Janelle Grindle
May 2022
Janelle
Grindle
,
RN
Family Birth Center
Kaiser Permanente Vacaville Medical Center
Vacaville
,
CA
United States
It wasn't an easy process, it was grueling, pain-stricken, and Janelle was always supportive and full of positivity.
I would like to share our birth story and in doing so, nominate nurse Janelle from Vacaville Kaiser Permanente for the DAISY Award. We cannot praise her high enough; she was an absolute game changer in our labor, and if it weren’t for her, we most probably would have altered our birth plan and gone with a cesarean instead. She was a difference maker that single-handedly changed the course of our baby's birth.
Two weeks ago, my wife L got induced Monday night and when labor began around 5 am Tuesday morning, L’s pains naturally began to increase. A few hours progressed and as the pains began to intensify to beyond-threshold levels, L was demanding the epidural. Around 9 am, the anesthesiologist came in and administered the epidural. What ensued almost immediately after was scary, stressful, and incredibly intense. The audible sound from the baby’s heartbeat monitors noticeably decelerated to a fraction of what it was and within a minute, an extra eight personnel (both doctors and nurses included) entered the room. The nurses warned us what this meant and that if nothing changed and the heartbeat continued as such, a cesarean would be necessary, and we'd be moved promptly to the OR. One nurse suggested that L change positions, and when L turned over on all fours, the heartbeat started to rise back up again. Once the baby's heartbeat reached 125 BPM, most of the personnel left the room. Within the hour afterward, the baby's heartbeat decelerated two more times lasting a couple of minutes each time, and then L would change positions and the heartbeat would go back up to the safe zone again.
At this point, we all suspected that the baby was sunny side up and that the umbilical cord was wrapped around the baby's neck. A couple of nurses talked to us again stating that we would most likely have to do a C-section. The nurses said that it wasn't likely we'd have the vaginal birth that we wanted, and one nurse even went so far as to boldly say that the infant warmer in our room was not going to get used. The writing was on the wall with the collective tone matched by all and one nurse said we could try "one last ditch effort" to see if we could stabilize the heart rate again, but even she was skeptical and reiterated that we would only be prolonging the inevitable (C-section) stating that a planned and prepared cesarean is much better than a stressful emergency one.
Prior to the induction, L and I researched the benefits of a vaginal birth over a cesarean, and the one thing we wanted over everything else was to have a vaginal birth. When all the nurses had written that off, we were saddened, discouraged, and hopeless. At that very moment, that's when Janelle shift started, and she came into the room. We strongly believe it was divine timing that brought her into our lives at that very moment because of what ensued. We briefly informed her of the situation, and we also shared with her how important our birth plan was to us.
That's when she took control of the situation like none had before her, and she began suggesting new ideas that no other nurses had suggested. She took the initiative and said, "Let's try turning him to get him into a better position." She grabbed the peanut ball out of the cupboard and every half an hour would shift L's position left and right to move the baby. After a couple of hours, we started noticing progress and discovered which positions the baby (and mom) preferred over others. It wasn't an easy process, it was grueling, pain-stricken, and Janelle was always supportive and full of positivity. She brought lavender cloths and put them throughout the room to soothe L and when L's upper back pain started to surge after the epidural, Janelle brought ice packs to help comfort her with the pain.
She would say optimistic things like, "We're going to get you that vaginal birth before I clock out" and "We're going to prove those other nurses wrong." If it weren't for her, we would have taken the other nurses' advice and thrown in the towel early on to undergo the cesarean. Janelle went above and beyond the call of duty, succeeded in turning our baby to open the opportunity for our birth plan, and was the difference maker for L to deliver vaginally as we had hoped for. She was supposed to clock out at 11:30, and we had our baby at 11:28 pm.
