WWYD? Blown IV, Nurse was nervous to do it, Resulted in anxiety attack

Question

Hey ladies. I’m having my second baby in April. My first was born in 2018 and this situation that happened to me keeps getting into my mind because it flared my anxiety and I’m sure it won’t happen again (I mean I hope not) but I want to ease my anxiety about it jic and I’ll
Know what to do this time around. I’m giving birth at the same hospital. If anyone could give me some insight to what they would have done or even if there are any L&D nurses in here that could help that would be great. 
So, I was on pitocin and my IV blew, my wrist and hand started swelling. I was finally starting to have contractions as well, they weren’t terrible at this point. This was at night with my night nurse. She didn’t want to do it and seemed nervous to do it so we had to wait for another nurse to help her. I’m sure she didn’t want to hurt me or something so I appreciated it but I started having an anxiety attack (I was diagnosed with anxiety this year) and I already didn’t love having a needle in my hand. I started freaking out because I didn’t know if I was going to have a contraction or how bad it was going to hurt etc. I finally got used to them drawing blood during my pregnancy but having one in my hand already put me on edge. After a new IV was placed everything felt like a blur, my contractions got so bad that I felt like Regan from the Exorcist 😐. Could my anxiety have made my contractions get that bad that quickly??? Should I have asked for a different nurse for the night, or just brushed it off like I did? Maybe it’s normal for nurses to help other nurses?? Or was she inexperienced? I don’t even know where I’m going with this I just know it made my have an attack and I’d like to not have it happen again. Thanks for listening if you got this far  💗

Answer

You had an anxiety attack because you have anxiety I think that the whole situation set you off. It was very professional for her to let you know that she needed to wait for another nurse and it could be for a multitude of different reasons. Your contractions probably got worse once you started getting fluids and actually hooked up to an IV the anxiety could have played a part in it as well. Unfortunately when you have anxiety you don't get to pick and choose when you have attacks and what triggers them it just happens. As for what I would do in the situation I wouldn't really do anything because I know in the end I'm likely to have anxiety because of the situation in the first place. You're likely going to be anxious about it regardless on what's done to make you feel better that's just kind of how anxiety works. I'm sorry that you had a bad experience but any body can blow a vein whether they're experienced or not it's not a hard thing to do.

Answer

Sorry momma but I honestly think this situation was your anxiety not the nurse’s fault. The nurse doesn’t sound like she did anything wrong. IV’s sometimes blow through no ones fault, and when handling an extremely anxious person sometimes it’s better to have 2 people in the room. Plus some nurses just have the magic IV touch and she might have known that other nurse would do a better job if you have hard veins to find. I would focus more on prepping some things you can use to help u if you get into a panic again this upcoming labor/ delivery só that you have a better outlook if things dont go to exact plan

Answer

No, your contractions got worse because you were on pitocin! 
They have a hard time putting ivs in me so only certain nurses that have been here longer normally do mine when I'm in labor and delivery. And if they think there is an issue then they call them

Answer

She probably was aware you were starting to feel anxious and didn’t want to risk messing the iv up again so she asked for help. I don’t mind nurses asking each other for help especially since I’m super anxious with needles so whoever can get it right first works! I wouldn’t have asked for a new nurse for that-I typically reserve that for rudeness, major problems with care etc.

Answer

I think a total of 3 nurses worked to place my iv. One nurse placed it a shitty spot that hurt to move, so another came and asked if I wanted it changed, I said yes, she tried, it blew, then the next nurse placed it perfectly. I think it’s normal for them to need or want another’s help. They are all capable but some are better than others. The Pitocin is what made your contractions worse, being nervous might of made them worse too I’m not sure, but Pitocin is made to make you have contractions. When they gave me Pitocin I started having contractions back to back and quickly went from a 5-8cim in like 10 minutes? Then I got the epidural and it was amazing lol

Answer

I can’t speak to what you could or should have done last time, but you can tell your nurse up front THIS time that you have anxiety disorder in general, but that IVs can be a bit of a trigger for you. You can ask if they can try for other placements than your hand at first, and even ask if they have any nurses that excel at IV placement. Obviously they can’t guarantee that you won’t end up with it in your hand, but you can absolutely advocate for yourself.

WWYD? Blown IV, Nurse was nervous to do it, Resulted in anxiety attack

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