Yes, these actually happened...

Well they really didn't because that would be a HIPPA violation to post it on a blog. So they didn't happen happen an approximation of what is written could have happened or was inspired by something that happened but what I said happened didn't really happen.

1. A very funny dad sang Barry White songs so his postpartum wife while I inserted a suppository.  I'm still laughing...
2. Grandmothers ask for Ambien for their daughters the first night postpartum.  Only funny because we do full rooming in so the mommys are actually supposed to take care of the babies they give birth to!
3. A new c-section has a room full of visitors, I mean full, while she is throwing up and horribly nauseous. Ya know, it is possible to say "GET THE HELL OUT!" in between heaves. Same night a 3 day post csec patient calls out that she too is nauseous.  "What did you eat for dinner", her astute nurse asks. " Hot Wings."  I'm no genius but I felt that Maalox was the best plan for that one and maybe a consult with a dietitian.
4. A very very nervous set of new parents call for their nurse (that's me!!!) because the baby is crying.  He's laying in the crib uncovered wailing while his parents look at him.  I swaddle him tight, give him his paci, hold him on his side and do the baby bounce and he immediately calms.  Thank you baby for not only making me look good but giving your parents some confidence that it is possible to calm you down.
5. We had a town hall meeting (like a hospital wide staff meeting) at 5 a.m. where a very boring speaker, presented a very boring slide show about exciting things going on in the hospital like decreased wait times in the ER because they put a patient tracking board up.  It had potential to be a nice nap until a pt called and I had to leave.  But seriously, what makes an organization think this is a good use of employee time or that employees are going to get anything out of a 5 a.m. meeting?????
6.  A first time mommy says she wants to breastfeed but never actually puts the baby to the breast and refuses help to do so.  "I'll wait till I get home."  OK, whatever you say, hope that works out for ya!
7. A certain nurse paged the WRONG doctor to report a change in a patient's condition at 6 a.m. and realized it after the page was sent but before the doc called back.  Oh that was a long 2 minutes.  Hopefully she was too sleepy to remember that certain nurse's name.  Stupid, stupid mistake!

Running and night shifting

Yeah, so running has suffered with the whole night shift thing. Weeks where I work all three of my nights in a row (which is my preference) are especially challenging.  The first night I work I have this debate about whether running that day is just wearing me out when I have a big challenge in front of me or if it is energizing. I think it is more energizing then not, I just need to remember in that case less is more, so more a 3 mile day than a 5 mile day.  Then the days following, Fagetaboutit. I'm doing good to function and show up at work that night. No extra energy for exercise.  Then after a three night stretch it seems like the 4 days off fly by and running gets put on the back burner. However, this past week was Spring Break and the fam was off doing fun stuff while I was working and sleeping.  It was depressing honestly. Very depressing.  Then on Friday I had my first run in 2 weeks and found my run was lifted significantly!  So I re-remembered how much I like running and how important it has become in my routine!  Then I ran Monday and it kinda stunk but that's ok too.  That's running for ya I guess!

Working: The good and the bad

Having been a Stay at home mom/ student for the past 13 years this going back to work thing is a huge transition.  I probably didn't really appreciate how huge until I was really into it.  I have about half a dozen blog posts rolling around in my head about this but since I seem to only post about once a week, I figure I'll just go with list form.

The GOOD:

1. We'll start with the obvious: THE PAYCHECK!!!!!!  WOW!  Payday rocks. I get paid to do this.  Money goes in my bank account in significant amounts. Here's a picture of my weird little motel style master bathroom.  A warning: your time on this Earth is seriously limited. And children: it looks like you will be able to go to college after all without paying off debt until you are 50.  Yes, the money is a good thing.
2. The Title: OK, I like being able to say, I'm a nurse. I just like it. I'm a nurse, I'm a nurse, I'm a nurse.
3. The patients: There are nights when I make a real difference to people, especially women. I get to see moms, especially first time moms make that transition from woman to mother.  When I take care of the same mom from right after delivery to right before they go home over several nights you can see her change her focus from herself to her baby by the time they are ready to leave. And often times, I get to facilitate that.Very cool. 
4. Increased Efficiency: I definitely have to do more planning and make the most of my time off to get things done. There's enough time but it has forced me to be  more thoughtful about how I spend my time. I make A LOT of to do lists.
5. Potential for new friends and relationships: Haven't quite got there yet but anytime you are in a new environment with new people there's potential for friends.
6. More appreciation for family time: I don't believe in the myth of quality time, as in you can work yourself to the bone and just spend really awesome time with your kids to make up for it.  However when time is of unlimited quantity it is easy to take it for granted and to ease into routines that require minimal effort (Speaking for myself). Now that my time is more limited, I think I appreciate making memories a little more and being a little more thoughtful about my time with my family.

