper under the skin than the veins and can not be seen, only felt. In a baby as small as Jac, the arteries are very small and difficult to find. They tried to install an Art line on the 11th (when Jac was admitted), but they were not able to find an artery then.
This evening, the doctor succeeded in finding his artery after what seemed like an eternity to me of sliding the needle in and out, in and out (in reality, it was probably 7 minutes or so). Jac tolerated the procedure fairly well -- he did not show any heart rate spikes, and he calmed down pretty quickly once the line was in.
We were all very relieved when the blood started flowing from the new line. The nurse quickly connected the line to receive a very small flow of fluids containing heparin and a few other things to maintain the integrity of the Art line and to insure that that it does not clot.
There is also a blood pressure sensor connected to the Art line -- his monitor now shows a new readout that continuously and more accurately reports his blood pressure.
Yesterday he had his Umbilical Vein Catheter (UVC) removed - this line went into his umbilical cord opening - and was very useful for taking some blood draws - others they had to do by taking blood from one of his heels. Since the PIC line (which replaced the UVC line) cannot be used for drawing blood, the nurses had no choice but to do a heel stick each time they needed to draw blood - which was definitely non-ideal.
The doctor decided that it would be best to install an Arterial Line (Art Line) which would allow them to draw blood without sticking him each time - this line will stay in indefinitely.
Alexis and I were in the room while the doctor installed the line.
The installation process is much more difficult than a line that goes into a vein. The arteries are much deeper under the skin than the veins and can not be seen, only felt. In a baby as small as Jac, the arteries are very small and difficult to find. They tried to install an Art line on the 11th (when Jac was admitted), but they were not able to find an artery then.
This evening, the doctor succeeded in finding his artery after what seemed like an eternity to me of sliding the needle in and out, in and out (in reality, it was probably 7 minutes or so). Jac tolerated the procedure fairly well -- he did not show any heart rate spikes, and he calmed down pretty quickly once the line was in.
We were all very relieved when the blood started flowing from the new line. The nurse quickly connected the line to receive a very small flow of fluids containing heparin and a few other things to maintain the integrity of the Art line and to insure that that it does not clot.
There is also a blood pressure sensor connected to the Art line -- his monitor now shows a new readout that continuously and more accurately reports his blood pressure.
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