Sometimes You Just Have to Laugh

It has been since before new years that I scrubbed in on a section; so, I went in this morning to scrub for 2 c-sections. I was worried about going over a month and forgetting everything I had learned.

It was a good thing for me to do... I remembered most everything, but was a little rusty in the beginning.

I had the same doctor for both. During the first section, after delivery of the baby, I un-capped the TB syringe and handed it to the Dr. to draw up cord blood. I then set the cap down in the placenta pan. He ever so gently and correctly instructs me to simply toss it off the field so there is no chance of it coming out of the pan and being lost in the patient....as the cap is not a part of our count. I say, "Oh, Ok. That's a good point." So, I hand him the second syringe and appropriately toss the cap off the field towards the garbage. The rest of the surgery moves along fine...

Next surgery: Remembering the teaching from the first section, after the delivery of the baby, I pulled off the cap of the cord blood syringe (or what I thought was the cap) and tossed it off the field. I hand the Dr. the syringe and look down at it. I had pulled off the entire needle with the cap and promptly tossed the needle off of the field!! He looked straight in my eyes and just laughed. I chuckled too... and just said, "I tossed the needle off of the field."

The circulating nurse quickly supplied us with a new syringe WITH needle attached.

But, seriously, a dozen different doctors would have handled that a dozen different ways. I was incredibly lucky that today this particular dr. just decided to laugh.

Counting my blessings today..... Afterall, it was funny.

Tag: You're IT

I was "tagged" on my facebook page.... And, I succumbed to the pressure and participated. The following is my post of:
"25 Random Things About Me."

1. I crack my knuckles, habitually.
2. I use the free return address labels that various charities send to me in the mail - without donating money to them.
3. I do not balance my checkbook.
4. I have practically no sense of humor; I hate comedies.
5. My favorite actor: Richard Gere; especially his role in "Sommersby" - an oldie but a goodie!
6. I cry EVERY time I watch the movie "Sommersby."
7. I met my husband "on-line."
8. Correct spelling and the appropriate placement of commas STRESS ME OUT!
9. Someday I will get my masters degree.
10. Nearly every wall in my house is painted brown. I love the color brown.
11. I only shave about 1/2 of the year. My vote is for hair vs. bare.
12. I don't like to sleep on the side of the bed nearest the door (because then I would be the first one the serial killer kills).
13. I wear slippers 365 days a year, continuously while in my house (and sometimes if I know I'm going to be at someone's house for an extended period of time, I'll take my slippers with me then, too).
14. I'm going to Disney in the Spring.
15. I once auditioned for a part in a local college production of "The Vagina Monologues." I didn't get cast.
16. I always wished that I could play the piano.
17. My favorite ice cream is Butter Pecan - Put a scoop atop a belgium waffle and you have heaven!
18. I am really good at doing vag exams.
19. I love to bake.
20. I hate to exercise.
21. I am technologically retarded - from cell phones to laptops, I am seriously dumb.
22. I was bit by a german shepherd as a child and am still deathly afraid of dogs (big & little).
23. Shows I record on my DVR: The Young & The Restless, House, and Top Chef.
24. I can't dance or sing.
25. I wish I were a vampire (ultimate twilight fan).

Ok, now it's your turn. I am tagging you!
If you succumb as well, let me know, I'ld love to read yours. :)

Adoration

"Our Baby" Berkeley is growing.... Sad but true... Bitter sweet... But these are two of my favorite recent pictures of baby Berks

This one is of her and her dad... Such a sweet, simple look of adoration.















And look at this one of Berkeley looking out at her two older sisters!!! How sweet... Personally, I think Caressa should just push her down!!! She shouldn't be able to look that grown up!!! Ahhh... No, seriously, this is one to frame for the later years.

New Starts

Today I'm starting my Spring Semester of courses. With only one semester after this one, I'm pretty excited to get started and get done.

And

Yesterday we found out we are starting down the "orthodontic's road of no return." Little Lance needs orthodontic work. His two incisors are impacted necessitating early orthodontic intervention in order to avoid surgery (the incisors are the teeth on either side of the 2 front teeth - his are not coming down). So, we'll start with the expander - which sounds absolutely BARBARIC to me... They put this metal contraption on his upper back teeth and each night Mark or I (READ: MARK) will have to crank it further apart to literally stretch his upper palate wider... Amazingly enough, though, his palate actually splits cells and new cells are made and new bone grows to fill in the stretched space.... Pretty gruesome... if you ask me... Gruesome but interesting - if it weren't my little 8 year old going through it!
Then we'll go to temporary braces, then a full set.

The whole process time wise will be a few years..... Price wise: you don't even want to know!! But, we're getting his teeth ready for the most important picture of his life: his wedding picture.. That's our inspiration... A long road but worth it in the end.

Interestingly, studies show that breastfed babies' palates are more perfectly formed because of the breastfeeding's natural physiological spreading of the palate by the breast tissue..... And, Lance was my longest breastfeeder at 1 and a half years.... I wonder if it would have been worse had he not breastfed?

Past Time

There are only a few hours before my 8 day off jaunt is over and I'm back to the Vampire Shift aka Night Shift... working at night, sleeping during the day......

So, what have I discovered as favorite past times during my mini-vacation?

