Supplies in Labor and Delivery with Jen Hamilton – Episode 151

I don’t want you surprised by what you’re going to see in labor and delivery — so, today we’re chatting about what to expect to see with one of my favorite labor nurses on the inter-webs.

Today’s guest is Jen Hamilton. She found accidental social media fame from sharing the hilarious, vulnerable, and real parts of being a mom, being a wife, and being a nurse. Since joining tiktok at the beginning of the pandemic, she has now accumulated almost 2 million followers ok Tiktok. She is a labor and delivery nurse in North Carolina and is married to her OR nurse husband, Brian. They have 2 boys who are 9 and 5 who provide her with plenty of funny stories to share.

Follow her on Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jen_hamilton

This episode was inspired by chapter 5 of The Online Prenatal class for Couples. This is just an appetizer for what you can learn about labor and delivery!

Big thanks to our sponsor The Online Prenatal Class for Couples. If you’re looking to learn more about your birth, it is the class for you!

In this episode

IV’s, Chux, catheters, pumps, what you can and can’t touch in labor and delivery.

Other things that might interest you

IV Fluids in Labor: https://pregnurse.com/iv-fluids-labor/

Producer: Drew Erickson

Check out my other pregnancy podcasts:

Transcript

[00:00:00.370] – Hilary Erickson

Hey, guys, welcome back to season four of the Pulling Curls Podcast. Today on episode 151, we are talking about the supplies in labor. Like, what is the stuff you are going to confront when you’re in labor and delivery? So let’s untangle it.

[00:00:26.010] – Hilary Erickson

Hi, I’m Hilary Erickson, the curly head behind the Pulling Curls Podcast. Pregnancy and Parenting Untangled. There’s no right answer for every family, but on this show, we hope to give you some ideas to make life simpler at your house. Life’s tangled, just like my hair.

[00:00:48.190] – Hilary Erickson

Okay, I know you were thinking about getting me a gift for the big season four, but let me just tell you, the thing I want most is for you to just hop on over to Apple podcast and leave a review. It’s the best gift you could give. It’s free, except for a few minutes. Just pop on over. Thank you. I know you were getting me gift, but don’t go crazy just a review. Thanks.

[00:01:08.850] – Hilary Erickson

Today’s guest. It’s her second time on the podcast. She has almost 2 million followers on the Tikkity tok. She has two young boys. I think they’re four and nine. Her husband works in the operating room. If you haven’t met her while you’ve been on Tik Tok you’re blind. Has anyone seen her swaddling the chicken TikTok? Honestly, it made me a little anxious. But I want to introduce today’s guest, Jen Hamilton.

[00:01:34.250] – Hilary Erickson

Do you feel prepared for your delivery? In just three short hours, you can be prepared for the confident, collaborative delivery you want. You’ll know what to expect and how to talk with your health care team. And there are no boring lessons in this class. I’ll use humor stories from my 20 years in the delivery room to engage both of you. I love how Alyssa told me that she found herself laughing at things that used to sound scary. Most of all, you guys are going to be on the same page from Bump to Bassinet. Join the online prenatal class for couples today. You can save 15% with coupon code UNTANGLED. You can find the link in the show notes.

[00:02:09.390] – Hilary Erickson

Hey, Jen, welcome to the Pulling Curls Podcast.

[00:02:11.760] – Jen Hamilton

Hey, Hilary, thank you so much for having me.

[00:02:14.230] – Hilary Erickson

Yes. Okay.

[00:02:15.000] – Hilary Erickson

How long have you been a labor nurse?

[00:02:16.480] – Jen Hamilton

So I’ve been a nurse for ten years, and my first six years were in the ER. And so I’ve been on labor delivery for four.

[00:02:24.140] – Hilary Erickson

Yeah.

[00:02:24.580] – Hilary Erickson

And they do some of these supplies in the ER.

[00:02:26.440] – Jen Hamilton

Oh, yeah, definitely.

[00:02:28.230] – Hilary Erickson

But some of them they do not.

[00:02:30.260] – Jen Hamilton

That is exactly right.