The BAD:

1. This is stressful:  Kind of goes with number 4 above. Time is limited and things have to get done. Meal planning is really stressful especially if I don't want my family eating wings every night that I work.
2. Work can be stressful: I'm still learning and have a lot to go!  And there are nights when things go great and I click along and stay on top of things and there are nights when I get behind and just can't keep up.  I don't like not being good at something!  Nurses are each other's harshest critics.  Everyone has been very nice but I know how they talk about people they don't like and I wonder what they say about me privately.  My rational side says I'm doing just fine but you just never know!
3. Vacation time: I have to earn it now.  What's up with that???????  By this summer I will have about 3 days of vacation earned. That stinks!
4. Stuff I don't know that I don't know to ask: This week I was sick, really sick, on Monday. By Tuesday I felt better but just didn't see how I would make a 12 hour over night shift so I called off sick and used some of that precious vacation time. Then The next night there weren't enough patients for all the scheduled nurses so work called me and told me not to come in (They don't have to pay me if they do that) because it was my turn to get "flexed off". What I learned was that if I had asked the first night to be flexed off they probably would have done it, saving my vacation time and preventing me from being flexed the next night. So this week I worked one night.  That's a bummer when it comes to #1 on the good list. 
So that's what I got for now.  I'll keep you posted....

Announcing the first ever Sleep Deprivation Baby-mama Drama 5K!

 To some it was known as the Botanical Boogie 5K but we will refer to it as the above!
I was going to have a big build up here on the blog this week leading up to the 5k I entered that was to be run at noon on the day after I worked all night.  Seemed like a GREAT blog gimmick.  Surely, I thought, the running shoe companies will see how HUGE my blog is and start sending me free stuff. But then my practical side got the best of me. What if I make a big deal out of it and I can't get out of bed after 2 hours of sleep and get to the race?  That would probably ruin my chances at a shoe deal!
Anyway, I digress...I did get out of bed after two hours of sleep. I did get my running shoes on. I did toe up at the starting line. I did run 3.1 miles on trails through a county park (my first trail run, liked it!). AND, get this, this is the best part, I'm still shocked, I WON THIRD PLACE IN MY AGE GROUP!!!!  And I didn't even get a handicap for sleep deprivation! Third place!  I can't believe it. My first running award!

Time was 31:11. Was hoping to break 30 minutes but given sleep issues and trail running  (and third place!) I am very happy.  And a little sleepy!

Oh The irony

Picture this:  My regular running route. 
Little yippy dog frequently out front with no supervision. 
Has chased me on occasion. No danger really but I don't want little teeth in my heels just the same.
Irony #1: FULL fence in the backyard.
The worst irony of all...
The Runner Girl decal on the car in the driveway!

PUT YOUR STUPID DOG UP BEFORE I MACE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just a few mind games while running

So I haven't run in forever.  (Yes, look at my log to the right and that's a ten day lapse...)Have definitely been too tired, and just not motivated.  A bad case of the "But I don't WANNA run..."  So today I strapped on the running shoes and decided i must go!  But rather than pick a nicely mapped route and face the knowledge of exactly how FAR I have to go before I shower I decided to go with a time limit.I know that it usually takes me about an hour to run 5 miles. So I figured I'd run where ever I wanted but I'd just try and run for about an hour. So I ran in some new neighborhoods, got a little turned around trying to find my way out of the neighborhood, went to one of my familiar neighborhoods through a back entrance, focused on running a little faster than usual based on my breathing and effort level. Made it home in 56 minutes. Mapped my route and turns out I went 5.34 miles which is a pace of a ten and a half minute mile.  Normally five miles sees me doing about 11:03-11:20 minute mile.  That's a lot faster not knowing how far I was going and not having prior expectations of myself.  How bizarre!!!!!!  The mind is an amazing thing!!!!

