Monday, August 18, 2008

Tired and unmotivated............

I want to be done with midwifery school......NOW! Sorry for the shouting, just feeling unmotivated and just plain over it right now.
I am stuck. I have been working on a theory paper for a week now and haven't made squat for progress. I am over this paper and over this class! Because I have been so hung up on this stupid paper I haven't done my reading for my other two classes in a week. I think if I can just get this paper out of the way the rest of this class will roll pretty well and I can get the other two classes back in gear.
I am on week 7 of this term, so just five more left before the next term starts. I am in a good place with the reproductive A&P class, just two more tests left to take. The health assessment class is interesting so I can really get caught up on it this weekend pretty easily. Just finding the motivation to pound out the theory paper is my real issue right now.

I am also feeling a bit weepy today....worked last night and didn't make it home in time to see my oldest before he left for his first day of middle school :(
He is attending a local private school that is very big on personal responsibility and independence. I am used to dropping him off at school at 0845 and picking him up at 1530, at a school that is 3 minutes from my house. I used to eat lunch with him at least one day a week.
Now, he gets dropped of by his dad at 0730 and remains at school until his dad picks him up at 1720. He has cross country practice after school, so he is not just "hanging out" until his dad get there, he actually only has 20 minutes from the time cross country ends until his dad gets there. This school is also 30 minutes from my house and the campus is HUGE (like >600 acres huge), so I don't foresee the weekly lunches anymore (esp. not with gas prices the way they are). The school he attends is also a boarding school so there are always students, faculty and many other adults around.....it is a very busy campus.
I can't wait until he gets home today......I want to hear all about his day. I know he's totally loving it! He has been excited for school to start ever since he got his acceptance letter, way back in March!

I am going to go take a quick nap, throw some tacos together for supper and then take the middle child to football practice.

Tonight I am going to work really hard on that paper.......maybe if I type it here I can hold myself to it :)

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Not 1, not 2, always 3!

I worked at the big house again last night. Since I've been back I've only worked L&D one shift, all the others I have been down on the HRPU (pronounced harpu) the High-Risk Ante-Partum Unit. I do like the HRPU, usually have about 3-4 patients depending on acuity and once you get everyone their meds and tucked into bed the nights tend to be quiet. Just an FYI, never say the Q word (quiet) on a L&D unit, it is sure to get you many dirty looks.....nurses are a superstitious bunch!
Monday night they put me on L&D, and initially I had two patients. One patient had just delivered so all I needed to do was get her recovered and moved over to mother/baby unit. The other patient was a 27+ weeker who had limited prenatal care and had arrived an hour earlier with her water broke. Well, I ended up having to pass off the fresh delivery because the pre-termer didn't even have an IV going yet.
I got her IV going and gave her; fluids, stadol, antibiotics, steroids (for fetal lung development) and magnesium sulfate (tocolytic, help calm the uterus down so it will quit contracting). Unfortunately, despite our best efforts she delivered shortly after midnight by repeat c/s (baby was breech).....under general anesthesia, because she could/would not sit still for regional block.

We had two other 27 weekers come in and deliver on us that night as well, despite us doing all we could to keep those kiddos in!

Just another example of something every labor nurse knows......bad karma always comes in three's!