YUCK!!!
That was the word that kept running through my head last night at work...YUCK! For those of you who don't know, I am a Registered Nurse and work in the Newborn Nursery of my hospital. Most of the time, I enjoy my job but last night truly tested my patience.
First, a little background...our hospital's main population of patients consists of low-income, minimally educated, unmarried women. That's not our only type of patient but it's the vast majority (in the women's center, anway). These women, and sometimes young girls, usually choose the state's Medicaid program as their insurance. This, then, usually means that the mom will rely on the WIC (Women, Infants, & Children) Program to help provide for their babies. Well, beginning on October 1st, the WIC program changed the formula it provides from Similac Advanced to Enfamil Lipil. As we all know, everything usually comes down to the money issue, and Enfamil just so happened to have the best bid this time around (I suppose). We knew this change was coming a couple of months in advance and we were all dreading it. Now, I have nothing against formula feeding if that's what the mother chooses to do, but it's been my experience that most babies do not tolerate Lipil very well and end up spitting up lots of formula.
That's exactly what happened last night. I was taking care of 5 babies, 4 of whom were on Enfamil Lipil. 3 out of 4 of those Lipil babies kept spitting up LARGE amounts of formula all night long!! I had to change their blankets and t-shirts I don't know how many times! And, that's pretty bad because I'm a little OCD and I like my babies to look nice and neat in their little cribs. I ALWAYS wrap them in their blankets snugly and tuck a burp cloth under their chin & cheeks so that they don't get their blankets dirty if they spit up. Well, they were spitting up such large amounts that it soaked through the burp cloth and ran off the sides! GROSS!!
Like I said, I have nothing against formula feeding but I do prefer Similac products over Enfamil. The babies just seem to hold it down better. This is all just my opinion, of course, so if you love Enfamil, please forgive me. These are just the rantings of a nursery nurse who will go to bed in a little while with the lingering scent of baby spit-up in her nostrils. And she's not particularly happy about it!
Whew! Thanks for letting me spill my guts, y'all (no pun intended) (ok, actually it was intended)!
Ha Ha, lots of love to you all! Have a wonderful day!
That IS yucky! It is gross but tolerable when your own baby is spitting up but it is a whole other thing when that stinky formula comes back up from someone elses baby. It sounds like you will be dealing with this alot. Sorry!
ReplyDeleteOh and I would like to hear more "tales from the nursery." I have only been on the mommy/patient side of it but I bet you could tell us some VERY interesting stories :).
I hate the smell of spit up formula. I am so glad Connor was able to breastfeed the whole time. We had to do formula once when he got sick and I thought I was gonna get sick smelling that stuff.
ReplyDeleteOkay, that does not sound fun! I know you must be the greatest nurse though!! You have such a kind heart, I'm sure you take the best possible care of those babies while you have them! I would LOVE to work just ONE shift with you just to see what it is like.
ReplyDeleteI feel sorry for the babies!! Poor things.
ReplyDeleteI used to work at a family practice/OBGyn office in Lubbock, Texas. The majority of our OB patients were young, low income, single girls....they all did the formula route too. I cannot TELL you how much babies we had to send to have pyloric stenosis ultrasounds done because of all the spitting up/vomiting. I know that that particular doctor's office hated Similac but that was because all the formula samples we had were Enfamil so I truly don't know which is better. Since the Medicaid is switching to Enfamil maybe you should invest in nose plugs for awhile, to make sure that "lovely" smell doesn't come home with you!
ReplyDeleteBaby spit up is not a plesant smell, so I feel your pain! I never knew that about Enfamil Lipil. I breast fed both of my kids, but I only lasted about 2 weeks with Kaylee before I had to change to formula. Thankfully, both of my kids took the formula just fine, no matter what kind I gave them, but I know that it is usually very tricky trying to find the right formula for babies. I hope it gets better for you!
ReplyDeleteWe preferred Similac also. Of couse we are soooooo HAPPY that we don't have to do the formula or diaper thing anymore!
ReplyDeletei had hypertrophic pyloric stenosis...so i've done a fair amount of spitting up, on behalf of the babies, we're sorry about the ookiness.
ReplyDeleteall for now!
oh, and i wasn't doing formula (wouldn't couldn't, it smells too yuckified), and i still had pyloric stenosis.
ReplyDeleteI smelled like spit up the first several months of my babies lives! I also went around with a dirty shoulder most of the time. When it wasn't spit up formula it was snot, food or something unidentifiable!
ReplyDelete