[00:02:32.850] – Hilary Erickson

Okay, so today we just want to go through some of the supplies we use in labor and delivery. I think a lot of things are really, like, super foreign to normal people, which if you go to Med surge, there’s even more foreign things, I think.

[00:02:44.680] – Jen Hamilton

Oh, yeah.

[00:02:46.770] – Hilary Erickson

You’re just like what people need that you’re like, oh, yeah, we use it all the time.

[00:02:51.350] – Jen Hamilton

Oh, yeah.

[00:02:52.190] – Hilary Erickson

Okay, so the first one I thought of is the IV. I think so many people get nervous about an IV.

[00:02:57.430] – Jen Hamilton

Definitely. And I think that I myself, my husband calls me a fainting goat because I hate getting stuck with needles. And if it happens, I just would rather take a nap. So my body just completely shuts down. I faint every time.

[00:03:13.150] – Hilary Erickson

What did you do in nursing school, girl?

[00:03:15.840] – Jen Hamilton

Listen, I had to stay up late and watch YouTube videos of people getting their blood drawn so that I would not pass out.

[00:03:24.870] – Hilary Erickson

You poked each other in nursing school, right?

[00:03:27.190] – Jen Hamilton

I didn’t get poked because I let them know I’m going down, so they let me be exempt from that. But, man, it was definitely a struggle in nursing school, for sure. It was one of those things. Just like I wanted to be a nurse so bad, and that was the one thing that was really a struggle for me. And so I was like, well, what can I do? Desensitize myself. So now IVs are like my thing. So obviously not to get them, but I find myself to be fairly good at them. So, yeah, I don’t like them. So anytime I have a patient that is really nervous, I get it 100 million% and probably more than most people.

[00:04:08.240] – Hilary Erickson

Yeah, I will say that I forget how crappy they are until I get one.

[00:04:12.010] – Jen Hamilton

Yeah.

[00:04:13.350] – Hilary Erickson

Because we’re just like, It’s an IV. We’re just going to put it in. Exactly.

[00:04:16.500] – Jen Hamilton

And if I’m precepting or orienting somebody and I really want them to be successful with IVs, even if they’re struggling, I have actually offered up my arms. A sacrifice.

[00:04:26.460] – Hilary Erickson

Let them stick me.

[00:04:27.830] – Jen Hamilton

Can you believe it? So my 18 year old self would have never thought that that was a thing that would happen.

[00:04:33.700] – Hilary Erickson

You are so grown up.

[00:04:34.980] – Jen Hamilton

No.

[00:04:35.280] – Hilary Erickson

Big girl. Big girl style. I love what you told your nursing school. Is that how it affected you? Because the worst is when patients pass out during the IV. And I’m like, oh, my gosh, I’m thinking all these other things. I’m not thinking just the IV. Like, I’m like, what else is going on? If they’re like, I’m probably going to pass out right now. I’m just like grabbing my smelling salt and then starting the IV. Right. Because I know. Or I can talk her through it because some people want to be talked through an IV, and some people want absolutely no knowledge of what is going on on their arm.

[00:05:06.700] – Jen Hamilton

Yeah, exactly. And I’ll have, like, a little silly thing. I say this to all my patients. I’m like, just imagine you’re on a beach in Jamaica, and this is just a little crab coming to give you a little pinch. It never works to make it feel better. But, yeah, that IV sucks. And whenever you first get it, your body is telling you get it out like there’s something there. So you have that pain and then a little time passes and you totally, totally forget about it.

[00:05:32.720] – Hilary Erickson

Yes.

[00:05:33.180] – Hilary Erickson

And the other thing I always tell people is don’t be surprised when the nurse really looks at your arms for an extended period of time, because I think, oh, yeah. I think I always thought nurses just, like, sought and Dove in, but I’m like, I want to become one with your arm before I invade it.

[00:05:47.640] – Jen Hamilton

Exactly right. Yeah. Because as nurses, we don’t enjoy digging and prodding and poking and looking around with a needle we’d rather find. I tell people that I’m looking at your real estate, I’m looking at all the options, and I’m going to choose.

