If my baby is in the NICU, can I sign my initials to verify a nurse’s lab specimen collection of my infant’s blood, etc.?  For most NICUs, the answer would be yes.  When a nurse draws blood, or another type of specimen, they are required to initial the lab label, which has the baby’s name, type of lab to be done, and patient identity numbers.  It may also include an area to enter the date and time the specimen was collected.  A nurse will fill this information out and sign it …

A mom eagerly scrubs up and walks into the NICU to see her baby. The precious little one has been in the NICU for two weeks, and today she is graduating to an open crib!  The mom approaches her baby’s bed, and the nurse tells her she has been waiting for her so they can move the baby into the crib together!
After the exciting ‘graduation’, the mom quickly pulls out her cell phone to make a quick call to dad telling him the wonderful news!  Only  the nurse stops her right as …

Neonatal ICU – NICU
Can I Watch My Baby’s Blood Being Drawn?
This is a tricky question, because some NICUs have policies on this and others are more lenient.  As a parent, you are already overly worried about your infant being in the NICU, and there is nothing wrong with wanting to be at the bedside when your baby’s labs are drawn. 
Typically, the NICU staff prefers parents to wait outside the unit, or out of view of their baby’s bed.  The reason for this is that parents can unintentionally become a distraction.  …

Apnea Alarm Going Off in the NICU
A scary moment for any first time NICU parent is when the apnea alarm goees off on their baby’s monitor.  Insitinctive concern and worry floods all emotions and thought, and the natural reaction is to jump into action to protect their baby.  After all, something is clearly wrong, right?  If the apnea alarm sounded, something is different than the norm.
This is not always the case.  Apnea can be defined as extended periods of time when an infant does not breathe.  Sometimes as long as …

Neonatal ICU
Adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD)
Adrenoleukodystrophy, or ALD, is a genetic disorder that causes damage to the myelin sheath, which is a membrane that surrounds the brain’s nerve cells.  Infants and adults who suffer from ALD build up high levels of saturated, very long chain fatty acids (VLCFA) in the brain and and adrenal cortex because they lack the ability to break these fats down.  There is an enzyme produced to break these fats down, and people with ALD have a defiency of this enzyme.  With decreasing myelin and a poor functioning adrenal …