Fifth quarter finally over

I can't believe it's over!! I've never been so happy! The final wasn't too bad, got a 90% and ended up with an a- out of the class. The final was worth 2/3 of the testing points so the pressure was tremendous. It could determine whether you would repeat the quarter or not. Just horrible. Now onto bigger better things like cleaning the house and finally getting the tree. Then onto preceptorship second week of January. Yea!!!

Almost Done

Today was the last quiz in theory. Fortunately I did well but the real test will be the comprehensive final next Tuesday. This quarter has really been so so so bad! The constant stress has been building and building and I'm practically ready to blow! Right now I need 57 out of 80 points on the final to pass this class. I think this is doable but part of the points will be from a take home essay portion. Two pages on stem cell research. Are you kidding? Really? I have no idea how tough she's going to grade them but the thought of having to retake this class because she didn't like my paper is too much to think about. This entire program has been progressively been getting harder and it just can't get any worse!
Well hopefully by next week this will all be a distant memory!

clinicals are finally over!!!

I can't believe today was the last day ever I'll have to do clinicals! We turned in our badges and keys today and we now have three weeks until school is out for the quarter. And while I'm happy that this part it over, I won't breath my last sigh of relief until the very last test is passed and I know I've satisfactorily passed this quarter.
Have you started Christmas decorating yet? I don't know if I'm quite ready, I may wait another week before I get the tree. I really want to be able to relax and enjoy the process and it's hard to do with tests looming over you still. Oh, well I know it will get done eventually.
Nothing much elso to say exept, I've got to get back to studying:(

Mental health

Well it turns out that mental health is a lot of fun. We have an awesome instructor who is very easy going and the facility is really nice. I'm at the VA and I've gotten to go to PTSD support groups, dual diagnosis groups for people struggling with both a mental disorder and drug /alcohol problem, schitzophrenic cognitive therapy,all kinds of neat things. We are allowed to sit in on all interdisciplinary meetings and it's great to see the admit to discharge process from the beginning to the end. The only difference between the VA and other mental facilties is that people choose to come here, they are not being committed by someone else. The biggest theme that I see in just about everyone there is depression, not to surprising really. It has been nice also that what we are learning in theory correlates with what we are seeing in clinicals. That doesn't happen very often!
I'm also so thankful that we get an extra week off this next week for playing catch up and studying, I did well on the last test and hopefully can do well this next one. Then my stress level will be so much better.

Heading back to the VA

I'm starting mental health tomorrow. I really don't have a feeling one way or the other about it. Right now my focus is on my theory class and all other school events just take me away from my studying. I know it will be interesting, and I'm sure I'll learn alot, it's just that I'm so stressed and can't wait till this quarter is over.

Cruising along

First of all, I have to apologize for all the recent misspellings on this blog, I've gone back and noticed quite a few! My only defense is I am usually in a hurry and rarely proofread what I post. This week is going a lot smoother than earlier in the quarter. I'm done with long term care and have had some extra time to devote to theory. This was really needed, because I was starting to crack under the pressure! The timing has also worked out because next week Chris has half days in school almost all week and they have veterans day off. That would be really hard to schedule babysitting if I was busy in clinicals all week. Work is still going well, and I enjoy it just as much as when I first started.My nurses are so supportive and are really pulling for me to get a recidency when I graduate. As soon as I get some batteries back in the camera, I'll post our Halloween pictures. The kids had fun and got way too much candy! I've been finding wrappers everywhere! Till next time, take care!

Fealling a little better

Well, it's been a long week. My weeks are Thursday through Thursday hense, my week is almost over!I've somewhat calmed down about my grades and with a lot of prayer, I know that things will work out in the end. I think sometimes I work so hard, and spin my wheels and forget to give it over to God and let him take the burden. This week we finished up our long term care rotation and I have one more assignment to complete for that. Mostly it was a boring rotation but full of lots of busy paper work and not a lot of hands on care. I love the hands on stuff, so this wasn't as fun. I guess I'll never be a nurse manager! Now I have two weeks off of clinical before we start mental health rotation. I'm so exited to actually get two extra days next week to study! Tomorrow's the end of life test and I'm busy getting our class presentaion together for that, so it's another full night, but tomorrow after class I'm actually going to relax and watch a dvd I ordered. The Proposal, can't wait!