Which is easier? A C-section or a vaginal birth?

I have gotten this question twice now from young first time moms who have had c-sections.  They are convinced that a csection is easier. With the c-section rate at 30% in this country, csections are so common they are the new normal way of giving birth. On Sunday night this week, we had 19 patients in postpartum, 13 were c-sections, that's almost 70% of our patients!  And let me assure you from seeing csection and vag patients in recovery, a vag birth is almost always easier. Just the nursing care alone for a c-section should be enough to make it clear which on is easier and safer.  So I've come up with a new analogy for the next person who really wants to know which one is easier.
Uncomplicated vag deliver, no stitches below the belt: Like recovering from your first marathon that you trained well for but never intended to run as a super-athlete. You will be very very sore and tired for a couple days but overall you will be none the worse for wear.
Vag delivery with 1-3rd degree tear: You ran the marathon and got in a car wreck on the way home. No broken bones but you had to have a couple stitches. Now you are sore and you hurt but in a week or so you will be feeling much better.
C-section after long labor: You ran the marathon then on the way home you got into a horrible car wreck and needed a major surgery to put you back together.  Oh and during your recovery you will potentially have full responsibility for a helpless baby. Man, that just sucks!
C-section no labor: I figure you still have a race you just finished because the last couple weeks of pregnancy aren't exactly restful so we'll call it a 10K (not quite as exhausting as the marathon) and you got in the same nasty car wreck on the way home. 

Which one sounds easier to you?

One exception: I think some really bad 4th degree tears after long labors could be harder recoveries long term than a scheduled c-sec. BUT the hospital portion of it, the actual nursing care required, the potential for complications, the risks involved, the csection is still harder.

I heard a short snippet on NPR this week that a big group of docs got together to review the data concerning VBACs and safety and issue some new guidelines. Go figure, they decided that VBACs really are pretty safe and a good way to reduce our ridiculous csec rate. We'll see. At my hospital there is currently ONE doc that will do VBACs on a regular basis.  ONE!

Placebo scmacebo

Didn't take my cal-mag this morning because I was warm and cozy in bed when I remembered and decided not to get up. Slept almost 5 hours but do not feel as rested as yesterday.  Could be because I'm on day two with only 10 hours sleep total. One more night, then one off then three on, then 6 off.  I will survive.  I will survive. 

Sleep glorious sleep!

Finished my first night of my stretch this morning. It was BUSY but not because of scary stuff just people needing a lot of attention!  I slept for 5 and a half hours.  Beautiful!  I think I could do nights and not go insane if I could sleep like that every day.  The only think different that I did was put in ear plugs and take a big dose of calcium magnesium before I went to bed.  Oldest daughter asked if I thought the Cal-MAg was really responsible for my sleep or if it was a placebo.  Guess what?  I don't care what it was!  I'm just soooooooo glad I slept!!!!

Cool stuff I've done at work.

