Barbara Serpiello
August 2020
Barbara
Serpiello
,
BSN, RNC-MNN
Maternity
WellSpan York Hospital
York
,
PA
United States

 

 

 

This story has needed to be shared for over two years. In February 2018, I welcomed my second son into the world. He was a fussy little thing and spat up after every feeding. I didn't think much of it and assumed it had to do with his quick birth... much like his brother two years prior. I was only a little worried when I got to Maternity around 10:30 PM. I was so tired, and F's episodes of spitting up were silent. I was grateful that I was holding him upright during all of his episodes so that he wasn't choking on the milk. Barb welcomed me to the unit with a warm smile, introduced herself, and took the chance to get to know our little family. She saw one of F's episodes of spitting up after a feed and saw how exhausted my husband and I were. When I asked if she could take him to the nursery to keep an eye on him, in case he spat up more, she didn't hesitate. She happily took him back to the nursery and kept a watchful eye on him all night. She noticed that he did spit up after the feeds through the night and that he had to be prompted to eat. Day two was much of the same. F continued to spit up again, and again I thought nothing of it. When Barb came back, she once again took him to the nursery to keep a watchful eye on him and to allow us to get some sleep. She noticed F had several dusky episodes following his spitting up, and IMMEDIATELY reached out to the NICU team. Despite remaining on the unit, she continued to advocate for my son. She called several times that night, insisting that the team needed to come to assess F. When they finally did, they saw an episode and agreed that we needed to move him to the NICU for better observation and to hopefully find out what was going on. We were scheduled for discharge the next morning. To this day, I credit Barb for saving my son's life. Had we taken him home, I don't know if I would have heard him in the night if he was struggling to breathe. I don't know if he would have been safe and healthy. I do know that thanks to Barb's care, and her advocacy for my son's safety, he got the care he needed, and now he is a healthy, (mostly) happy two-year-old!