Feeling like I'm drowning in the work

I may say this every quarter, but this seems like my hardest quarter yet. I have not done well on any of the tests and I can't figure out why. I've never had the thought in my mind that I might not pass a class but I am having those thoughts now. I hoping by the grace of God that I can make it through the next 8 weeks. Her tests are quizzes that are worth 15 points every week. The problem is there are usually 13 questions covering well over 100 pages of reading, and she makes them up. They are not out of a test bank and figuring what she 's looking for has turned out to be difficult. If you miss three, you've pretty much failed the test and the average needs to be a 79% Doesn't seem that bad but with such high stakes questions the stakes are high. I've never had a class like this. I'm just praying, praying , praying and working so hard I don't know what else to do. The constant stress level in starting to get to me and I don't stress out easily.

Few, first test down seven more to go

All in all this was a good week and I'm SOOO glad it's Friday! Our first test was on Thursday and I did okay, not as well as I'd like. I felt like I knew everything and had studied well but some of the questions were worded really strange and of course there are always a few trick questions, fortunately I got those right. As long as I keep above a 79% average for testing, I'll pass the class. Usually I can maintain a 90% average and then count on other projects and activities to pull up the grade to an A so I hope I can do that again this quarter.
I've got work tomorrow and I always look forward to that, it what keeps me going when I get bogged down with school stress, I look around and tell myself, one day I will just have go to work and come home and that's it. I am blessed to work with wonderful and generous nurses who enjoy having me around and don't mind all questions!
This week we were given the opportunity to fill out the sheet that tells school where we what to go for our preceptorship placement. Part of me wants to stay where I'm comfortable, such as a CCU environment. I truly don't want Med/Surg but, I know that I would learn a lot and would be pushed out of my comfort zone. The instructor also mentioned that I should go to a place where I could gain knowledge for NCLEX. She has a point, an area too specialized might not help me when it comes to the test, and that of course is the whole idea. If I don't pass, nothing else matters! So, I've got some thinking to do, until next time have a great weekend!

Starting mental health and long term care

This week was full of some definite highs and lows! The first day back was great, seeing everyone and catching up with how their summer was nice. Then tuesday was our dosage calculation test and clinical orientation. Unfortunately, I missed one extra problem on the calculation test and had one more try to take it which I did today. Fortunately things went well and I got 100% but that was way too close for comfort. If I got less than a 90% I would have to miss clinicals for this quarter and I would not be completing the program with my group, just three months later. While this wouldn't be the end of the world, it would have been devistating to me.
This quarter we will be at the local VA hospital to complete our LTC and mental health units. I sat in line for 4 hours the other day to get my security pass and my fingerprinting done. Now I kind of know how someone feels being booked for jail! Anyways, I've got tons of studying to do and a test on thursday so I better get started, till next time!

Just a late night post

Well we survived the first week of school! I am glad things went relatively smoothly and they both seem to like their classes and their teachers. I'm still working on Christophers room and the wood laminate flooring is halfway done. At 40.00 a box and about 600sqr feet to do, this is turning out to be a pricy venture but it'll be beautiful and will make for a lovely bedroom (that carpet was absolutely hideous!) It was the last room with wall to wall carpeting and with kids and pets it's so much easier to clean with hardwoods!
I also installed beadboard trim on the bottom third of the wall and now that needs to be painted. I'll be so glad to finish, it seems like every summer all I do is paint, paint, paint!
I've also officially registered to my fall classes which start on the 28th so thats all set in place, now I just need to start studying for my dosage calculation test on the second day of class. I'm ready for it though. It's exiting knowing that this will be the year I will graduate and take the NCLEX. I'm nervous but so exited to finally become an RN.
Well off to bed, I've got a 5 am wake up call.:)

Back from the Ocean

We had so much fun on our trip and I was sure to take lots of pictures as the memories will have to carry me through the winter. I don't know who had more fun, Charlie our dog or the kids! Our days were filled with sandle castles, kite flying and race car racing! The first night we walked around the harbor and bought some clams and prawns straight off the boat, talk about fresh!