I loved going snow-tubing at Tussey Mountain with my family and my sister's family... It was a blast....

I am beginning to crochet a baby blanket for my brother - who is expecting a baby!! I'm using this pattern... It's called "Tiramisu Blanket"... Very pretty cream color with a rich chocolate colored accent ribbon. I'm using the suggested alpaca yarn... I'm hoping it turns out at nice as the picture.

And, finally, I'm nearly addicted to the novels of the Twilight series - Thanks Caressa!! My sister took me to the movie, Twilight, over Christmas. I went grudgingly... with the comment something like, "Really, Caressa, a movie about a vampire??" But, believe me by the end of it, I was wishing I were a vampire.... almost... So, I am now almost finished with the first novel in the series and just bought volume II, New Moon, today so I won't have to wait a single minute to start on the second book when I close the cover on the first. I haven't smiled, laughed out loud and cried while reading a book in a long time.... But this series is a true pager turner. Lovin' it!

But, all good things must come to an end. I also bought my text books for my semester of classes ahead of me today, which start on Tuesday.

Back to the grind... Work, sleep, study. Onward and upward, hopefully.

Some Things to Check Out

Click here for a yummy recipe for Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread.

Click here to read a Great article online from the Los Angeles Times on Midwifery care in America. It sums up the state of birth in the US quite well, highlighting the disparity between the amount of money being spent on obstetrical care in the US and the sad results seen in our rank of 41st among industrialized countries.

Click here to read about President Bush's "Healthcare Conscience Rule." This is a sticky subject. One that I'm not totally set on my stance about. I do think direct care providers like physicians should have the ability to decide for themselves and their practice what services they will perform. However, where do you draw the line? What services and what providers does this cover? Only abortions? Only for religious reasons? The wording of this rule seems to allow for any procedure, any service worker, and because of any "moral" persuasion.

What would the repercussions be if a secretary refused to bill for a patient's IUD placement? What about when the person who cleans instruments refuses to clean circumcision trays and instruments? Do you see how this can snowball into one huge, subjective license to refuse services?

And, if a provider can refuse to perform services, can they also refuse to offer them and refuse to provide full informed consent to their patients... Can they refuse to tell the potential patient all of their choices - whether or not they would personally choose them - Can they refuse to tell them the risks, benefits and alternatives of all possible procedures applicable.

As a healthcare provider, myself, there are certainly parts of my job I would love to refuse to participate in. But, is that my choice? I am employed by the hospital I work at. I agreed to provide the services of a registered nurse on a maternity floor. So, that entails many things I would not personally choose for myself, but that others do choose for themselves (elective cesarean sections to name only one).

I am ok with that as long as there is full informed consent. Who am I to make decisions for others? Who am I to say that I know what is better for them? And who am I to practice selective nursing. If I agree with your choices, I will provide you care? No. That is not what I signed up for. I agreed to help those in need of medical services, no matter why - no matter if their "Good" or "Bad" choices put them in need of this medical care.

There just seems to be a whiff of judgementalism to this "healthcare conscience rule." A wiff that makes my stomach turn. I've lived through my share of legalism and judgementalism... People thinking they had superiority over me and authority to judge me because of what they would label as "wrong" or "bad" choices.

Unless you are walking in someone's shoes, you cannot know all of their reasons for their choices.... There is a lifetime of history behind each person's current situation. You must meet them where they are... accept them as they are... and help them no matter why they need your help.

Rant over. Off my soap box. "I'm just saying (As sis would say)."

Update on Scrubbing

My crash course in becoming a scrub nurse is over. And, like a few other things I've encountered, it wasn't nearly as bad as I had made it out to be in my head.

I dreaded learning this last role of the L&D nurse..... But, it turned out to actually be something I kinda enjoyed. I think it may be my perfectionistic nature.... But, I liked the exactness and precision that was called for. I kept the surgery field and my mayo stand (the tray the instruments lay on during surgery) meticulously in order... It felt good to arrange the instruments around the mayo stand in a precise order... then as an instrument was discarded by the physician, I lined it back up in its proper place.... I found it natural to keep right up with the suctioning and "blotting" as they call it....in order to keep a clean surgical site....

The thing the doctors desire the most out of their scurb nurses is for the nurse to "Anticipate." No, it's not enough to know your instruments and hand them to the Dr. quickly when asked for... You must learn to "Anticipate" what instrument the doctor wants so they don't have to burden themselves by asking for the instrument... They can simply put their hand out.... HA!!! (sorry, that made me laugh)... It's true, though

Anyway, by the last section I did, I actually "anticipated" correctly at one point. The doctor was doing a tubal at the end of the section... So, I watched carefully and purposefully remembered the order of the instruments he needed while doing the right fallopian tube, so when he got to the left fallopian tube he simply held out his hand (WHEW, I was glad that I had paid close attention on the right side!) and I correctly gave him the right instruments in the correct order throughout the rest of the tubal..... A Small Victory.... But it felt good.

It was not bad at all.... In the second week of training, I did 5 sections independently.... I feel ready to go with this part of it now, too. Although, all of the sections I scrubbed in on were scheduled... I would like to do one soon that is an emergency... Just for the experience of needing to do all of it in a rush.... Not that I wish anybody an emergency situation... I just want to be experienced and prepared for such a situation, you know.