Our Memorial Day Weekend

Shaun and I had a wonderful weekend with family and friends. We worked as usual on Friday and Saturday, but Sunday and Monday we were able to take a break from school work and spend some time with family and friends. On Sunday after chruch we spent the afternoon having lunch and hanging out with the Palmer Family. Our little nephew is getting so big! 

The rest of the afternoon and evening we went to a BBQ with some of Shaun's classmates. It is always fun to put names to faces of people that Shaun talks about. He has a really fun group of classmates.

Monday evening we planned a surprise (50th) birthday party for my Dad. I was put in charge of the cake...so I made a german chocolate cake. I had a little trouble with the icing, but after a few hours, it turned out great! Lets just say, baking is not my strength. I am slowly working on it. Here is a picture of my wonderful creation:

It was pretty delish if I do say so myself

We had a lot of fun hanging out with the family, celebrating Dad's birthday. My Mom made a delicious BBQ with ribs and cornbread. Over all, we really enjoyed our weekend off from classes and school work, but as always we are back to the grind of studying and attending classes. 

OB clinical

Yesterday I saw my 2nd c-section (4th delivery)! woo-hoo! It was great. I also got the chance to try to start my second IV....and guess what...I started it on my first try! I am officailly 2-2 in starting IVs. My professor told me that I am the only student that she has ever had that has been 2-2. (she has had 7 semesters of students)!!!!  I'm a pro ;)

My Brother is growing up

Tonight, Shaun and I went to my brothers 8th grade graduation from Paradise Valley Christian School. Not too long ago, I was in the same ceremony...okay so it was 8 years ago, but it kind of felt like yesterday. It was fun to go back and see some of the same proffessors there that I had growing up. It was such a wonderful school and it is pretty neat that all of my brothers and sisters will graduate from there. Michael has really grown up this past year and I cant believe that he will be starting high school in August! It is fun to watch all four of them grow up.

My favorite day in L&D

Yesterday, I arrived on the labor and delivery floor and it was insanely busy! We have been there for 5 weeks now and this was the busiest we had ever seen it. The staff were running around like mad women! I was so excited that it was going to be an eventful day!

 There was a patient that checked in right as I got there, her water had broken 2 hours earlier and was in a lot of pain (like all laboring mothers are!) I immediately wanted her because I knew that because she was just arriving she would need her IV started, and I have yet had the chance to try and start my first IV. Pregnant women are the easiest to start IVs on because their veins are very large. I gathered all of my supplies, grabbed my instructor and headed to the room. I was  super nervous and my hands were shaking (not a good thing because my hands needed to be steady)!! She was a wonderful first victum for a IV start by a student....not only were her veins great, but becuase she was in so much pain she hardly cared that I was sticking a needle in her arm. She was perfect and so was I...I got it in on the first try! I then took some of her blood for testing and hooked her up to her fluids. 

The day was so busy that I was able to learn and do so much. The Nurse I was following was great! She explained to me everything and was so eager to teach me. I wish that every nurse that I followed was just like her! Yesterday was the first day that I felt like I was almost a nurse. I started the IV, inserted a Foley catheter, charted, hooked up a mom to a fetal monitor, and did anything that the nurse needed me to do. My favorite thing about yesterday was being able to answer questions that the patients had. The past four weeks at clinicals I have taken a back seat and watched everything from the side. Yesterday, I finally felt comfortable getting out of my shell and taking initiative. I have learned so much in class about birth that I think I finally felt confident enough to teach patients. The patients were asking me all sorts of questions yesterday and I had no problem answering them! I was shocked at how easy it came to me. Could I have really learned so much in the past 8 weeks of class that I was able to teach someone something that they didn't know!? I felt so knowledgeable, that it really made me feel like a real nurse. :-)

Right before the end of my time on the floor, my patient delivered her little boy! This was my second vaginal delivery thus far and it was just as amazing as the first! I loved watching the joy that overcame the couples face as they became parents! It was so cute! 

Overall the day was my favorite! I was able learn, teach patients, and accomplish a lot of other things. It made me think that Labor and Delivery could be the place for me! This was the first time in nursing school that I could actually see myself in a specialty. I am still keeping my eyes open to other areas, but I really enjoy labor and delivery! 

Finally, My First Real Birth

Shaun and I are both back to our regular schedule of school. I'll talk more about what else is going on and my thoughts on everything that happened, but for know I am going to tell you about my exciting day at clinicals! 

I am 5 weeks into my Labor and Delivery rotation at Mountain Vista. This week I finally got to see my first vaginal delivery! 

I arrived on the floor at 7am and was assigned to a mom who was 4 cm dilated and just about to receive her epidural. I walked into the room just in time to watch the epidural being placed. The mom looked like she was in a lot of pain! Fifteen minutes after she received the epidural, she was chatting up a storm with all of her nurses. It was funny to see the almost immediate change! She progressed rather quickly and delivered the baby at 9:45 am. It was amazing to get to be right there in all of the action through the whole birth! Without getting into much detail...it was a interesting to watch the experience that the mother had during the actual birthing process.  I am definitely in no hurry to experience that kind of trauma! haha. But what made it all worth it was to watch everything that happened after the birth. Once the baby was out, both the mom and dad were so happy to finally meet their baby girl!  It was a lot of fun to get to take care of the mom after the birth, help her breastfeed, give the baby its first bath, change the baby's first diaper, and everything else that we did ("we"- meaning my fellow student and I). 

I thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience and I am excited to do it again! 

The miracle of birth is so amazing! I love Labor and Delivery!