[00:06:00.360] – Hilary Erickson

The best of location, location, location.

[00:06:02.680] – Jen Hamilton

Yes, exactly. Because you and I both know we do not like to put it in the bend of the arm or in the hand or anything. You know, that like really good even spot on your forearm. It’s just beautiful.

[00:06:14.350] – Hilary Erickson

It’s such a good feeling when we get it in just the right spot. I wish you guys could understand.

[00:06:18.400] – Jen Hamilton

I know. It’s such a sense of satisfaction.

[00:06:20.790] – Hilary Erickson

Yeah.

[00:06:21.390] – Hilary Erickson

Okay. So people get confused because we’re going to talk about the catheter soon, but we’ll talk about the IV catheter also. So everybody needs to understand that any catheter in the hospital is just a tune. We use the catheter word catheter for lots of different things, even though to most people it means a P catheter, I think.

[00:06:36.300] – Jen Hamilton

Yeah.

[00:06:37.120] – Hilary Erickson

So that’s just the tube. And you have to know that the metal part of the needle does not stay in your arm.

[00:06:42.380] – Jen Hamilton

Yeah. I’m surprised at how many people think that we’re leaving the needle in. So I always make sure that I say that even if I feel like they understand that I’m like, there’s no more needle in there just a little flexible catheter that’s left. So they are afraid to move. I think if they feel that there’s still something metal in there.

[00:07:00.590] – Hilary Erickson

Yeah.

[00:07:00.940] – Hilary Erickson

It’s important to still move. Sometimes people keep their arm stick straight. They don’t move their fingers at all, and then we’ll get some swelling. So still want to move your arm like a human?

[00:07:09.480] – Jen Hamilton

Yeah.

[00:07:10.110] – Jen Hamilton

I think movement overall, all the time, labor life. Just move it. Just move it or you lose it.

[00:07:15.880] – Hilary Erickson

Yeah.

[00:07:16.230] – Hilary Erickson

Although there are some IVs that are positional. So your nurse may be like, you got to keep your nurse will tell you if there is any issue, and we really try to make it so that it is not that way. And then we’re also going to have, like, there’s little ports in the IV. Like, all these things are just, like stuff we use. So don’t be surprised if it’s like a really long tubing that allows you some movement, and then it’s going to go through a pump which, do not touch my pump.

[00:07:40.570] – Jen Hamilton

Don’t even look at it too hard.

[00:07:42.500] – Hilary Erickson

Back in the day, you used to just be able to open it and it would free flow. That’s probably before your time.

[00:07:48.310] – Hilary Erickson

Yeah.

[00:07:49.000] – Hilary Erickson

I was training and I was just leaving and I heard the IV alarm go off and I walked into the room and I was… In the pit. He had just opened up the pit.

[00:07:58.210] – Jen Hamilton

No.

[00:07:59.530] – Jen Hamilton

Oh, no.

[00:08:00.820] – Hilary Erickson

I stopped it and I called the nurse’s station because I had my lunch box. But it was my patient’s room. So I just I was leaving. I had my coat on and our charge nurse came in and yelled at that dad, he was just an engineer. He wanted to see how things worked. They… “Sit in that chair! Do not….”

[00:08:20.170] – Jen Hamilton

Don’t get curious about that.

[00:08:21.690] – Hilary Erickson

And the mom, of course, was like… Nope, don’t touch our pumps.

[00:08:24.730] – Jen Hamilton

That’s right.

[00:08:25.400] – Hilary Erickson

Okay.

[00:08:25.820] – Hilary Erickson

Next thing is the Foley catheter. I think people get nervous about that one too.

[00:08:30.200] – Jen Hamilton

Yeah. So I have had so many people who are Super, super nervous, not even about labor, like they’re prepared for all those other things. But it’s the catheter that really, really freaks them out. And the catheter, it’s different policy for different places. But where I work, at least the catheter comes after the epidural. There are some places that do like an in and out catheter where they just drain your bladder and take it back out. That’s not anything that I’m familiar with as far as where I work.