As a new grad and new orientee I have to get checked off on a variety of skills during my orentation time. And certianly as a new nurse there are all sorts of new experiences to  be had so here are a few...
1. I've gotten checked off on venipuntures (blood draws).  Scares me a little bit because it still feels like I am going in blind.  When I've had blood draws most of the time the phlebotomist at least acts like they have xray vision and can see right through the skin to the vein. I'll keep practicing but I have a little more confidence that I'm going to get blood out.
2.  Helped with a tummy wash on a baby.  Sometimes babies get amniotic fluid, mucus or even meconium in their tummies during the delivery and it makes them spitty and fussy.  A tummy wash drops a tube from their mouth into the stomach. Then you squirt in a little sterile water. Literally roll the baby around and suck the water back out.  You do this until the water is clear.  Baby doesn't like it much but it makes their tummies feel better.
3. Practiced my Spanish. My Spanish is very limited but it is better than many on the floor. So scary enough I have had a couple SPanish only patients. We have an interpreter service we can call but for general Necesita ir a bano?(Do you need to go to the batheroom) or A que hora come el bebe? (What time did the baby eat?) my Spanish is enough.  I had a mom the other day who was having complications an dwas spanish only. Then my Spanish felt soooooooo inadequate. She was scared and there just weren't enough words to comfort her much.  She ended up being ok I just felt so bad for her.
4. Did a Foley under some amount of time pressure. I've done Foleys before but there is a specific order that you have to do them in because it is a sterile procedure and I haven't done one in a LONG time. The other nurses were really helpful and gave me guidance and I got it in on the first try!  Yeah for stretched out girl parts after a vag delivery!
5. Eaten dinner provided by a formula company.  Dearest readers, please understand that if your child ate formula I hold no judgment. Simply from a professional perspecitve and a marketing perspective the formula companies have used tactics that are questionable at best and unethical at worst. The presentation I went to was put on by a very nice grandfatherly looking guy who said breastmilk is the gold standard then said that his own children were formula fed and he really didn't see any difference.  Then he told us how their new formula rediced fussiness 20% within 24 hours. He had some nice graphics and charts but the scientist in me wanted to yell, "How exactly did you measure fussiness? And what does 20% less fussy mean anyway? And if it is so much like breastmilk how did you manage to introduce white blood cells and neutrophils that have had their inflammatory response turned off? And are formula fed babies still more likely to die in the first year or did you fix that too?"  But I didn't say a word, ate my Chickfila and felt a little dirty afterwards.
6.  Just to balance the previous rant, I had a baby who was still working on learning how to breath after birth.  He was a little grunty and hicoughy etc.  Bottlefeeding wasn't going great according to mom. He would eat 10 ccs or so then start letting it flow out of his mouth and then quit altogether.  So I got him a slow flow nipple to reduce his stress while he was eating and he did great! Very minor intervention but it made a difference to this little guy and helped his mom feel more confident.

That feeling in the pit of your stomach...

I found this cool blog by a new nurse called "Fundus Chop". You'll have to read it to figure out what that means but it made me howl with laughter. She talks here about being a new nurse and that feeling int he pit of your stomach that maybe something will go really wrong and it will be because you are new, inexperienced and don't know your stuff yet.  Ya, I'm getting to be friendly with that feeling. This week I had a patient who was bleeding just a little too much postpartum. Then it was a little more, then it was a big clot, then a call to the midwife for some methergine, then more bleeding, then a foley catheter to keep her bladder empty, then FINALLY the bleeding slowed down.  My preceptor said that it didn't turn into a hemorrhage because I stayed on top of it and we intervened but it still acquainted me with that fear knot all night long.  When i go check her will she be bleeding? Will I massage her uterus hard enough to get it to clamp down? Will I recognize if it is boggy? If it's boggy what do I do??????  Thankfully I am not alone. The rest of the nurses are very nice and very willing to help and answer questions but still so much to learn! 

Good news in the world of Obstetrics!

So last week I went to a class about low risk Ob nursing. It was pretty interesting but some of it seemed like rehashing the basics of nursing school. And  most of it had more to do with labor and delivery than with post partum.  But it was a nice break from nights that's for sure! But one of the things I learned was soooooooo exciting!  For years lactation consultants and natural birth advocates have been wringing our hands about the trends of earlier and earlier elective inductions. Babies are born not ready to breastfeed, sleepy, unable to latch. They go to the NICU with respiratory distress. They can't keep their temperatures stable.  Signficant problems but problems that are often resolved with a couple extra days in the hospital. Couple problems with this...in my experience parents are rarely if ever told straight out, "Your baby is in the NICU because we delivered too early and we did it for absolutely no medical reason." Often these problems were dismissed as "just one of those things" or "Thank God for the NICU!" And when parents got the bills for these couple days in the NICU they said, "Thank God for insurance!!!!!"  (My cynical side says that the hospitals were often happy for these kind of admissions to the NICU because they weren't really that complicated but were great money makers.  But that is VERY cynical isn't it.)  But guess what, insurance companies are starting to say, "This stuff is really expensive and 100% preventable and we aren't going to pay for it!" to doctors and hospitals, especially hospitals.  So, given that hospitals have a much higher stake in this than doctors do, hospitals are starting to write policies that govern how inductions can be performed in order to prevent some of these "late pre-term" babies, one of which is that the criteria for a convenience induction has gotten much stricter. Doctors have to prove that the baby is at least 39weeks +1 day and last menstrual period won't do as proof.  In an effort to cut down on the primary c-section rate some hospitals are also requiring a certain score on a criteria that indicates likeliness that the induction will result in a vaginal birth. 
This is very cool!  And about time.  Babies deserve to cook until they are ready even if it means mama is dealing with the discomforts of pregnancy for a week or two longer.  It will be interesting to see if NICU admissions go down, and to see if this helps lower our ridiculously high c-section rate.

