Saturday, January 26, 2008
Can you all
Send your positive thoughts/prayers/whatever you believe in over to my friend and classmate Morag, in Leafy Corner. She is nearly three hours away from me, and if I wasn't so sure my 10pm arrival would be quite as much trouble as help, I'd be heading over with some food and hugs. In the heirarchy of horrible-things-that-can-happen, this one doesn't really rank up near the top. But she has had quite enough to deal with, without this one more thing that happened today. And I will let her update you or not herself. For now, just send her some good wishes, please. The universe has been horribly unfair to her this year.
Friday, January 25, 2008
Onsite, onsite, onsite
Oh *sigh* onsite. How I love/hate thee.
This quarter, our onsite weeks are, in theory, three days long, owing to the fact that we get more of our hands-on directly from our preceptor/student clinical situations. This, however, appears to be an illusion. We had two days that exceeded 12 hours with less than a full hour break, and we had a day down in Olympia, and a final day that lasted only 8 hours. By my reckoning, not only is that FOUR days, we spent enough hours to have made it FIVE if we were going for eight hour days.
Anyway, that was a very long way to say - it was quite as strenuous as our five-day onsites, and I'm damn tired.
There were, however, some real wonderful things this week.
At Olympia on Thursday, we had our lobby day. Our legislators, it turns out, are a lot more approachable and a lot more sensible than I had imagined. Many of them were willing to take actual immediate action on our issues, particularly since we came armed with tentative language for an ammendment to a bill that has troubled midwives in the past. At issue this year (as it has been for the past four years) was licensing fees. I could, at this point, having given the pitch to no few people over the course of Thursday, ramble on about this for a good long time, but I'll let the MAWS website give a fairly succinct, if infrequently updated, summary of the issues. The study that came out of last year's push for an updated licensing law is a VERY good thing. I enjoyed Lobby Day very much, and shall be going every year from here on out. What we did need was more MIDWIVES. There was a small herd of students and a few consumers and a few people who are very involved and integrated into the community without actually practicing midwifery, but there were only four midwives and only two of them actually came and stayed all day.
What else to say about my week?
~L~ fucking rocks. She took my kids for big long chunks of six-kids-at-a-time time, and somehow managed not to die or kill any children. She didn't even maim them. It is amazing. We actually got to sit up for a little bit after the kids went to sleep on Weds night and just chat, which is something that never happens, really, since the kids are always awake and around and involved any time we get together.
NeighborS also rocks, putting in two shorter but still substantial days, which brought her contribution to 18 total hours with EIGHT CHILDREN in her house.
I missed at least one birth this onsite, which sucks. I missed a HOME birth, which I found out about pretty quickly, but I don't know if I missed any hospital births, which my preceptor will tell me about when I come in next week (or get called tonight or this weekend, since I'm back on call).
We had a newborn exam lab today, which was somewhat fun. Babies do not, however, like having their nostrils occluded one at a time to check for patency of the other nostril. The more laid-back infant one group was inspecting just kind of shook her head around and expressed some displeasure, but it sent the poor little fellow I was messing with right into conniptions. Standards be damned, I am checking as much of the newborn as humanly possible while it is still attached to its mama's breast.
And I adore my Midwifery Care instructors this quarter. The material is quite as rigorous as always, but they are very creative about games and projects and activities that are actually fun and actually benefit us. It is refreshing.
This quarter, our onsite weeks are, in theory, three days long, owing to the fact that we get more of our hands-on directly from our preceptor/student clinical situations. This, however, appears to be an illusion. We had two days that exceeded 12 hours with less than a full hour break, and we had a day down in Olympia, and a final day that lasted only 8 hours. By my reckoning, not only is that FOUR days, we spent enough hours to have made it FIVE if we were going for eight hour days.
Anyway, that was a very long way to say - it was quite as strenuous as our five-day onsites, and I'm damn tired.
There were, however, some real wonderful things this week.