Doesn't he seem well fed? I'm sure the fishermen love having him hanging around their boats, just like a dog begging from the dinner table!

Christopher and Dad had a great time with their cars and Charlie loved chasing them down the beach, boy they go fast. He was tired that night! Now back to real life of back to school shopping and finishing up projects before school starts( I'm laying wood laminate flooring upstairs in Chris's room).

Pics from July

My my, where did the summer go? I already miss July.This picture was taken at Wapato park not long ago. Christopher is fascinated at all the millions of little tadpoles in the lake, there were swarms of them!

The backyard is always it's prettiest in July, now things are starting to dry up and lots of the flowers are past there prime. Oh well, that's why I take pictures!

I have now idea why I can't turn around this picture of Charlie, sometimes I really hate blogger. I would say adding pictures is definitely not user friendly when it comes to blogger. That's all for now!

My dirty little secret

Yes, it's true. I, a future nurse, don't really love needles. In fact the thought of drawing someones blood does cause some anxiety. But, I put on my big girl panties and do it when it's needed. Sometimes I have success, sometimes I don't.
Here's my other secret, I 'm prone to have vasovagal responses when I have a bit too much anxiety in relation to needles. This basically means I faint. In fact, I fainted in the middle of the PACU a couple weeks ago. Ah, yes, creating new memories wherever I go. I had attempted to draw on this guy, and he was being really patient about it, but it had taken several attempts.
I started to feel a little woozy and before I knew it I was hearing my name being called with fuzzy faces all around me. It took a while to figure out what had happened but when I did, my first thought was DAMN! Why? Why did this happen, so so lame!
I know that I will get over this and the more practice I get the less the anxiety will come. In fact just yesterday, I worked in the same unit and everything went well, aside from forgetting to get the cotton ball out ahead of time, so what, a few drops of blood on the chair. Next time I'll remember and hopefully my hands won't shake as much.
Until next time, Becky

Nothing new

It's been a while since posting! I guess I've been on facebook more often this month. Work continues to go well but it has made the summer fly by! The kids have had two different vacation bible schools, and are doing swimming lessons for two weeks and I'm still doing my online class. Hubby got a new job that he really likes so far and some of our projects are underway at the house. Right now we're staining my daughters room and it's going to be the prettiest floor in the house! Now of course I'll want to refinish the whole front room. The never ending projects of an old house! Do you ever just wish that when summer came you could just pack up and go to the beach and stay there for three months with not a care in the world.? I do, all the time.

Busy week

Seems like there's a lot to do this week. I came back from California and had a really good time. Unfortunately my dog had ran away while I was gone so that created som extra stress. Fortunately a couple days later he came back on his own and I was so thankful! He really is my little buddy and I missed him terribly.

The entire family has been sick this week with hubby getting the worst of it, he normally lucks out but not this time. I worked a couple of partial overnighters this week and it's been good to catch up on extra hours.

Callie's birthday is today so I've got a party to plan and lots of details to take care of.

Hopefully next week we'll be back in our normal groove, I'm afraid our home improvement projects will take a backseat to the weekend festivities. Oh well. Here's some picks from my trip!

Getting started

Well summer quarter has officially begun. Yesterday I was shouting at the computer because the online program "Blackboard" has changed to "Angel". So far I hate it! I can't find how to email, I can't find how to look up your grade, discussion board look es totally different and would not let me do a posting. UUUGG. I know I'll be ahead of the curve when it comes to fall and all the other nursing students are having to figure it out but so far it's a big pain.
I went to the bank today to put in hubby's check and all the Wells Fargo computers are down. What's up with that? They better not charge me overdraft fees, if I couldn't put in the check when I planned. What a pain!
In other news, I'm so exited to leave for California on Thursday! This week I'm taking care of last minute errands and any school assignments that might be due so I don't have to worry about it over the weekend.

Pics from the garden

I thought I'd post some pictures of the garden. Thank goodness I invested in some perennials years ago so that I can reap the benefit of not having to replant for the past couple years. I've been so busy with school that many of my pots that I would have already planted with annuals , I haven't done yet but hope to soon. Till next time!

Yea!!!! Done with fourth quarter!