Done. Can I have my carrot now?

As a good Gerbil don't I deserve a carrot or some sunflower seeds or something???? 

3.14 miles (Hey that's Pi!) 34 minutes.  Little bit of abs and arms, (had to finish off World's Strictest Parents, Madeline is convinced that we could be the host family on that show!)

Side benefit of Treadmill running.  Much less laundry.  No need for layers.

To the shower.

To the treadmill.

I hearby swear that I am going to get off the computer and go get on the treadmill and run at least three miles. I have been sitting on my booty all day in a obstetrical nursing class and need to move said booty so it doesn't get too happy in the sitting position. As much as I dislike the treadmill, it is too windy to run and I didn't get up at 5 a.m. to run so I gotta do it before church. Off to the treadmill. Hopefuly putting it out there publically will make me actually do it.

That beautiful day is deceptively cold!

Gorgeous day for a run. 33 degrees. Sunny. At 9:30 this morning I sat at the computer and noted that the trees weren't moving so that meant no wind. I was prepared for a perfect run...Then I stepped outside. Don't know where it was coming from but it was WINDY! Bitingly windy. Made your face numb windy. Overall though, still a GOOD run. Went 5 miles which has become my new normal for a run. For years I was a 2-3 miles was a normal run but since I trained for the last half marathon it seems that 5 has become my new normal to feel like I have had enough exercise. Last year that would have seemed unthinkable to just go out and run 5 miles on an average day. Now anything less seems like a waste of time! I even did 5 miles on the Disney cruise on Thanksgiving morning! (That's 15 laps around deck 4 for anyone who is counting.) Strange how things change. Now one thing that hasn't really changed is that I can't hack that far on the treadmill. 4 miles is the longest I've gone on the gerbil wheel, I mean, treadmill.

Need to find a race. Need a goal. Hmmmmmm.

72 hours, 12 hours of sleep.

Yes, my friends that night nurse that took such good care of you was probably working on an ungodly sleep deficit.  I started work on Monday night, so that was 24 hours awake. Went to bed Tuesday and only slept for 4 hours.  Wasn't happy about that AT ALL! Just couldn't sleep any more. Work Tuesday night. Really really tired. Got pretty flustered doing the PKU tests on my babies. You have to get six penny sized circles of blood on a little piece of paper that the state tests for 20 some genetic diseases. If your circles touch, you have to redo it, if your blood goes outside the circle you have to redo it, if your blood doesn't fill up the circle enough, you have to redo it. And you do the test with the baby under the warmer, great for the baby but if you are a sweating and nervous about doing the test and messing it up, you have the extra bonus of sweating because of the heat as well.  My babies survived. I survived but it was humbling for sure. Home Wednesday morning to find that hubby went out Tuesday night and bought me an electric blanket for my day sleeping bed!!!!!  (Do you hear the angels singing, "Hallelujah!!!!"???)  During the day I sleep in my youngest's room because it was the easiest room to make dark, one window, big tree outside.  But, I get home and it's cold in the house and I'm cold and tired and getting into a cold bed by myself (no one to cuddle with) was making it take about 2 minutes to fall asleep rather than the preferred 30 seconds.  So anyway, I get home and hubby has my blanket on the bed and warmed up.  Heaven. I slept for 5 hours.  I was a new woman. I tell new moms that when the baby sleeps for 5 hours straight you will begin to feel human again. It works for night shifters too! Work Wednesday night. VERY BUSY. Didn't have time to be tired. Seriously. I like being busy so I am not complaining. Give me a busy shift anytime over one where the time crawls from 1:30-4.  Oh and did a PKU on the first try.  Thank you sweet baby for sleeping through it and not kicking at all and being a chunky thing that didn't need the warmer on the whole time and helping me get my confidence back!  Home Thursday. Slept for 3 hours, knowing I wanted to sleep that night too so 3 hours was fine.  Let's add that up shall we... Monday morning to Thursday night: 85 hours total, 12 hours of sleep.  Amazingly crazy but it wasn't as bad as it sounds in actuality. I think I will survive night shift. But I'm really glad that next week is more classes and I get to work days!!!!