At Olympia on Thursday, we had our lobby day. Our legislators, it turns out, are a lot more approachable and a lot more sensible than I had imagined. Many of them were willing to take actual immediate action on our issues, particularly since we came armed with tentative language for an ammendment to a bill that has troubled midwives in the past. At issue this year (as it has been for the past four years) was licensing fees. I could, at this point, having given the pitch to no few people over the course of Thursday, ramble on about this for a good long time, but I'll let the MAWS website give a fairly succinct, if infrequently updated, summary of the issues. The study that came out of last year's push for an updated licensing law is a VERY good thing. I enjoyed Lobby Day very much, and shall be going every year from here on out. What we did need was more MIDWIVES. There was a small herd of students and a few consumers and a few people who are very involved and integrated into the community without actually practicing midwifery, but there were only four midwives and only two of them actually came and stayed all day.
What else to say about my week?
~L~ fucking rocks. She took my kids for big long chunks of six-kids-at-a-time time, and somehow managed not to die or kill any children. She didn't even maim them. It is amazing. We actually got to sit up for a little bit after the kids went to sleep on Weds night and just chat, which is something that never happens, really, since the kids are always awake and around and involved any time we get together.
NeighborS also rocks, putting in two shorter but still substantial days, which brought her contribution to 18 total hours with EIGHT CHILDREN in her house.
I missed at least one birth this onsite, which sucks. I missed a HOME birth, which I found out about pretty quickly, but I don't know if I missed any hospital births, which my preceptor will tell me about when I come in next week (or get called tonight or this weekend, since I'm back on call).
We had a newborn exam lab today, which was somewhat fun. Babies do not, however, like having their nostrils occluded one at a time to check for patency of the other nostril. The more laid-back infant one group was inspecting just kind of shook her head around and expressed some displeasure, but it sent the poor little fellow I was messing with right into conniptions. Standards be damned, I am checking as much of the newborn as humanly possible while it is still attached to its mama's breast.
And I adore my Midwifery Care instructors this quarter. The material is quite as rigorous as always, but they are very creative about games and projects and activities that are actually fun and actually benefit us. It is refreshing.
Monday, January 21, 2008
Readathon
The readathon is in full swing in Niki's house. Girliness is handling the brunt of the actual reading, but everyone is getting involved:
Picture Catchup
View out the window last week:
Some fun in the snow:
Out with Daddy for some bike riding and scootering:
ActionGirliness:
This is the trike we gave her last Christmas; the fit she threw in the store the other day was over an identical one:
Happy thoughts, Boyness?
Some fun in the snow:
Out with Daddy for some bike riding and scootering:
ActionGirliness:
This is the trike we gave her last Christmas; the fit she threw in the store the other day was over an identical one:
Happy thoughts, Boyness?
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Toddlerness = BittyPrincess
I am renaming her, because her Toddleriffic days are over. So PSA, Toddlerness will henceforth be known as BittyPrincess.
Good Fun
A couple weeks ago, Fran discovered the Aloha Hawaiian Grill, AKA "Niki's new favorite place to eat." We went there as a family yesterday, meeting MIL and sFIL, and it was AWESOME. Fran and I split a laulau and kalua pig plate. The three hundred pound man and I split a plate. I think I could feed me and all three (stuffed themselves silly) kids on a $8 combo plate. YAY. It is about impossible to get this food in the PNW without it having been frozen and thawed and generally gross-ified, so I am very very happy that this is right in the path of the discount grocer and IKEA.
So we packed up our leftovers and headed off to Marie's place, and went swimming at her Y. BittyPrincess decided that she wasn't afraid to go underwater after all, she just hated getting water up her nose. So she spent a good long time swallowing large amounts of water and diving to the bottom of the 4 foot section of the pool. Not that she can keep herself afloat or anything. Just that she's no longer afraid to go under. Thus begins the most dangerous phase of her swimming learning.
We had a BLAST. Their Y ROCKS. Ours sucks in comparison, and I'm a little bitter about that. How come we have a shitty pool and a few good workout machines in a boring 60s deco room? I'm surprised our Y doesn't smell like cigarrettes, it just has that ambiance.
Next week is onsite week, and I am attempting to shoo the kids and the husband out the door today, so that I can finally do some of the work I've been putting off this week. Mostly because BittyPrincess has been playing the HOLD ME HOLD ME I'M GONNA DIEEEE IF YOU DON'T HOLD ME game every time I get on the computer or open a binder. It has been irritating at best and infuriating at worst. And no, I can't let her cry, she's too loud and distracting. I have been really frustrated about it this week.