[00:08:57.780] – Hilary Erickson

It’s sounding like that’s getting more rare. I think they’re showing it’s not great.

[00:09:01.730] – Hilary Erickson

Yeah.

[00:09:02.120] – Jen Hamilton

I just feel like sticking something in there multiple times. It’s not great.

[00:09:06.380] – Hilary Erickson

It’s an outhole. It is not an in hole.

[00:09:08.780] – Jen Hamilton

Yes. So it is a little flexible tube that goes into your PP hole. And once it’s in your bladder, we inflate a little balloon on the end that keeps it from coming out. And that is just because when you have that epidermal, your brain cannot really communicate with your body as well and you don’t really feel that urge to pee. And also having a really empty bladder is lovely for getting that baby into position and also keeping you from bleeding.

[00:09:34.280] – Hilary Erickson

Yeah.

[00:09:34.600] – Hilary Erickson

There are lots of reasons that we use the epidural. Now. There is a chance if you were like a magnesium or like serious preterm labor precautions, they might put it in when you’re not getting an epidural. And obviously we do it when you have a C section. But yeah. And usually I always try to make sure my patients don’t feel anything. I make sure they’re nice and numb before we get in the epidural or the catheter.

[00:09:54.520] – Jen Hamilton

I will usually wait at least 30 minutes after that epidural is in just to make. And if the epidural is not, let’s say that the epidemic is one sided or we’re having trouble some hotspots. I’ll wait till those get figured out before we’ll put that in.

[00:10:07.580] – Hilary Erickson

Yes, for sure. But when I was pregnant, I would put in Foley’s impatience and be kind of jealous because I worked like three to eleven. So I knew that I had a whole night of peeing ahead of me and I was like just the leg bag for tonight and be fine.

[00:10:21.400] – Jen Hamilton

Yeah. Just a little Gucci purse that I just hang on the side of my pants there.

[00:10:27.130] – Hilary Erickson

Just the side of my bed. I just wanted it when I was asleep. It’s fine.

[00:10:30.220] – Jen Hamilton

Yeah, it’s lovely.

[00:10:31.400] – Hilary Erickson

Yeah.

[00:10:31.720] – Hilary Erickson

All right. Next, we’ve already talked about the epidural. So I think a lot of people may have seen an epidural needle or they’ve heard about the epidural needle and it is so much scarier than it actually is because thank goodness that whole thing isn’t going in your arm. I would have had patience that it might have gone out the other side.

[00:10:46.660] – Jen Hamilton

Yeah, exactly. And I personally was so afraid of the epidural because of my fainting problems. I’m like, this is not going to go well for me if you faint. Yeah, I did not faint, believe it or not, because it didn’t hurt that bad. I think the worst part is the anticipation of it. I will say with enthusiasm that one contraction was way worse than the whole epidural process. And also getting an IV, I felt like was worse than that girl because with the evidence, I say we the anesthesia team, numb you before putting it in. So I like to say that it kind of feels like they’re pushing on you with like a pencil eraser back there. Like you feel something happening but it’s not sharp. And it is very common to feel like funny bone sensation kind of going down one leg or the other. And don’t let that ever scare you because that’s normal with trying to get it in the right place.

[00:11:41.190] – Hilary Erickson

Yeah. Good.

[00:11:41.640] – Hilary Erickson

Anesthesia will warn you about it.

[00:11:43.010] – Jen Hamilton

Exactly.

[00:11:43.440] – Hilary Erickson

Less good anesthesia. Just do it.

[00:11:45.470] – Jen Hamilton

Yes, exactly. And then also after we’re checking blood pressures quite frequently, I don’t know where all the different policies, but where I work is every five minutes for that 1st 30 minutes of that nurse is staying at the bedside making sure that everything is okay because a very common side effect of an epidural is a blood pressure drop. And we always keep medicine to help. That not be a thing. But if we do need it, we do have it and then we can fix it.

[00:12:12.760] – Hilary Erickson

Yeah, that’s a good point. Everywhere I’ve worked we have like a little epidural tray we just bring into the room. Sometimes it has the medicine that the doctors use, but also it has all the medicines we would need if something were to need to be counteracted or whatever.