Week two, I hope this gets easier.

LAst week was great in some ways and like torture in some ways.  I really like working and taking care of people and learning new skills.  I even like charting and learning to remember what has to be done at what times.  But the sleeping is really hard.  Three days up all night with less than 5 hours of sleep during the day.  Yowza. That's just HARD!

Things I learned:
1.  When the body thinks it should be asleep, digestion just about stops.  So anything you eat just sits in your gut and ferments.  Thus that lovely feeling of having eaten a bowling ball.
2.  Despite the truth of item #1, you will get hungry, starving even, at 1 a.m. and eat too much and make #1 even worse.
3. Caffeine is an amazing drug. You really don't give it enough credit until you have a cup of coffee after staying upall night and sleeping for five hours. I went from headachy zombie to perky in 30 minutes. Madeline even said i was "acting really weird" when I picked her up at school!
4. The family will survive without you.  Shocking really!
5. Daytime sleep is elusive even with blackout curtains.
6. YouTube videos, particularly Chad at the Dentist, take on a whole new level of hilarity at 3:30 a.m.
7. Even though 5 a.m. feels like the morning of the next day you still have 2 hours to go.  That's longer than you think!

First payday Thursday!!!!!!!!!  Can't wait for that.
Working tonight and Tuesday. 

I hope this staying up all night thing gets easier.

I was REALLY exhausted this morning coming home.  I took the wrong exit off the freeway and seriously had to concentrate to not get that fuzzy drowsy feeling.  Little scary.  I think I will call Teri on the way home tomorrow.  Surely, given that it is a matter of my surviving the drive home, she won't mind if I call her at 4 a.m. Vegas time! (just kidding!!) 
The night went well though.  We had a baby come down from Labor and Delivery without mommy.  She was recovering from some scary complications.  Normally the baby would go to the NICU because we aren't staffed to care for babies in the nursery.  But since I was there, they gave me the baby which was fun and made me feel like I was really doing something meaningful.  And because I think newborn babies need a lot of lovin', he spent most of the evening in arms while I worked on new hire stuff on the computer! 
I did my first heel stick and both me and the baby survived.  My technique needs some work.  But I guess that's to be expected.  Let's just say the baby required a new blanket afterward or momma would have thought I was part vampire!
On to night three.  Caffeine is your friend!!! Will look forward to the bed tomorrow morning that's for sure!!!!!

First night! First day of sleep.

Well, the first night went very well.  No real drama.  Everyone was very nice.  There's something different about the way nurses treat a new nurse they know they will have to work with for the next couple years versus the nursing student that will only be on the floor for a couple weeks!  While I like that part I still feel very much like a nursing student!!!!!!  Came home, went right to bed.  Slept for almost 5 hours.  Wish it had been more but I was all slept out at that point.  Woke up to the air raid/emergency siren going off.  That's a starting and disorienting was to wake up from your first daytime sleep effort.  Apparently the test is the first Wed of the month but  I was considering whether I was going to have to get out hubby's arsenal to defend the homestead!  I feel a little like I just got off an airplane after flying to China.  What's a little anxiety producing is knowing that in the next 48 hours I'm going to fly back to the U.S. and then head back to China again.  I like China a lot but that's a lot of traveling!!!!!

Have no fear! I can crack your ribs while saving your life!