So we packed up our leftovers and headed off to Marie's place, and went swimming at her Y. BittyPrincess decided that she wasn't afraid to go underwater after all, she just hated getting water up her nose. So she spent a good long time swallowing large amounts of water and diving to the bottom of the 4 foot section of the pool. Not that she can keep herself afloat or anything. Just that she's no longer afraid to go under. Thus begins the most dangerous phase of her swimming learning.
We had a BLAST. Their Y ROCKS. Ours sucks in comparison, and I'm a little bitter about that. How come we have a shitty pool and a few good workout machines in a boring 60s deco room? I'm surprised our Y doesn't smell like cigarrettes, it just has that ambiance.
Next week is onsite week, and I am attempting to shoo the kids and the husband out the door today, so that I can finally do some of the work I've been putting off this week. Mostly because BittyPrincess has been playing the HOLD ME HOLD ME I'M GONNA DIEEEE IF YOU DON'T HOLD ME game every time I get on the computer or open a binder. It has been irritating at best and infuriating at worst. And no, I can't let her cry, she's too loud and distracting. I have been really frustrated about it this week.
Friday, January 18, 2008
Here She Comes!!!
Today, toddlerness:
Saved the day!!! Right off the couch arm. 5,000 times.
Made a painting right on the table in yellow, orange, and clear-sparkly nail polish.
Re-cut her own hair.
Walked barefoot through the parking lot at Target. It was 38 degrees out.
Ate an apple before I paid for it. And after dropping it on the ground.
Threw a full-on kick-and-scream tantrum in the store, complete with "PUT ME DOWN!!!!" and "I DON'T WAAAAAANNNNNNNAAAAAA." When I did put her down she RAN LIKE FUCKING MAD down the main aisle, which apparently meant Boyness had to follow yelling NOOOOOO at the top of his lungs, me racing along a distant third yelling "[BOYNESS], [TODDLERNESS], STOP!" We sure did give the other patrons a tableau to laugh, cry, tsk, or call CPS over.
Isn't THREE grand?!
Saved the day!!! Right off the couch arm. 5,000 times.
Made a painting right on the table in yellow, orange, and clear-sparkly nail polish.
Re-cut her own hair.
Walked barefoot through the parking lot at Target. It was 38 degrees out.
Ate an apple before I paid for it. And after dropping it on the ground.
Threw a full-on kick-and-scream tantrum in the store, complete with "PUT ME DOWN!!!!" and "I DON'T WAAAAAANNNNNNNAAAAAA." When I did put her down she RAN LIKE FUCKING MAD down the main aisle, which apparently meant Boyness had to follow yelling NOOOOOO at the top of his lungs, me racing along a distant third yelling "[BOYNESS], [TODDLERNESS], STOP!" We sure did give the other patrons a tableau to laugh, cry, tsk, or call CPS over.
Isn't THREE grand?!
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Beauty
A snowfall last night, a woman in labor. Deciding it wasn't an emergency, heading out into a world double-whitened by snow and sun at 8am. A baby born just past noon, pirouetting her way into the world, gracing my hands for the briefest moment before her mother caught her up to her chest. A family's joyous tears, a loved baby nestling on her father's naked chest, entirely content. The stirring of a longing for another of my own.
Beauty, beauty everywhere.
Beauty, beauty everywhere.
Monday, January 14, 2008
Fun with Scissors
Or not-fun, to be more accurate.
I cut Toddlerness' hair. Now that she's three, I should probably think of something else to call her...but I digress...
If there is anything harder than cutting a three year old's hair, it is getting a photo of that haircut. It took like 50 pictures to get ONE where you could tell what was going on with the hair. It is WAAAAY shorter than I was aiming for but DANG that girl was squirmy, even when I gave her a huge bag of jelly beans and told her to pick out a favorite. Still, she eventually calmed down enough for things to get roughly even (even if the final level was some 2 inches above what I'd originally hoped for). Not a perfect haircut by any means, but we'll survive. And by the time she's ready for another haircut, she had better damned well also be ready to sit still for a few minutes.