It's finally over and I'm so relieved. It went by quickly but was a lot of work. Grades have been posted and I manged A's in all classes. whew! I hope to just work on the house as much as possible this summer. We have so many projects! Yesterday I started by ripping out my daughters carpet. Tomorrow I'll have the joy of scraping the glued on carpet pad off the floor before we can put in a new one.
Then it's onto siding the garage, painting the trim on the back side of the house. I was at Lowes yesterday I was pricing up vinyl flooring for the kitchen and the one I liked was beautiful, looked just like real ceramic tile and was 14.00a square foot~! For a 10 by 11 kitchen it would have cost way over a thousand dollars for VINYL FLOORING?? Geez, might as well put in hard wood for that price. I think I'll keep looking.

Still counting down

School's still going okay, slowly crossing things off my list of things yet to do. I'm still kind of dragging around but I have managed to keep up with my workouts (nothing special, just a jog/walk of 3-5miles three times a week), work is still great and I always look forward to that, just wish I could fit in more hours for a bigger paycheck but if I work too much then drop in grades in school then that would'nt be worth it. I also signed up for a on line speech class this summer that I'm really not looking forward to, but I know I won't have time next year and I have to have it done before graduation. Anyways, I'm just kind of BLAH and tired from lack of sleep, so please forgive my very boring posts. Three more weeks, three more weeks!

Three more weeks

I am getting so burned out and having a hard time studying. I've got three more tests, three more careplans, one lab simulation, one group presentation, and four more articles to turn in and then I'm DONE for the quarter. I just need to stay on target and get my head out of the clouds!
Still love my job, and feel lucky to be there.
I'm also relly trying to keep up with the working out thing. I want to go for a one hour walk/jog three times a week and so I'm back on the wagon after having a bad run of sickness and pretty bad weather outside. Darn this Washington weather, it's middle May and I could count on one hand the sunny days we've had so far. Cannot wait for our California vacation this summer!

Work

Started my new job today. I really like it so far. Everybody's nice and it's low key enough to not be overwhelming, but fast paced enough to keep me busy and not bored. Today I got to insert my first male foley (by myself with no nurse in the room:))D'cd two IV's. Of course lots of vitals and blood sugar checks. Dang those patients that have poor peripheral circulation, had to poke one guy three times! The nurse taught me that I should use the IV arm for those because the force of the fluid is moving things along better. I'll remember that! Learned how to get the food trays from the robot that brings them up and all those little details,and oh yea set up the wireless ECG monitor by myself. Yea Me! Anyways, I'm so tired, was up at five for work and now at 2300 still studying my ventricular dysrhythmias, heart blocks, MI, chest pain, angina, pacemaker and CAD disease stuff for big test on monday. Wish me luck!

Finally starting work!

I talked to my new nurse manager yesterday and I 'm going over on Friday right after clinicals to start my orientation on the floor. Then I'll be working every saturday 0600-1400. So more for the one day that I get to sleep in. Oh well, It will be nice to get some kind of a paycheck. I really hope I get to do some fun stuff along with the normal CNA type duties like vitals and transporting and of course help to the bathroom.
I'll try to talk the nurses into letting me do lab draws and IV's as much as possible.

All kinds of craziness

So much going on right now! I had a day in the ER yesterday and loved it. I had always thrown around the idea of ending up there but now I'm really confused. I love the chance to practice skills like foleys, IV's, blood draws, 12 lead EKG's and so on. Up on the floor, a lot of that is already done so you don't have as many chances to get good at those. I'm thinking of asking for ER for my preceptorship to get a good couple months in, then hopefully having my residency in a CCU or PACU area. I'm lucky that I will be starting my new job soon in the CVshort stay and will hopefully have an edge on getting into a good residency.
I've pushed back the goal of doing OR for now. I think it would be in my best interest to advance my skills in a critical care area, then I can always transition later into OR. I hear it's a lot harder going from OR to floor nursing as none of the skills are the same.
This week my research paper rough draft is due, my third theory test is on tuesday and I'm planning to try to get onto the official schedual at work then of coarse picking my patient and care plan on thursday and friday clinical.
Kids have been sick:( Daughter is getting better, but poor son has been throwing up since midnight. I hope he gets better soon, I feel so bad for him. (Early 6am run to the store for gatorade and pedialyte). Okay, back to studying!

