I haven't been posting as much because I've been working ... a LOT. It seems that many of the women in our area are pregnant and/or delivering babies right now. Quite a few of those people are my co-workers. With the various nurses on maternity leave or having to take some time off to STAY pregnant (quite common among nurses, unfortunately, is the problem of pre-term contractions -- umm... y'think hospital nursing might be a little too hard on pregnant women?), there are quite a few shifts with poor staffing. So I've been doing some extra work to help out (it's a good thing I love my job!). Last week I was at the hospital for some 50+ hours -- and will be doing the same next week. While this is exhausting -- it sure looks good on the paycheck! I do need to be careful, though -- I had one really long shift (almost 20 hours) that just about did me in! One of the doctors came in after having been with us during the night before to deliver one of our patients -- and just about flipped out when she saw me. "Beth -- are you STILL here or did you actually go home and sleep some?!?" Then, in response to "still here": "Umm....WHAT?!?"
Thankfully I work in a birth center -- and have access to the lactation office where I keep going as needed (I love my Medela pump-in-style -- but the Symphony pump is AWESOME! It's so nice not having to pay to use it!). It is also nice to have constant access to Donna -- our fantastic lactation consultant! She let me in her office early yesterday morning to let me pump, and was giving me good pointers on how to keep up my supply while working.
Now I'm off until the beginning of next week -- I wanted to take a few days to celebrate Bryan's birthday and Valentine's Day. Of course -- Tom forgot all about Valentine's and is scheduled to work until late tonight. Oh well ... poor guy! He tried to get out of having to work -- only to discover that his co-workers who DIDN'T forget the special day had already asked to be off. So he's stuck. He surprised me with some beautiful peach roses yesterday -- so I'll enjoy those and think of him until he gets home!
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4 comments:
I REALLY, REALLY want to be a nurse, midwife, doula or something along those lines, and we are hoping to figure out how to make it happen. I have one question for you though - you work alot, is it hard being away from your kids that much?
Wow! I guess I will second Rachel's question... It must be difficult to be away from your kids so much, although I do know that it is nice to take little breaks here and there... I am assuming that you are really looking forward to the time when your hubby is out of school!!! :)
Yes and no -- being away from the kids can be hard. But when I work nights, I know they're sleeping anyway. When I work day shifts (the extra), I try to not ever work 12 hours straight. So the days I work seem more like breaks from my kids -- which is welcome these days! :-)
Tom and I have decided that when he finishes his doctorate, I'll go PRN -- so I can continue to get my "paid breaks" from the kids. That way, I will work a LOT less -- and make my own schedule. So I will essentially be a stay-at-home-mom while keeping my foot in the door of the nursing field.
Rachel, nursing is a possibility. It's not easy, but can be done. I obtained a BSN through an accelerated option program. I used the basics from my first bachelor's degree and added the rest through getting my core science classes in before starting the main program (which includes all clinical experiences). It took me a total of 24 months to do it. :-)
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