Before:
Submerged
In an ocean of school work.
We had an awesome week, with first my sister and then my brother visiting. Did all kinds of fun stuff; the zoo, the park, fires in the yard, lots of fun. The kids were burned out by yesterday, and had a pretty crabby morning - but by evening they'd levelled out, and then went to bed early of their own volition.
My siblings have been on a childhood-memories kick lately. The gifts they got us this year are awesome. Fairy Tale Theatre on DVD! There were even a couple we managed to miss as kids. Strange, many of them, but the kids love it, and I'm getting a real kick out of it. LittleBrother got us something very like this, which elicited happy childhood memories (including one of my dad making a mad dash across the living room, blowing wildly, after it had crashed to the carpet).
Meanwhile, the tide of school work has come up on me, beginning with an artificially short four-day first week.
We had an awesome week, with first my sister and then my brother visiting. Did all kinds of fun stuff; the zoo, the park, fires in the yard, lots of fun. The kids were burned out by yesterday, and had a pretty crabby morning - but by evening they'd levelled out, and then went to bed early of their own volition.
My siblings have been on a childhood-memories kick lately. The gifts they got us this year are awesome. Fairy Tale Theatre on DVD! There were even a couple we managed to miss as kids. Strange, many of them, but the kids love it, and I'm getting a real kick out of it. LittleBrother got us something very like this, which elicited happy childhood memories (including one of my dad making a mad dash across the living room, blowing wildly, after it had crashed to the carpet).
Meanwhile, the tide of school work has come up on me, beginning with an artificially short four-day first week.
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
A Start-Of-Quarter Vent
Yesterday was suppposed to be the start of the quarter at Seattle Midwifery School. This afternoon I got access to partial syllabi for most of my classes. My financial aid is still up in the air.
Why is this so hard? This is the process, quarter after quarter, year after year. This school wants to be a model of professionalism in midwifery - but this is the kind of shit that happens time after time after time. It isn't even different shit each time..it is the same shit. Late syllabi, late course openings, students/school not knowing or understanding their financial aid paperwork and packages.
This reminds me of those people that are chronically late. That can't leave the house on time ever, because they always seem to not give themselves enough prep time or traffic time or fuck-up wiggle room. The solution to those of us who are generally on-time kinds of people seems really simple - start getting ready earlier. The same advice would apply, or one would think, at Seattle Midwifery School. Chronically late with the syllabi? Why continue to delude yourselves into thinking you can get it done better and faster this quarter? Start the crunch earlier. Move up those deadlines. However you do it, I count on you to have the materials where I can read and use them in a timely manner so that my life can move on. I have three kids to homeschool and a busy midwife preceptor to keep up with. I don't have time or energy to waste on this shit. Again.
Why is this so hard? This is the process, quarter after quarter, year after year. This school wants to be a model of professionalism in midwifery - but this is the kind of shit that happens time after time after time. It isn't even different shit each time..it is the same shit. Late syllabi, late course openings, students/school not knowing or understanding their financial aid paperwork and packages.
This reminds me of those people that are chronically late. That can't leave the house on time ever, because they always seem to not give themselves enough prep time or traffic time or fuck-up wiggle room. The solution to those of us who are generally on-time kinds of people seems really simple - start getting ready earlier. The same advice would apply, or one would think, at Seattle Midwifery School. Chronically late with the syllabi? Why continue to delude yourselves into thinking you can get it done better and faster this quarter? Start the crunch earlier. Move up those deadlines. However you do it, I count on you to have the materials where I can read and use them in a timely manner so that my life can move on. I have three kids to homeschool and a busy midwife preceptor to keep up with. I don't have time or energy to waste on this shit. Again.
School Rant Addendum
We are losing a classmate this quarter. Losing someone always makes me sad, but she has held on so well for so long with so many other things going on in her life. I am sad for her and sad for myself and my classmates, who will miss her presence both online and at onsites. And I am mad. I am mad because this school has let her down. Because they have jerked her around. They have charged her for practicum credits that haven't been completed, and then - THE FUCKING GALL - not followed up appropriately for her to get those credits despite all the effort she had to go through to get someone not really friendly to midwifery to complete their end of the work. I am so upset about this I can hardly see straight. How can a school that wants to be inclusive and about making good, qualified people into good, qualified midwives turn around and do this shit? This is someone who CAN and SHOULD be an excellent midwife, the sort of person that is an asset to the school and the profession, and she has been thoroughly run over and left in the fucking ditch. HOW. DARE. THEY.