Wow, I've been busy

Every day has been something, either at at the hospital completing all day orientations or I'm at school all day or I'm at the other hospital doing clinicals. But, the orientations will eventually be completed and I'll just work once or twice a week. I was incredibly lucky the other day. I was supposed to spend the day with I.V therapy, but they called my instructor and said they couldn't take a student that day. So, my instructor wasn't sure what to do with me so she asked the O.R if they could have a student that day! I was in heaven, I got to see a total knee replacement, and a total hip replacement. Soo, cool. I know I want to be in there after graduation and I can't wait.
Lots of studying and laundry to catch up on this weekend, have a good one!

Fighting this stupid cold!

Okay, I am sick of being sick. This cold has gone aroung the entire family several times now and I thought I had missed it this time around but I wasn't so lucky:( So anyways, here's what's been going on:

1)The Hospital gave me the official offer for the job and I've completed the background check paperwork, turned in my status approval paperwork to school, did my drug test and now am waiting for it all to come together. My biggest obsticle seems to be trying to fit in the mandatory all day orientations which just so happen fall on EVERY single test day I have at school! My teacher is willing to rearrange one test day for me but that's about it. I can't start work til they're done so it may take longer than I would like until I can actually begin.

2) The tiling is completely done in the bathroom, yea! It took a lot of spring break to finish it but with some help from hubby we got it done and should be grouting soon. I'll definitely post pictures.

3) Classes so far are okay, my theory class has a lot of complicated assignments but I'll figure them out as we go along. In fact since I didn't have clinical this first week I've been able o get most of my Unit reading done so I feel a little ahead.

4) My favorite cat Salina has been missing now for I think 7 days. I hate to say it but several days may have passed before I realized because we have other cates and because we've been super busy. I've been looking at the shelter websites but no luck.

That's all for now!

First Day Back

Today I'm beginning spring quarter, last year at this time I began nursing school and I can't believe I'm half way through! I'm always happy to begin a new quarter, with each one bringing me closer and closer to graduation. This quarter we are beginning advanced med surg so I'm a little intimidated but with lots of hard work hopefully I'll be fine.
Our class is having other lpn students join us this time around so our original group will be somewhat separated as there are several therory courses and eight different clinical groups. Fortunately I do have some of my good friends in my clinical groups and hopefully we will all keep in touch by doing group study sessions. Okay, I've got an orientation to get to, have a good day!

Got it!

Well I got the job, I can't believe it! I know it will be difficult to juggle everything but I know it will help reinforce what I'm learning in class. In other news. my sister has had some scary syncopal episodes yesterday with bradycardia down to 23bpm. She is stable now and being watched in the very same cardiac unit I was just hired in. very strange. Please send out a prayer for her that we find out what the problem was. Well, I'm gonna head back to the hospital and be with her. I'll update soon.

Spring Break

Yea !! I'm officially on spring break now and loving every minute of it. I had my final test on monday and I'm still waiting for the results to be posted. I'm pretty sure I did fairly well and I believe I might evan end up with an A in this class.
Today I started tiling the bathtub surround with my pretty subway tiles, Mom helped me a ton and now that we have one wall done I should be fine on my own tomorow. I can't wait till this bathrom is done! We did get the pedestal sink installed and it's so beautiful. When the whole thing is done I'll definitely post some pictures.
So remember when I was worrried about the job situation? Believe it or not I got an invitation to go interview for a nurse tech position at the local cardiac outpatient wing. It's brand new and has suites nicer than most people's houses. Each room has a private shower with fancy ceramic tile, and a large plasma TV on the wall in front of the bed. This place has new computors on every room and then there is a computor on the wall in the hallway about every six feet or so.
I hope this job works out, we'll see. I won't have tons of free time to work this quarter but I wanted to have something lined up and ready for the summertime.

Get to it!!!

