Woohoo!

At 3 pm on Thursday, I am done with OB! Yippie!!! I'm much more excited for peds, even if the thought of angry/confused/scared/over protective parents isn't totally appealing. Babies are cool, but they're not prone to do much (but I do appreciate their tiny diapers). Even more exciting, I will be going home after clinical is over! We have Monday off and it will be more than fantastic to go home and not have to cook for a couple days. Sometimes you just have to get out of where you are.

I think that since I am naturally a wanderer/explorer, it's hard to stay in one place and develop a routine for me. I feel like the monotony is getting to me and it's 5 weeks in... trouble ahead for sure. This could be because of the insanely repetitive nature of OB. It's awesome, really, but just slow. And quiet. And the exact opposite of me. I think that if I took a job here all would be fine (probably because I'd finally live alone), but I'm itching for a new place to explore at the moment. I didn't do my run today since I went to Brugger's with Cassie and Mary after class and then had to take my last exam and now it's pitch dark out (plus wind and rain), so that might be it. I don't know, though. Since I can't figure out where I actually want to explore at the moment, I'll try to practice my patience and let it come to me. Cue yoga breathing...

I've been a bad blogger...

This week was more than challenging, academically and otherwise. I thought I had learned that pesky value of patience, but now I'm not so sure. I became/still am a little frustrated with classes and with other people that I must interact with while in Rochester. Most of the time, I'm able to get past this stuff through Hulu, Grey's Anatomy and some BFF chat time with Cas. Those didn't do the trick this week and I have no explanation as to why. Needless to say, I have spent as much time as possible sleeping. I do enjoy, though, a rousing round of karaoke. Thankfully, there's a pocket of people that can cuddle with me and pull me out of any sort of funk that I've had here so far. Also, I think actually getting out of sweats helped moved things along, but I will give them credit where credit is due.

I tried a new trail this week and I like it a lot since it's flat and not asphalt. At the beginning of this running excursion, I wouldn't have expected to incorporate exploring into my runs (I'm a little paranoid), but I'm very happy I did. I'll probably try to tackle the trail to campus again sometime this week since last time it left me with something to be desired. It's those hills that are killer for that one and they're not even that big! I think it's more of the spacing of them on the trail, or the fact that I was so focused on having to go 4 miles that nothing could be enjoyable. We shall see!

Leaves are finally starting to change colors and it's been the best kind of dreary autumn weather for the last couple of days. It's much more enjoyable now to wear a sweater for a purpose instead as a substitute coat. I'm looking forward to all of the snow in the winter and hopefully the quiet time that will follow it. I'm a fan of summer, don't get me wrong, but I like peaceful things... and this past summer was far from peaceful. I'm excited to drive home Thursday and see some of the leaves at home too. It will be fantastic to get out of here for at least a few days.

Procrastination.

Not really feeling this case study right now (pregnant adolescent... it still weirds me out, honestly, our girl is 14, has had chlamydia and has MULTIPLE partners. :/ ) and luckily Molly sent me the best new website ever. It's called fupenguin.com and I am already in love. As one who likes cute animals but is done reading about the water skiing squirrel in the news, or whatever talent they happen to have now, I was totally taken with the silly commentary following the pictures. Perfect laugh after getting deep into this serious case study.

My mom and baby today were so cute!! They were both really mellow and had no problem with me doing assessments on them. I think if I were to work in OB, it would have to be with mother baby. I felt kind of useful today and like I knew what I was talking about. Plus, my mom was chatty and just really nice all round, so I wasn't uncomfortable at all. I think with each rotation I'll have to learn to ignore my instructor all over again during my skills demonstration. I was so used to my previous instructor watching me that I wasn't afraid to ask her questions during my assessments or anything. Granted, these are shorter rotations so it's harder to get used to an instructor in 10 times, but I think I am almost there. Too bad my last day on mother-baby is tomorrow. Oh well. Clinical is definitely what you make of it, though. My nurse today was super stressed out about some botched orders, so instead of doing my case study in the back room, I wandered with her and found out how you get that kind of issue resolved. I had checked in with my mom before I went on the excursion, and since her husband and other son were coming to visit, I wasn't going to be bugging her anyway. It was interesting. My nurse was definitely more than willing to help, which was fabulous, but it was nice to know that by running her new admission some ice and juice, I was making her day a little easier. :)

I did my run today, got a GIANT blister on my pinky toe (God only knows how since I WRAPPED IT after I saw the little preview blister after clinical) and am looking forward to not doing a run tomorrow. 5 miles on Friday. It's like D-Day... but obviously without a beach landing. Speaking of, who would've thought I'd miss beach days in September? (Kidding. We knew it was coming. It's like I'm not even a Northeasterner anymore. It's pathetic.)

Hm...