Seattle Midwifery School - all about helping people, when it's convenient and easy and doesn't mess with our day too much...and doesn't mean we have to part with any possible cash...?
No, it is not SMS's fault that she can't get federal grant/loan money as easily as some other students. But there has been a ton that SMS could have done to help her stay enrolled, and they not only didn't do it, but the callousness has been astounding. I'm not talking about forgiving tuition; I'm talking about keeping their end of the bargain. They didn't just fail the one student that dropped out this quarter; in a sense they failed us all.
Seattle Midwifery School - all about helping people, when it's convenient and easy and doesn't mess with our day too much...and doesn't mean we have to part with any possible cash...?
No, it is not SMS's fault that she can't get federal grant/loan money as easily as some other students. But there has been a ton that SMS could have done to help her stay enrolled, and they not only didn't do it, but the callousness has been astounding. I'm not talking about forgiving tuition; I'm talking about keeping their end of the bargain. They didn't just fail the one student that dropped out this quarter; in a sense they failed us all.
Saturday, January 05, 2008
Ring in the New Year...
With BABIES!!! A nice run of them starting on the evening of the first - a VBAC and two first-timers, all of which were very interesting for reasons beyond birth being cool in itself. Somewhere in there, we managed to cram 6.5 hours of clinic, and my preceptor was actually running back and forth between two rooms yesterday as two women had babies nearly simultaneously (luckily? one of them didn't want a student there) - which left me doing a whole heck of a lot in one of those rooms.
Between my last post and all of these babies, we also suffered a nasty stomach "thing" that had me queasy for a week and barfing/miserable for 24 hours, but that everyone else seemed to barf rather quickly out of their systems. We went to Marie's for the New Year and had a great time, too! So it has been a nice busy week. And, back to the dishes that built up during that time....
Between my last post and all of these babies, we also suffered a nasty stomach "thing" that had me queasy for a week and barfing/miserable for 24 hours, but that everyone else seemed to barf rather quickly out of their systems. We went to Marie's for the New Year and had a great time, too! So it has been a nice busy week. And, back to the dishes that built up during that time....
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Christmas Pictures
We had a great Christmas this year!
The stockings were great fun:
The kids LOVED their presents:
BOYNESS - can't you just, you know, make a NORMAL face?
Then we went to Nana's house, where the adults tried their best to stay awake, and the kids had yet more fun. The girls especially appreciated the dresses their Nana sewed for them (she even sewed a tag into them that said "made by NANA" - it was very cute).
The kids got to eat the gingerbread house they had made the week before (surprisingly not nasty - MIL had kept it under plastic wrap and it was pretty fake to begin with):
And yeah, he may be a goofball, but Boyness sure did have a great holiday:
The stockings were great fun:
The kids LOVED their presents:
BOYNESS - can't you just, you know, make a NORMAL face?
Then we went to Nana's house, where the adults tried their best to stay awake, and the kids had yet more fun. The girls especially appreciated the dresses their Nana sewed for them (she even sewed a tag into them that said "made by NANA" - it was very cute).
The kids got to eat the gingerbread house they had made the week before (surprisingly not nasty - MIL had kept it under plastic wrap and it was pretty fake to begin with):
And yeah, he may be a goofball, but Boyness sure did have a great holiday:
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Lengthening Days
Solstice around here is a special event. Aside from the fact that it marks the midway point in the hell of non-light that is winter in the Pacific Northwest, solstice also marks the birthday of my youngest child, who is now three years old.
"Happy Birthday [toddlerness]!" I shouted yesterday morning, when she arose late and happy and wandered into the living room. "Mommy, I three! I can go in a kid zone now!! Can we go to IKEA?"
MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
Anyway, we celebrated all things celebratable in one fell swoop at ~L~s house last night: a solstice party where we exchanged Christmas presents and sang happy birthday to Toddlerness (twice - once for her presents and once for her cake).
There was an ungodly volume of child, and a tad too much rum. But everyone had a great time.
"Happy Birthday [toddlerness]!" I shouted yesterday morning, when she arose late and happy and wandered into the living room. "Mommy, I three! I can go in a kid zone now!! Can we go to IKEA?"
MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
Anyway, we celebrated all things celebratable in one fell swoop at ~L~s house last night: a solstice party where we exchanged Christmas presents and sang happy birthday to Toddlerness (twice - once for her presents and once for her cake).
There was an ungodly volume of child, and a tad too much rum. But everyone had a great time.
Friday, December 21, 2007
Winter Activities
The things that brighten winter...
Putting finishing touches on the tree:
A trip to the pass: 
Who said baking couldn't be MANLY: 
Yes, Fran takes the kids to the snow a lot: 
(that is supposed to be video of the kids playing in the snow, we'll see if it eventually loads right...)
Putting finishing touches on the tree:
A trip to the pass: 
Who said baking couldn't be MANLY: 
Yes, Fran takes the kids to the snow a lot: 
(that is supposed to be video of the kids playing in the snow, we'll see if it eventually loads right...)
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Post-Shower
And I still feel shitty, but have regained enough sanity to think that I'm being a bit of a shit myself.
So we had a great time this weekend, really. An impromptu get-together at ~L~s, Girliness had a two night sleepover, Boyness had some daddy time all to himself, and I got to sign Toddlerness in at IKEA for the first time and have an hour and a half of NO CHILDREN and no other pressing anythings. DAMN did that hour and a half fly by quickly.
Toddlerness is really getting into this whole Christmas thing. Demanded green fingernails, wearing sparkly red headbands and green shirts...she's way into it. She's also not even three yet. I shudder to think of the preteen/teenaged years. For now, it is hillarious and fun. Although I'm not sure anyone believes that she dresses herself that way. Oh well. She's happy.
Girliness has taken an interest in a workbook called "sentences to paragraphs" and is progressing nicely along that. Boyness, on the other hand, can think of little other than Super Smash Brothers *sigh*. At least HE is happy. He can kick my butt at that game, too.
So we had a great time this weekend, really. An impromptu get-together at ~L~s, Girliness had a two night sleepover, Boyness had some daddy time all to himself, and I got to sign Toddlerness in at IKEA for the first time and have an hour and a half of NO CHILDREN and no other pressing anythings. DAMN did that hour and a half fly by quickly.
Toddlerness is really getting into this whole Christmas thing. Demanded green fingernails, wearing sparkly red headbands and green shirts...she's way into it. She's also not even three yet. I shudder to think of the preteen/teenaged years. For now, it is hillarious and fun. Although I'm not sure anyone believes that she dresses herself that way. Oh well. She's happy.
Girliness has taken an interest in a workbook called "sentences to paragraphs" and is progressing nicely along that. Boyness, on the other hand, can think of little other than Super Smash Brothers *sigh*. At least HE is happy. He can kick my butt at that game, too.
I want to curl up in a corner and cry...
We didn't thank FIL for his gift fast enough (for like the third or fourth time - we're habitual offenders), and he's offended.
I didn't send off my package for my family yet...and they're in Hawaii. Not going to be on time. Again. CRAP.
In over 9 hours of clinic today, I saw 1 miscarriage, 2 blood pressure readings high enough to set my own heart galloping, 1 vbac consult that...I mean, her chances of not having a csection this time around are dishearteningly slim, 1 woman with twins who has had to transfer out of a more laidback homebirth practice into a hospital birth, 1 woman with life circumstances that just SUCK, 1 woman who is sitting at 41w with nary a sign of labor, and only ONE WOMAN who is having a happy, healthy, totally normal time of it.
I did, though, get to talk to a the lovely 9yo daughter of one of the high-bp-reading moms, and explain the function of all the parts of the NST equipment, and what it was measuring, and how we could tell baby was happy and when mom was having a contraction. It was some silver lining in the midst of a day full of telling people things they didn't want to hear.