I don't know about you but if I have lots of time to do something I will take forever, slowly getting around to it. Of course, If I have a deadline, I'm right on it. I think I work better under pressure. I've got just one test left and all week to study for it and I just can't seem to focus!
I guess my mind is just pre-occupied about things. Things are financially kind of rough right now and I wish I could just speed up graduation and get out there working!
I was talking to a recruiter from the nearby hospital and he was saying how there aren't as many nurse tech positions available as their used to be. He was also saying that hospitals down in Portland are having hiring freezes right now. Really scary for new grads. Alot of nurses that used to work on call are working full time because of spouses loosing their jobs, and people are putting off their retirement. This makes it hard for new grads to find good positions. I am hoping and praying that things work out and I guess it doesn't help anything to sit and worry about it.

Done with pediatrics!

Last night was my last night with the kiddo's and I'm so relieved. It's just not my cup of tea and I knew it going in. What sucks the most is that we aren't allowed to give meds of any kind. I'm not evan allowed to spike a bag. I am really looking forward to adult med surg again. So, here we are with two weeks left of the quarter and I've got my last care plan that's due sunday night, then I am DONE with clinicals! We each got to pick one week that we could skip and I chose the very last week so, all I'll have to do will be to study for my very last test. Sweet!
In other news, we finally got our scedules for next quarter and I'm so glad I got the placement I'd asked for. I'm going to a different hospital this time so, I'll have a chance to get comfortable there. It's close to home and I may end up working there so I wanted to check it out. I also got the hybrid on-line theory class so that means one less day at school. Yea! Okay, I'm off to class!

My Expose

This is my "office", a little corner I have carved out for myself to do my studies. It is an absolute PIT! I know it's bad and during the quarter I do little to improve the situation. The only good thing about it is that it prevents school stuff from flowing all over the house and getting in the way. So, every three months I give it an overhall and throw out paperwork no longer needed and get rid of the dust bunnies. As you can see, I have a little friend who visits often and is usually in the way. Oh, well. She's a sweety.

First night on Peds

So last night was pretty good, I had heard stories about how rude some of the nurses are and how they completely ignor the students, but fortunately I didn't see that. I picked a difficult patient but I knew I would learn a lot more with this one and I did. I won't go into detailes but there was a G-J tube , a trach, decub ulcers, contractures and mental retardation so there were a lot of things that I got to observe that I hadn't had on adult med surg.
And, it's funny but I ran into a couple other nurses that I already know so that was cool!

I've got some major studying to do this weekend for a test on moday and I NEED to make up points that I lost on the last test. Then one more week of Peds, then I'll be done with clinical for the quarter yea!

A few more weeks

So here it is friday night and instead of reading my homework and studying I'm brousing the internet reading my favorite nursing blogs. I swear, sometimes I can be such a procrastinator! But, it's been a long hard week and I feel like my brain needs a break, either that or it's slow burn out as we get closer to the end of the quarter. I've got two more theory tests, two pharm tests, a pediatric lab and simulation and three more conceptsmaps to do for the rest of the quarter.
I've been doing a lot of thinking about where I want to end up when I'm done with school and I'm stil leaning towards OR but I'm not totally sure. I hope to have a chance to do my preceptorship there but I have no control over that. The powers that be have that decision, not me. They base it on gpa and on an essay you turn in.
Anyways, I really should be focusing on my immediate school work and not on the future so much! Last night I had a couple more chances to hang some IV bags and set the pumps. I'm slowly getting more and more comfortable with this and I wish I could be doing it every day.
This next week starts pediatrics and I'll be working in a large pediatric hospital for clinical. I hope it goes well, I really have no intention of working with kids at all but the exposure will be interesting, we'll see.

Way too much!

Ive got so much going on this week!
1) Sons birthday parties to throw, one for friends and one for family.
2) Care plans to finish up for labor and delivery
3) Peer reviews to turn in for our research paper, are you kidding me? I can barely right my own let a alone give people critique on theirs!
4) Test number three on childbirth, pediatric GI problems
5) Pharmacology quiz
Oh, yea, home baked goodies for kids valentines parties.

I also signed up today to be on the SNO commitee. (Student nurses organization) I will be their mentee coordinator, helping new first quarter students get acclimated and set up with mentors from 2nd quarter students.
I know this seems like a lot but it will look good on the resume and will hopefully open some doors. I'd like to get a job as a nurse tech in the next couple months and their is a job fair coming soon where all the hospitals tell you about the positions they've got and try to recruit you. I'm looking forward to that!