We cannot nominate her highly enough and wish that other nurses can take a page from her book. She believed when all others didn't, and she demonstrated resilience by taking the initiative to overcome a slim-chance obstacle that even the more seasoned nurses were cynically pessimistic about. We strongly believe she is a true DAISY Nurse. We are grateful and indebted to her in ways that words cannot express. Our story was miraculous, and she was the reason why. She deserves recognition as the exemplary nurse that she is, so thank you very much for considering her on our behalf.
Two weeks ago, my wife L got induced Monday night and when labor began around 5 am Tuesday morning, L’s pains naturally began to increase. A few hours progressed and as the pains began to intensify to beyond-threshold levels, L was demanding the epidural. Around 9 am, the anesthesiologist came in and administered the epidural. What ensued almost immediately after was scary, stressful, and incredibly intense. The audible sound from the baby’s heartbeat monitors noticeably decelerated to a fraction of what it was and within a minute, an extra eight personnel (both doctors and nurses included) entered the room. The nurses warned us what this meant and that if nothing changed and the heartbeat continued as such, a cesarean would be necessary, and we'd be moved promptly to the OR. One nurse suggested that L change positions, and when L turned over on all fours, the heartbeat started to rise back up again. Once the baby's heartbeat reached 125 BPM, most of the personnel left the room. Within the hour afterward, the baby's heartbeat decelerated two more times lasting a couple of minutes each time, and then L would change positions and the heartbeat would go back up to the safe zone again.
At this point, we all suspected that the baby was sunny side up and that the umbilical cord was wrapped around the baby's neck. A couple of nurses talked to us again stating that we would most likely have to do a C-section. The nurses said that it wasn't likely we'd have the vaginal birth that we wanted, and one nurse even went so far as to boldly say that the infant warmer in our room was not going to get used. The writing was on the wall with the collective tone matched by all and one nurse said we could try "one last ditch effort" to see if we could stabilize the heart rate again, but even she was skeptical and reiterated that we would only be prolonging the inevitable (C-section) stating that a planned and prepared cesarean is much better than a stressful emergency one.
Prior to the induction, L and I researched the benefits of a vaginal birth over a cesarean, and the one thing we wanted over everything else was to have a vaginal birth. When all the nurses had written that off, we were saddened, discouraged, and hopeless. At that very moment, that's when Janelle shift started, and she came into the room. We strongly believe it was divine timing that brought her into our lives at that very moment because of what ensued. We briefly informed her of the situation, and we also shared with her how important our birth plan was to us.
That's when she took control of the situation like none had before her, and she began suggesting new ideas that no other nurses had suggested. She took the initiative and said, "Let's try turning him to get him into a better position." She grabbed the peanut ball out of the cupboard and every half an hour would shift L's position left and right to move the baby. After a couple of hours, we started noticing progress and discovered which positions the baby (and mom) preferred over others. It wasn't an easy process, it was grueling, pain-stricken, and Janelle was always supportive and full of positivity. She brought lavender cloths and put them throughout the room to soothe L and when L's upper back pain started to surge after the epidural, Janelle brought ice packs to help comfort her with the pain.
She would say optimistic things like, "We're going to get you that vaginal birth before I clock out" and "We're going to prove those other nurses wrong." If it weren't for her, we would have taken the other nurses' advice and thrown in the towel early on to undergo the cesarean. Janelle went above and beyond the call of duty, succeeded in turning our baby to open the opportunity for our birth plan, and was the difference maker for L to deliver vaginally as we had hoped for. She was supposed to clock out at 11:30, and we had our baby at 11:28 pm.
We cannot nominate her highly enough and wish that other nurses can take a page from her book. She believed when all others didn't, and she demonstrated resilience by taking the initiative to overcome a slim-chance obstacle that even the more seasoned nurses were cynically pessimistic about. We strongly believe she is a true DAISY Nurse. We are grateful and indebted to her in ways that words cannot express. Our story was miraculous, and she was the reason why. She deserves recognition as the exemplary nurse that she is, so thank you very much for considering her on our behalf.