[00:12:25.260] – Hilary Erickson

Yeah.

[00:12:25.840] – Jen Hamilton

You want to hear something crazy? Where I work, we have a Pixel in every room.

[00:12:30.970] – Hilary Erickson

I don’t know. You seem like you work in a fantasy hospital, so never leave that job.

[00:12:36.320] – Jen Hamilton

Yes, it’s new, so it’s lovely. It’s so nice.

[00:12:39.930] – Hilary Erickson

Do they stock it with lots of meds?

[00:12:41.650] – Jen Hamilton

Pretty much all the meds that you would need.

[00:12:43.530] – Hilary Erickson

I mean, the beauty in labor and delivery is there really aren’t that many meds, right?

[00:12:47.740] – Jen Hamilton

There are very few. But, I mean, like, Pitocin, the Erythromycin, I Ointment, like all the emergency meds method, Hema Bay, all those things, side effects, they’re all in there, man. Yes, it’s lovely.

[00:13:01.110] – Hilary Erickson

I can’t even imagine.

[00:13:02.500] – Jen Hamilton

It’s so nice.

[00:13:04.030] – Hilary Erickson

My pixels are, like, 700 miles away. I know you’re like, running to the Pixel.

[00:13:10.470] – Jen Hamilton

You’re like, I’ll never make it. Or, like, phoning a friend.

[00:13:13.410] – Hilary Erickson

Please come bring me something, please. Yeah.

[00:13:15.940] – Jen Hamilton

And by the time they bring it to you, you already need another thing.

[00:13:18.940] – Hilary Erickson

Can you go back like a pioneer crossing the planes to the Pixel?

[00:13:22.890] – Jen Hamilton

That’s exactly what it’s like. Oregon Trail.

[00:13:24.990] – Hilary Erickson

So with the epidural, there is a needle, but the needle does not stay in just like the IV. It’s just like a flexible piece of spaghetti that’s left in your back. So don’t be worried about that. The one thing they will mention is to not drag your bed across your back. Across the bed, because you could dislodge the catheter. But they put on so much tape. Like, so much tape.

[00:13:45.770] – Jen Hamilton

I think in four years, I’ve only seen that happen once. Like, if you’re my patient, I turn you like a rotisserie chicken after you get the epidural. We are constantly moving, and the amount of tape they put on there is absurd, but it really helps to keep it in the right place.

[00:14:00.000] – Hilary Erickson

Yeah.

[00:14:00.380] – Hilary Erickson

And there’s a free back wax at the end that we provide for you.

[00:14:03.540] – Jen Hamilton

Yeah, exactly.

[00:14:04.720] – Hilary Erickson

You’re welcome. And then also it has a pump, which you should not touch.

[00:14:10.070] – Jen Hamilton

Don’t touch it.

[00:14:10.840] – Hilary Erickson

Yeah.

[00:14:11.140] – Hilary Erickson

That pump is a lot easier to mess up to mess with because we have to have a key because it’s pain medicine, blah, blah, blah.

[00:14:17.920] – Jen Hamilton

Yeah. With ours, we have a key and a code. Like, you have to use the key, and then you also have to have a special, like, unlocking code to be able to mess with it.

[00:14:26.910] – Hilary Erickson

Yeah.

[00:14:27.270] – Hilary Erickson

And then Anesthesia is always like, I don’t have my key.

[00:14:29.640] – Jen Hamilton

I can’t have the key.

[00:14:34.850] – Hilary Erickson

Or anesthesia was not even provided keys. They just gave them to the nurses.

[00:14:39.690] – Jen Hamilton

Which I was like, oh, how convenient.

[00:14:41.540] – Hilary Erickson

I’m so sorry. How much am I getting paid for carrying this key?

[00:14:45.470] – Hilary Erickson

Yeah.

[00:14:46.160] – Hilary Erickson

Good old.

[00:14:46.840] – Hilary Erickson

Yeah. Okay.