Quick update on labor and delivery

Last night was my one and only night I had to experiance a day in labor and delivery. It was really great in some ways and a little boring in other ways. I know I only got one veiw of it, but some of the time it was fast pased and exciting but the rest of the time was a lot of waiting around. One nurse would have one laboring mother, so if the mother was progressing slowly then really, your just monitoring her contractions and fetal heart rate on the monitor in the nurses station. I think I prefer something a little more fast paced. If I'm going to be working 12 hour shifts. I want to be busy and have the time fly by.
Ok, so my first experiance was right after we got there, their was a C section going on and a friend and I had to decide who got to go in because they would only let one. She ended up letting me go after much debate about, you go, no you go, no it's okay you go. Any way, I got in and although they had taken the baby out already, I got to watch them sew up the uterus and the perineal lining which was still sitting on top of her stomach. Very neat! Placenta looked great, and she only lost about 600 ml of blood. Baby was beautiful, 5 pds or so and so precious. I watched another student there on her preceptorship give the vitamin K shot and put antibiotic eye ointment. They did the apgar on the baby, 8/9 , very healthy. It was a great exprience.
The next birth I saw, the gal was getting her epidural, the anesthesiologist let me watch up close, wow that is a big needle, and she was starting to say she felt a lot of pressure almost like she had to push. Well, she had just been checked and was only 4cm. He layed her back down and hadn't evan had a chance to push the drug in yet, when all of a sudden there was head appearing and the baby was coming out. Of course nothing was set up yet, so the nurse called everyone in and they worked as a cohesive unit to get the room set up in about 3 min. The nurses were amazing. Doc ran in and got there just in time. All was good, baby was healthy and beautiful and it was an amazing thing to watch.

Maternal child unit

We are finally into the maternal child section and so far I am having a great time. Our first test was today and I'm fairly certain I got an A so that's good. We had a lab yesterday and today that let us get a chance to perform a newborn assessment and a post pardom assessment. I checked breasts, fundal tone, lochia, episiotomy site and every thing else. Our care plans will be alittle different than we are used to since we can't pick our patient a day ahead of time. We are supposed to make a very generic care plan for a normal birth and recovery and then change the care plan as needed when we get the actual patient picked out. My first day will be on thursday, so cross your fingers for a full moon and lots of births to observe!

My first blood draw

First, I promised to show pictures of our new canine friend Charlie. Isn't he cute? We've been having a great time with him and he is blending into the family quite nicely. So far Salina and Stripey are the only ones who will sit in the same room as him and not freak out, the other ones (cat's) just hiss and run. The're coming around though, it's only been a couple weeks.

Soo, in lab today we started I.V's on the arm manaquins filled with blood and performed venipucture for a blood withdrawl. You know, the ones with the different topped tubes that go to the lab. So, far this has definitely been my funnest(sp?) lab. Then we got a chance to each draw blood on our own lab partner. We used the butterfly needle and attached syringe, then transfered the blood to the tube using a blunt needle. Lots of fun!

In lecture I an knee deep in OB care with only two weeks to go over all pregnacy normals and abnormals, taking care of the laboring mother, and knowing all tests that are ordered to check on the health of the fetus. I am up to my eyeballs in reading and I feel like I could be on this subject for two months and still not have it all down. Please Lord let me do well on this next test..

Back to Reality

We all went back to school today and I have to say, it's good to get back into the swing of things. The kids had lots of fun playing in the snow, sleeping in and just generally goofing off. I've got a very busy and somewhat complex schedule this quarter with some very early mornings and some late nights at the hospital. Tonight I've got last minute studying for dosage calculation test tomorow and some I.V. therapy reading.

Our other news......... is, we're getting a dog! We are sooo exited. I'm picking him up at the pound tomorow. His neutering was today so hopefully he'll rest tomorow and we'll pick him up after school. He is a silky terrior mix, very cute, about 10 pounds or so with lots of energy. Hopefully he'll be a great walking partner for me. I'll post pictures soon!