Today was CPR day.  Got re-certified because I let mine expire.  I figured that taking the class would cost me somewhere around $50 and if I waited until I had a job I might get someone else to pay for it AND pay me while I took it.  So today was the day.  Quote of the day, "Remember, your patient is DEAD!  You can't make it any worse.  If they aren't breathing, do it for them.  If they don't have a pulse give 'em one." OK, I can do that!  But new mommies aren't supposed to need CPR so I probably will attend my next CPR certification class and raise my hand AGAIN as a person who has never done CPR.  In April I get to go to a three day class on neonatal resuscitation.  That should be pretty interesting.  Also hopefully not needed (but probably more likely to actually need it!)
And if you come upon a person not breathing and with no pulse the newest recommendations are that bystanders do not have to give mouth to mouth any more.  Just push hard and fast on their chest.  If you hear ribs cracking you are probably pushing hard enough.  Also if a bystander can feel a pulse in the victims neck while you are compressing you are probably doing it hard enough.  The compressions are hard enough to force air into the lungs. And when people don't have to deal with the yuck factor of mouth to mouth they are much more likely to actually give CPR.  And when people who are DEAD get CPR they are more likely to end up as people NOT DEAD.  (Just considering DEAD as a viable possibility because the cracked ribs hurt so much!)

Finally a run

34 degrees outside.  Between the rain storms so it is misty and wet.  5 miles, 55 minutes.  Lovely.  Absolutely lovely. (That's not me but I thought the blog needed a picture...)

My new runner's world has a column  called "Hell Week: what happens when a runner-mother doesn't get to exercise her demons." "With a look of fear on his face my husband quipped to our 4-year-old, "What will happen to us now that mommy can't run?"  Ya, I know that feeling.  What am I going to do if this whole crazy schedule of working nights means that there is no time to run????????  Deep breaths, I'll figure it out...

Back to today's run...

Had a weird pain.  When I ran the half marathon in Nov. about mile 5 I got this weird crampy pain that started in my right hip went down the outside of my leg and even made my ankle hurt a little bit.  Never had it before.  Well, mile 5 is a bad place to start hurting when you are running 13.1.  Very bad.  Was really uncomfortable the last 2 or 3 miles but I finished in my goal time and it never happened again. Weird weird weird.  So yesterday I wake up wiht this shooting pain every now and hten in my hip and feeling like the right side of my back is really tight.  And today while running the pain like the half was back.  Sciatica maybe, I dunno.  Hoping it goes away and never comes back.  (I hope it is listening!)
 

At least I'm getting paid for this!

Ayyiyiyiyi.  ORIENTATION.  It's like nursings chool all over agin expect, get this, I'M GETTING PAID!  I keep reminding myself of that but after 2 and a half hours on wound care and ostomy I was ready to pay them to let me just go home!  Not that wound care isn't important and interesting because it really is.  But I just did that in school AND how may new moms have you met who got a pressure ulcer during their two days in the hospital.  So the mantra is, I'm getting paid for this, I'm getting paid for this. 

Tomorrow, a six hour assessment test to identify my strengths and weaknesses for use during my preceptorship.  Good times, good times.

Running update:  LAUGHING HYSTERICALLY!  Maybe if I finish the assessment early I'll trade my dansko's for running shoes and go for a run while everyone else finishes up.  Wouldn't that be cute, the scrub wearing runner!  Even better, the poor person who has to sit next to the scrub wearing runner for the rest of the afternoon sessions!!!!

First day (sort of)

Today I showed up on the floor for about 2 hours of computer training and other random orientation. Hubby reminded me that as an hourly employee it doesn't pay to be efficient and a fast learner.  Sad but true.  How bout this for a new policy.  The company measures how long it takes the slowest person to do computer training and we all get paid for as many hours as it takes that person, even if you learn it in say an hour and a half as opposed to two hours.  Just sayin'...
Met a few people, (who I won't actually be working with because that was all day shift and I'm nights) and got the gist of the computerized charting system.  Won't be hard once I get the hang of it but I like to know how to do things immediately and it gives me anxiety thinking that I might have to ask someone for help.  
Got a list of the classes I have to go to and dates so that's good.  Gives me a chance to have some sense of my schedule.  I'm sure the classes will be boring as can since I just did most of this in school but I will be getting PAID for it!!!!  That is still a lovely thing that I have not quite comprehended yet! 
One other thing I found out.  There are no dress code restrictions for scrubs except no all black and no all red.  The mommies don't like it.  I found that very humorous.  There's something really giggle worthy about letting a bunch of post-partum women dictate your attire especially in scrubs! (But you can wear black and red together. )

First night on the floor: Feb. 2. 