[00:14:47.590] – Hilary Erickson

The next one, which is used universally through the nursing perfection, is the chucks. Oh, we love that. Our best friend. But I think some people don’t know. So it’s kind of like if you have puppies, it’s a puppy pad that just goes on the bed. And they are the most useful things ever. So if there’s trucks left in your drawer, take them, because I always put them on the couch. If I have a kid that’s, like, feeling pukey, I’ll just lay out some plastic just.

[00:15:11.750] – Jen Hamilton

And all of our trucks are like, fabric are yours.

[00:15:15.270] – Hilary Erickson

Plastic and paper I mean, I’ve gone through several. Do you wash them?

[00:15:20.420] – Hilary Erickson

Yeah.

[00:15:20.720] – Hilary Erickson

Fabric. Okay. I’ve used those before, but the ones we have right now are plasticky.

[00:15:25.810] – Jen Hamilton

Do you have ones that help you move your patient? Like you put them underneath the booty and then slide your patient up in the bed?

[00:15:35.280] – Hilary Erickson

The most recent set.

[00:15:36.670] – Hilary Erickson

Yes.

[00:15:37.270] – Jen Hamilton

Okay.

[00:15:37.690] – Hilary Erickson

But we’ve also had ones that just tear when you look at them.

[00:15:39.900] – Jen Hamilton

Exactly.

[00:15:40.500] – Jen Hamilton

When you look at them. That’s exactly what those are like. Exactly.

[00:15:43.880] – Hilary Erickson

Yeah.

[00:15:44.350] – Hilary Erickson

Anyway, they just go under your bottom if your water break, if you pee a little bit, if you sweat a lot. It’s just an easy way for us. Just like change out, get something new under your bottom without having to change all the linens, because that is a huge rigmarole for nurses.

[00:15:57.440] – Jen Hamilton

Yeah. And for the patient, too.

[00:15:58.880] – Hilary Erickson

I can’t tell you how much I don’t want to change your bed if you throw up on it.

[00:16:03.340] – Jen Hamilton

We will absolutely do it with love and enthusiasm if it happens. But if we can avoid it, we absolutely will try to do that.

[00:16:11.010] – Hilary Erickson

Yeah.

[00:16:11.350] – Hilary Erickson

Especially once you have an epidural, because then it’s like the log roll and it’s not fun, then we have to pull out our nursing school education. It’s too hard.

[00:16:20.520] – Jen Hamilton

And if you’re anything like if you get an epidural like mine, I knew that there were legs down there, but I just looked at them, and that was it. My husband called me Lieutenant Dan because I ain’t got no legs. One of them fell off the bed, and I just looked at it. I couldn’t do anything with it.

[00:16:34.380] – Hilary Erickson

You were like somebody’s leg just fell off the bed.

[00:16:36.560] – Jen Hamilton

Yes. Somebody wouldn’t mind.

[00:16:38.110] – Hilary Erickson

But you should probably fix that. It’s like that.

[00:16:43.170] – Hilary Erickson

Yeah.

[00:16:43.570] – Hilary Erickson

And then just all the stuff gets on there when your water breaks, when you bleed, all that kind of stuff. We want to look at all those things, sadly, also. So it’s important for us to be able to see it, be able to change it out, all those different kinds of things. But I think people are always worried that their water is going to break on the sheet or something like that. Like you would be at home.

[00:17:00.750] – Jen Hamilton

Yeah.

[00:17:01.330] – Hilary Erickson

Right. But it’s not the same. Also, our mattresses are just like industrial plastic, so everything just gets washed off.

[00:17:07.890] – Hilary Erickson

Yeah.

[00:17:08.380] – Hilary Erickson

But I think the checks is an underrated thing that we I don’t know that I’ve explained it to too many patients. I know I’ve had one ask me before, but I don’t walk in the room and be like, this is a chuck. Feel free to pee on it.

[00:17:18.300] – Jen Hamilton

Feel free to pee on it. The tagline.

[00:17:21.180] – Hilary Erickson

I love it.

[00:17:21.750] – Hilary Erickson

Yeah.

