Week 2 - PICC

Emilia's 2nd week was quite stable, though its start was not very peaceful for her parents.

NICU doctors finally decided to send Emilia to SickKids after failing to insert a PICC line a number of times. Few days later, Sick Kids finally had a spot for her for the procedure. We had to give them a consent that it was okay for her to get a PICC line and we, her parents, were aware of a dozen of seriously bad things that could happen as a result of the line. I knew it was going to be better for Emilia to have a PICC line rather than getting a new IV everyday, but when Sick Kids transport team finally came to our NICU to pick her up, I couldn't help crying. It was so hard to accept that the tiny baby, who was supposed be inside my body, was going to have a procedure that just sounded so scary.
For those of you who don't know what a PICC is, here is a definition from http://www.macmillan.org.uk/Cancerinformation/Cancertreatment/Treatmenttypes/Chemotherapy/Linesports/PICCline.aspx:

A PICC is a long, thin, flexible tube known as a catheter. It is inserted into one of the large veins of the arm near the bend of the elbow. It is then slid into the vein until the tip sits in a large vein just above the heart.

Now imagine that this was tried a number of times on her by the doctors and then all failed because her veins were too thin. No wonder my baby got sick. Any way we were initially told at SickKids that the procedure would take about 30-45 mintues. An hour, which was more like an eternity, passed and somebody came to the waiting room and told us that they were having difficulties finding veins and would take a bit longer than expected. We were devastated. Don't tell me it's failed again! Then after another 45 minutes or so, finally a doctor came out and announced that it was done successfully. Thank goodness. When I was heading back to our hospital NICU, my heart was much lighter than when I was walking over to SickKids earlier.

When I saw her again, she was sleeping from the sedative given to her for the procedure. I felt so sorry for my baby but now with the PICC line in her right arm, Emilia doesn't need to suffer any more IV's (or failed IV attempts) except for blood transfusion, I guess. I am now praying that she does not get any infection or any other complications from the line. Worry is never ending in NICU.