My preceptor was saying she'd like to trade places with her dog. I want to cry, but it wouldn't fix anything because the distress these women feel isn't even mine, and the FIL issue and the my-family box aren't going to be fixed by a few tears. Instead I think I'm going to finish this blog entry, take a shower, and go read a very non-midwifery book. And head to the post office first thing in the morning.
I didn't send off my package for my family yet...and they're in Hawaii. Not going to be on time. Again. CRAP.
In over 9 hours of clinic today, I saw 1 miscarriage, 2 blood pressure readings high enough to set my own heart galloping, 1 vbac consult that...I mean, her chances of not having a csection this time around are dishearteningly slim, 1 woman with twins who has had to transfer out of a more laidback homebirth practice into a hospital birth, 1 woman with life circumstances that just SUCK, 1 woman who is sitting at 41w with nary a sign of labor, and only ONE WOMAN who is having a happy, healthy, totally normal time of it.
I did, though, get to talk to a the lovely 9yo daughter of one of the high-bp-reading moms, and explain the function of all the parts of the NST equipment, and what it was measuring, and how we could tell baby was happy and when mom was having a contraction. It was some silver lining in the midst of a day full of telling people things they didn't want to hear.
My preceptor was saying she'd like to trade places with her dog. I want to cry, but it wouldn't fix anything because the distress these women feel isn't even mine, and the FIL issue and the my-family box aren't going to be fixed by a few tears. Instead I think I'm going to finish this blog entry, take a shower, and go read a very non-midwifery book. And head to the post office first thing in the morning.
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Visits and Pictures!
A day at the pass with Daddy while I finished up the last of the schoolwork for the quarter and vacuumed up the tree droppings:
And a quick yo-yo teaching session with Papa in the evening, after he arrived on the late flight!
We went to the zoo the next day:
Did I mention Toddlerness took right to her Papa?
And reliving some baby times...riding in daddy's jacket:
The kids were sad, as usual, to see their Papa leave. I'm missing living close to my parents.
And a quick yo-yo teaching session with Papa in the evening, after he arrived on the late flight!
We went to the zoo the next day:
Did I mention Toddlerness took right to her Papa?
And reliving some baby times...riding in daddy's jacket:
The kids were sad, as usual, to see their Papa leave. I'm missing living close to my parents.
AHA!
If I ate like my preceptor - or even like how I eat on clinic days - all the time, I'd lose weight for sure.
Yesterday in the half hour that she was busy with a counseling session for someone that didn't want a student in the room, I wrote SOAP notes and reviewed charts and scarfed down the egg, two carrots, and orange I brought with me. So all yesterday I had that, coffee, and a bowl of spaghetti when I got to Neighbor's house to trade off (she watched my kids, I came back and watched hers).
Yeah, I'd lose weight for sure.
Which would be a good thing at this point.
While I love *who* I am, I am continually stunned...to see pictures of myself, to look down and see chubby hands, things like that. And I fluctuate all over the place, from pants almost falling down at the moment to barely fitting just before a period. Which drives me NUTS and has to be a function of the lovely padding I've got on my midsection right now. What is funny is that there is a very accurate scale at the YMCA, and I've found that even when I'm stretching/falling out of my pants, the scale tells me I'm only about a pound off. Am I destined to be this weight? Well, that would stink, eh?
Yesterday in the half hour that she was busy with a counseling session for someone that didn't want a student in the room, I wrote SOAP notes and reviewed charts and scarfed down the egg, two carrots, and orange I brought with me. So all yesterday I had that, coffee, and a bowl of spaghetti when I got to Neighbor's house to trade off (she watched my kids, I came back and watched hers).
Yeah, I'd lose weight for sure.
Which would be a good thing at this point.
While I love *who* I am, I am continually stunned...to see pictures of myself, to look down and see chubby hands, things like that. And I fluctuate all over the place, from pants almost falling down at the moment to barely fitting just before a period. Which drives me NUTS and has to be a function of the lovely padding I've got on my midsection right now. What is funny is that there is a very accurate scale at the YMCA, and I've found that even when I'm stretching/falling out of my pants, the scale tells me I'm only about a pound off. Am I destined to be this weight? Well, that would stink, eh?
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