[00:17:22.090] – Jen Hamilton

And also with the chucks, like, if I have a patient, especially who has an epidural, who’s not getting up and walking around, my favorite pad is the towel. You just take a towel and put it right in between a biscuit, and it’s so much more absorbent than the actual pads. Love it.

[00:17:38.320] – Hilary Erickson

Well, it’s bigger.

[00:17:39.080] – Jen Hamilton

Yeah, definitely. There’s a lot of labor, and delivery is wet. It is a very wet place to be, so we have a lot of absorbent things.

[00:17:50.450] – Hilary Erickson

It is wet. Yes, it is. And there are a lot of times we pull a mop in. I’ve probably mopped more up there than I did in my food service job. I was a nurse longer.

[00:18:01.660] – Jen Hamilton

There you go.

[00:18:02.310] – Hilary Erickson

There’s. That okay. The last one I wanted to talk about, although I’d love to know if you have any to bring up, is the delivery table. So when you get close to delivery, maybe some hospitals leave it in the room all the time. I doubt it, because it’s only, like, quote, unquote good for a certain period of time. But we bring in this table that has the instruments that the doctor will need for most emergencies, plus just a regular vaginal delivery. It has a bucket for your placenta. It has things to cut the cord. Every hospital is a little bit different.

[00:18:32.020] – Jen Hamilton

And if you look at that table, if you look at everything that’s on the table, you might be terrified. You’re like, oh, my gosh. There’s, like, ten different metal things on this table. We use very few of those items. Those are all, like, very rare time. Would we ever. I don’t know that I’ve ever been in a situation where all of that was ever used really to have a baby. You just need some scissors to cut the cord and some hands to catch it. It’s a very low tech process, but it’s nice to have all of those things in case you do need them.

[00:18:58.680] – Hilary Erickson

Yeah.

[00:18:59.050] – Hilary Erickson

And that table is considered sterile, so just one more thing not to touch. So really, it’s just the Ivy pump and the delivery table, and then any knobs. Don’t touch any knobs. But other than that, you’re welcome to peruse the room at your I think.

[00:19:13.540] – Jen Hamilton

Yes, exactly. Move about the cabin.

[00:19:16.730] – Hilary Erickson

Yeah.

[00:19:17.470] – Hilary Erickson

And then we pull that delivery table out and magic cleans it up. So I like that part about it.

[00:19:21.820] – Jen Hamilton

Oh, yeah. It just magically goes away.

[00:19:23.730] – Hilary Erickson

Yeah.

[00:19:24.130] – Hilary Erickson

Any other supplies you think we should mention?

[00:19:25.950] – Jen Hamilton

Yeah.

[00:19:26.250] – Jen Hamilton

So I wanted to talk about how I as a nurse, I want to make sure that my patient is comfortable with all the supplies that they need in the beginning. So let’s say I’m getting an induction. I’m meeting a patient for the very first time before they get in there. I will get two of the big ice cup. What do you call them?

[00:19:43.990] – Hilary Erickson

Ice pictures.

[00:19:45.300] – Jen Hamilton

Pictures? Yes. I’ll get two of those. Make sure they’re filled to the top with mostly ice, because ice will melt in water. I’ve got one for the laboring person and one for their support person. I bring in the menu where they can see their options for what they can have to mainly drink if they’re on clear liquids. But sometimes we’ll do, like, a light laboring diet. And then I’ll bring in warm blankets. I’ll put them under the warmer to make sure that they stay warm because there’s nothing worse than being nervous and being cold at the same time. So if I can make them a little bit warmer when they get in.

[00:20:18.300] – Hilary Erickson

There, every hospital is going to have warm blankets. And if you’re cold, please ask for them.

[00:20:22.380] – Jen Hamilton

Yes, exactly.

[00:20:23.410] – Hilary Erickson

That is the one good thing about the hospital.

[00:20:25.580] – Jen Hamilton

Exactly. And then I will bring in extra linens into the room before I get in there because at some point during the day almost guaranteed we’ll need to change something out. So I’m bringing in towels, baby blankets. I’ve already talked about the warm blankets and then also extra chucks pads. And I feel like if you can set your patient up to be so comfortable whenever you first get them in there, then it makes things a little bit easier for them.