So, after I unconvinced myself after convincing myself I had a subinguinal (sp?) hernia, I did my run. Instead of running the full four, I did 3.5, which isn't bad, and I didn't feel horrific either. The ice pack is in the freezer and will probably be ready to do it's job when I'm done writing. I mailed out my entry form for the race on Oct 17. At this moment in time, I could actually care less if anyone does it with me or comes to watch. This is pretty much just for me (oh, I know - selfish much? Whatever. "Running" is an individual "sport". Aside - I'm not sure if running is actually a sport. Right now it's above cheerleading, but still living in the gray area. I am a traditional "sport-ist" that there have to be points to be scored in a game. Granted, that makes curling and shuffle board sports...)


This week I'm in mother baby both days and the plan is to get my assessment down. I've been using my visualization technique (hokey, but kind of effective) now especially since we don't have that many opportunities to practice. I'm getting more comfortable with it, but I am by no means an expert. I don't expect to become one during the rest of my time on the floor, but I think I've experienced a lot of valuable things. Last week I got to teach my mom about SIDS, something that is imperative to know about. It was really neat for me since I had never felt like I had actually taught my patients anything, although some little something must've stuck for someone. This, though, was an opportunity that jumped out and screamed TEACH HER! So I did. :) Obviously in this situation, like most others, the patient will do what they want when they go home, but it seemed like she understood what I was talking about.

We heard some sad stories about still births that happened over the weekend. I really hope that I don't have to see that before I leave since I am really not a super great dealer with death. I would probably want to hug my patient instead of talking it through like we've been learning about. We read a blog written by a mom who had a still born baby and it was totally heart breaking. :( It makes you realize that there are a lot of risks with pregnancy being in this class, and after feeling the cervical dilation models today, I'm not sure if I reeeeally want to give birth. Maybe I just need time to forget all of this scary stuff. Anyway, I won't be taking happy healthy babies for granted anymore.

I did it!

I registered for a 5K in Rochester (ok, technically Greece) on October 17th! My goal is to crack 30 minutes, which I've gotten close to doing in my 3 miler's recently, but I'm hoping to be running a consistent 30-ish minute 5K by race time. I have about a month, which is including long runs, so I know I'll be ready. I'm really excited! I think it's good to have this little race as a goal for me since it's not too far, far enough away that I'll be really confident at race time, and a fun thing to me to do to celebrate my new found ... "joy"?... of running. Besides, I've had this goal since last year of doing a half marathon, and while I'm NOWHERE close to being at that level, this is like my little stepping stone to it. Plus, I have no excuses since I'm supposed to do 5 miles that day. Three miles is getting easier for me every time I do it, even if I have blisters/angry intestines/crazy iTouch issues. Anyway, at the very least it will be a memory of this year and of my first fall on the East Coast in 4 years. Good enough for me!

I liked my first day on mother/baby a lot. I got to see 2 discharges and then a mom who had just given birth in the morning get transferred onto our unit. I was really REALLY nervous about doing my mom assessment, so nervous I pretty much forgot what I was doing, but my clinical instructor saved the day. Now that I've seen it done twice, I'm really confident I can do it tomorrow. I've been reviewing what I have to do in my head over and over all day, and now that I saw my instructor do the assessment I know what she's looking for. The plan is that I have the same patient tomorrow as I did at the end of today (she was so sweet) so I think that will also facilitate my assessment experience. Now if my clinical instructor didn't make me so nervous...

I also saw a circumcision today. Let's just say I'm not jumping onto the midwife bandwagon just yet after seeing that procedure. Apparently, babies can sleep right through it. Not mine. This kid wasn't even quiet after we gave him sugar water, but for good reason! Sure it's numb, but you're all exposed. It must be a least a little uncomfortable! Poor little baby :( Maybe it will get easier to watch the more I see them, but this whole procedure freaked me out a little bit, even though there's not a lot of blood at all. Being totally honest, I was MUCH more enamored by the c-section, with blood/uterus/stitches/staples and all, than this procedure. Not my Achilles heel by any means (I'm still searching for that), but just not something I would want to perform every day that I'm on the floor.

So during my FOUR MILE RUN (!) today, I thought over and over about my assessment. At some points, I even forgot I was running since I was so freaked out about feeling a uterus again. But it was a good run. I was a little annoyed at first because my little voice only told me how far I had gone every mile and not every half like I was used to, but then I began to pretend to embrace it. Hopefully I'm not super sore tomorrow since I have to run 3. Woohoo!

