And 20 months pass quickly by...

Yes, it has been 20 months since I updated...
The running highlights...

Me and my bff, Teri at the Las Vegas Rock n Roll half marathon.

• Ran three half marathons, PRed in one with a 2:18.
• Ran a couple 5Ks. Got first in my age group in one, (the race was very small but I have the medal to prove it!)
• Sorta figured out how to run and work night shift but sometimes it still sucks.  

The Work highlights...

• Thought I'd lose my mind working night shift about the time I let the blog go.
• Learned that I really wouldn't lose my mind and that exhaustion really won't kill you.
• Got promoted to Charge Nurse.
• Lived through my first post-partum hemorrhage and thankfully the patient lived too!
• Accumulated enough stories about life with postpartum families to write a book, the title of which would be "It Ain't All Pacifiers and Rainbows".

So here I am back to blogging. We'll see how long this time lasts!

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!!!!