[00:20:52.630] – Hilary Erickson

Yes.

[00:20:52.940] – Hilary Erickson

And I think that also makes them easier to ask. Right. Because if you have a stack of towels in there and they want their tile changed out, they know that you’re prepared for that. They don’t feel like they’re bothering you.

[00:21:02.590] – Jen Hamilton

Yeah, exactly. And on labor delivery, we are very fortunate that our nurse to patient ratios are smaller than other units. And the best case scenario is that we’re one to one. So I always make sure that I tell my patient, like, especially if I am one to one, if I’m not in here, I’m literally watching what’s going on with you. Like, I’m monitoring your baby twenty four seven. And also just waiting for you to need me so that they don’t feel like they’re being a burden or a bother.

[00:21:28.140] – Hilary Erickson

Yes, please call. Just ask. And I think the other thing is, even with the IV, sometimes people will be like, this tubing keeps catching, and I have ways to solve that. But I’m not going to put it on everybody because some people might think that it’s hot. If you have something that’s bothering you, just tell us because there is a chance we can’t fix it. Yeah, like that’s. Just if you’re like, my Ivy site feels a little pokey. I’m going to be like, yeah, that’s such a bad. But the other thing, I like to put, like a little stocking cap on your arm and make whatever was bothering you fixed. So don’t worry about we love to MacGyver things nurses, we do.

[00:22:03.790] – Jen Hamilton

It’s one of our skills that we have mastered for sure.

[00:22:07.680] – Hilary Erickson

Yeah.

[00:22:08.000] – Hilary Erickson

I have sewn things together for patients.

[00:22:10.440] – Jen Hamilton

Oh, yes. Because we’ve got some needle and thread for sure. I also like to tell my patient, if you’re feeling some type of way, let me know, because we are your fairy drug mothers, and chances are we’ve got something for it. So if you’re feeling nauseated, we can do something with that there’s so many different things that we can do. But if you don’t tell us, we don’t know.

[00:22:30.510] – Hilary Erickson

Right?

[00:22:30.940] – Jen Hamilton

So we’re here to make nurses or fixtures. We’re here to make things better and if we can’t fix it, we will try to make it better.

[00:22:38.820] – Hilary Erickson

Yes, I love it. Anyway, these are some of the supplies. If you guys want to check out more supplies, I go into them and I have photos in my prenatal class so definitely join me in there because I think it just makes it feel better when you’re like, oh, I’ve seen that before. This isn’t like a torture chamber. Like this is normal.

[00:22:52.860] – Jen Hamilton

Yes, exactly.

[00:22:53.820] – Hilary Erickson

All right. Thanks for coming on, Jen.

[00:22:55.050] – Jen Hamilton

No problem. Thank you so much for having me.

[00:22:57.030] – Hilary Erickson

Okay. I hope you guys enjoyed this episode. I just think there’s a lot of stuff that’s only in the hospital that can be really confronting if you haven’t heard about it ahead of time like catheters. So if there’s another supply that you’re interested in hearing about, Jump on over to Instagram tell me what supply it is and maybe we’ll do a whole episode on bully catheters or chucks. I don’t know, but head on over there and tell me. I would love to hear. Big thanks to Jen for coming on. It’s so fun to chat with her. She is so real and genuine. I really enjoyed this episode.

[00:23:26.160] – Hilary Erickson

Stay tuned for next week. We are talking about spanking. Hot topic alert, guys, so don’t miss that episode. And then if you’re looking just for pregnancy information although I think that spanking one is going to be good information for all of us Because you’re likely becoming a parent soon, right? But the next pregnancy episode, we are talking about all about birth fears so stay tuned for that episode too.

[00:23:47.140] – Hilary Erickson

Thanks so much for joining us on today’s episode. The Pulling Curls Podcast grows when you share us on social media or leave a review. If you do, please tag us so that we we can share and send you a virtual hug. Which, frankly, is my favorite kind of hugging. Until next time, we hope you have a tangle free day.