Being a 7-7 baby, I think it's fantastic I got to meet a little baby that will grow up being a 9-9-09. I think those with triple numbers in their birthdays have a special kinship since someone always makes a comment about your date of birth. Mine, usually, is, "You must be so lucky!" Yes, I suppose I am, but I'd like to attribute at least part of my "luck" to my parents and to my own brain, thank you very much. Geeze. It's like people think you're born a smarty pants or something these days... :P

So Thursday I got to see a c-section, clean up an itty bitty newborn, give them a shot of vitamin K and dress and swaddle them all before they were an hour old :) I like OB so far. All of the nurses are nice, even though the floor can be pretty hectic. The day before, when we were at orientation, there were 17 births. For the next two weeks, I'll be on the postpartum side with the moms that have given birth within the last few days. There I'll get my own patient, hopefully for both days we're on the floor, and learn how to do a newborn and postpartum mom assessment. I did get to use a teeny weeny stethoscope, probably the size of a dime, on Thursday to listen to the baby's heart rate. It's hard to count! Hopefully during my two weeks I'll also learn how to give a baby a bath and become a diaper changing pro. Either way, babies make me happy even if they're screaming at the top of their lungs. If they're screaming, they're usually healthy! :)

I had two good days of 3 milers and I bump up to 4 on Wednesday. I 'officially' registered for the Nike+ Human 10k so now I feel like I have to do it. Luckily, I'm scheduled to do a 6 miler the day before the race, so I'll just switch my runs and do about a quarter mile extra on 10.24. I'm kind of attached to my daily(ish) run now. They'll be getting longer, but I think as long as I'm planning for it, I'll be fine. Eventually I might have to move indoors because my timing after clinical. Now it's not so bad, but if I get out late it could be horrendous. Plus, who wants to get up at 4 am to do a run in pitch darkness? Not I. I'll also have to see how long I last when it gets cold out. My running shoes are great, but they're mesh all along the top and sides. They breathe a lot better than my previous shoes, but at the same time I get soaked if it's raining. My plan is to do the 10k outside and then maybe move inside to the hospital gym when it gets really nasty. I can't believe I am already talking about running 6.2 miles, but I feel like I can do it! I'm not sure what my next step after that will be, especially since I just kind of am glossing over the 5k race, but I think a half marathon in the spring isn't totally out of the question. It could be my "victory lap". Oh, I'm so funny :)

We got the best present ever today - we didn't have to stay the whole time at orientation! Instead of a 13 hour day (followed by tomorrow which we have to be on the floor at 6:45 am... ugh), we got a normal (for us) one. Our floor has mandatory quiet hours, so the grand plan of splitting into our groups and doing orientation and then going to the floor totally failed. They also said they were being nice to us since we all had to go home and either finish or polish our 15 med cards due tomorrow. I thought I was done with those bad boys last night, but then it got sprung on us this morning that we had to have all possible doses/routes/reasons why our patient would have that drug. Excessive, but it's supposed to make us better at tests/NCLEX/life. We probably won't pass meds this rotation since the moms can give themselves their own medicine, but it's always a possibility.

Tomorrow I'll be in labor and delivery if our schedule stays the same. I'm super excited because I 1) have never seen a live birth (section or vaginal) and 2) I get to look like a big nurse and wear blue scrubs! (!!!!!!!!!!!) The later is probably the more exciting thing for me. So I have to put on my uniform (again) only to have to change once I get to the floor. I'm nervous but pumped for this rotation. I haven't held a baby, much less a VERY newborn, in a long time! At least a couple years I think. Doing my first assessment of a baby will probably be scary, but swaddling I think I'll have down since I tend to wrap myself up like that even now. Maybe I'm a baby in disguise? Something to think about. My clinical instructor is amazing and our "partner" rotation group that comes on after us has a great instructor too. He revealed another secret about Wegmans today - apparently you can print out a shopping list that includes aisle numbers from their website. I might have to use that if I ever venture back to the warehouse Wegmans in Pittsford.

Time to read up on the stages of labor so I can be prepared for tomorrow!

Back to school, back to school

We are officially starting our second third of the program. I had my first women's health lecture today and I think I'll really like that class a lot. Women's health is much more family focused now, especially for labor and delivery, and it will be interesting to see if what we have had to read matches up with how it's put into practice. Clinicals start tomorrow, so hopefully I'll be good at communicating with women in labor and not just patients with every other ailment under the sun - it could be a long 5 weeks if I can't! I was very happy to see all of my friends again after almost 3 weeks of escaping to other parts of New England. It's weird that we're split into two groups now and not always together, but I guess it had to happen at some point.

I have started to legitimately run. For me, it's a big undertaking, but I have a pretty nifty support person who also does not consider herself "a runner" so I feel like I can do it too. I got the Nike+ sensor since our iTouches are already loaded with Nike+ anyway. I need to calibrate it, but the fact that I'm going as far as I plan to when I start the run, and sometimes over my goal, is good enough for me. I started a training plan through the website, so the schedule also helps me do it. It might get harder when I have a long day of clinical, but I have started to find running relaxing... which is scary. I'm sure it's a good thing in the long run (HA! Pun!), but it's a strange concept to think about.

I am sure I'll have more stories by the end of the week. Hopefully all of the babies I get to see are healthy!