It's like the first day of school...

So tomorrow is the first day.  Although it is an easy first day.  I go in for 2 hours of computer training.  I like this easing in to work thing!  I got my new scrubs in the mail the other day.  I ordered them after seeing them posted on another blog, At your Cervix.  Isn't that the best name for a blog ever!!!!   I can't stand cutesy prints on scrubs, maybe if I were in peds just to make the kids happy but I don't know how you get adults to take you seriously when your scrubs are covered in hearts or shamrocks.  So these scrubs have a little more design than solid but not anywhere on the cutesy scale.  I did kind of go overboard on the pink theme without really realizing it.  Oh well, it goes with the baby-mama theme.  One negative is that scrubs just aren't designed for a very petite person.  I got them short enough buying a short but I even in the extra small top I feel like I am either playing dress up or wearing a maternity top.  Seeing as how they are scrubs, I will be working nights and I just don't care that much what I look like, it wasn't worth sending them back and trying a different size.  Priorities, priorities.  At this point the unit doesn't have a dress code.  However, the recruiter told me they've been talking about it for a while so with my luck in the next couple months they will decide all nurses need to wear lime green or better yet BURGUNDY just like nursing school!!!!! 

Running in the cold and fog

What a great day for a run. 40 degrees, foggy.  Fabulous!  I will say that cold weather running is great after the first 10 minutes.  The first 10 minutes I am cold cold cold and wishing for another layer or 10.  Then I start to warm up and find a rhythm and I forget that I'm cold.  Then after another ten minutes I start stripping off the layers I do have.  Off come the gloves, shove in pocket, unzip windbreaker, tuck hat into waistband.  That's me over there stripping down at mile 10 of the half marathon I ran in November.  Saw my family cheering on the sidelines and was thrilled at the opportunity to dump all my extra layers on them!  Little did I know that if you dumped your clothes on the course they had a reasonable chance of making in to the dumped clothes box at the finish line.  Would have done that a lot sooner!!!!!

Finishing up is a little shocking too because you get cold REALLY fast!!!!  So what do I do?  Go outside and work on cleaning up the pool from the freeze we had a week ago.  Cause sticking your hands in icy water is a great way to warm up.  Maybe the cold zapped my intelligence.

Did 6.45 miles in 1:10:36.  A year ago I would have said you were crazy if you said I would go out for a relatively normal run on a normal day and put in over 6 miles.  And even crazier if you had said I would love it so much. 

Welcome to Running with the Baby-Mama Drama

So here we are, new home, new career, new blog.  Seemed appropriate to move on from the old blog and start soemthing new.  I had been toying with the idea of a running blog, not really because my running is that interesting but just because I like to talk about it.  But then a new nurse blog seemed like there would be more variety to talk about.  but I was absolutely SURE I would not keep up with two.  So here we are Running with the Baby-Mama Drama.  Maybe this will also help me stay motivated to keep running while trying to juggle life on the night shift!

Running update:
Ran this morning on the treadmill for 30 minutes while watching Real Estate Intervention on the DVR.  Love that show.  Mental note: never buy a total fixer upper with a guy you aren't married to.  And if you do, don't let him live in the house while you are trying to sell it.  Oh an don't buy at the height of a real estate bubble.  Inflated my new balance ball and did some abs and some arms. 

New nurse update: START MONDAY!!!!!!!  Got new scrubs, got new black out curtains for my day sleeping area(but totally forgot the curtain rod!!!), got a new badge with a pink stripe that means I can hold a baby in the hospital, opened a new bank account to try and avoid the money fritter (you get money and it just fritters away, mainly at Target).   Found out today that as a new grad I have to do the new nurse residency program which is a series of 12 weeks of once a week classes designed to help me transition to my new role.  Only they didn't get my hire date in before the Spring class cutoff so I will have to join the summer class.  So I will work on the floor as an actual nurse for 4 months then join a class of brand new grads to help me transition.  Seriously?  Surely, between now and then I can find a way around this but if not, I did it in school, I'm sure I'll do it through out my career, just one more hoop to jump through...