It's a Girl!!

SHE is here! After 18 long hours of labor she was born. Born tonight 1/29/08 at 8:10pm.
SHE weighs 6 lbs 15 oz and is 19 inches long.
Healthy and cute! No name yet.
Jon and Kim are tired but oh so in love...
More pictures and details to follow :)

Indoor Track Nationals

Erika ran the 800m portion of her teams distance medley relay...and they qualified for Nationals already! I haven't seen the official results yet but she informed me she is Tennessee bound. That girl sure gets around! You can follow her track happenings at http://www.biola.edu/ and click on athletics and track/field.

You go girl!

Baby in Her Belly

I just had to show off of few of Kim's belly pictures. We had a professional shoot done this past Sunday and I think Kim looks so cute - as does Jon :)
We are still waiting for the baby to make its appearance. It will be any day now! And I may be biased but I think their baby is going to be the prettiest one on the block!
Special thanks to Shannon Lott for spending the afternoon with us! She captured the best images and you can see how much Jon and Kim love each other in them. You can see some of her amazing shots on her blogsite... http://shannonlottphotography.blogspot.com/

This picture I stole from Shannon's site
I was trying to stay out of the way but captured a few shots of my own from a different angle.Can you believe that she is term? Due today!
The amazing Shannon in action!We made Kim climb up on this post - it was pretty funny and she was a tropper about it.I think Jon is in love with the baby already.We then asked some stranger to borrow her horse for a few pitcures.
Can't wait to meet you little baby!!!

Some Kind of Crazy Baby Boom

We have been so busy at work lately! Seems like all of Orange County is pregnant! I have worked four of the past five days and have barely gotten any breaks - have not gotten out on time and basically have just run around like a mad woman - all the while trying to smile and make sure my patients are having a good experience.
A snippet of today...You know it is going to be a bad day when:

• you walk on to the unit and look at the board and you are starting with 15 patients on the board, 4 scheduled C/S's to be done and induction patients waiting in the waiting room plus more scheduled to come in
• there are no empty LDR's so the induction patients complain about their room (hey -they are lucky to even get put to bed!)
• You are assigned to a patient and while you haven't even finished your morning "huddle" the call light goes off and you hear, "I need help in here!!"
• You go to your room - only to be met with a patient on the bathroom floor and a nurse trying to review her - great start to the day!
• You get the patient awake...and with help get her on a guerney only to find out that her head is at the foot part and her feet are at the head part - UGH! Now you can't evelvate her head. Oh well - just cope, get her stabilized and moved to the postpartum unit
• You transfer the patient to find there is no IV pole - oh well - cope again and hang it on a hook in the closet.
• Come back to your own unit and there still are no beds but you need to find somewhere to put the next patient.
• You assume a patient and get her an epidural - she goes to complete and the doctor says, "I have more patients to see in the office. Can she wait?"
• Finish that delivery and finally get lunch at 3pm

Then it finally started to slow down as we got all of the patients delivered. I think we did 14 deliveries again today. We left the night shift with only 5 patients on the board and what do we hear from the night shift..." oh what a nice board - did you guys have a good day? :) ! NO! We were crazy busy again. My only hope - they don't call me tomorrow on my day off!!!!

She's in

sigh of relief...Michelle has been accepted to 2 colleges so far. She's in at Cal State Fullerton and Cal State Monterey Bay! Yeah! Still waiting to hear on a couple of others then she needs to make the decision for where she wants to go and keep searching for scholarship money :)
I'm just proud of her for getting in! She is so eclectic on what she wants to major in that she will be in school for ever trying to get all of the degrees that she wants!
She is gone for the next few days too - at some Film Academy weekend (5th Annual Student Television Network Convention) www.studenttelevision.com/convention/convention.html at the Disneyland Hotel. Only 2 kids from her high school were selected to go. Hopefully her films will do good.

And on the baby front - Jon and Kim had a Dr's appt. - she is 1cm dilated....Jon's comment was: "that baby just loves it's mom so much that it won't come out!" So we wait...

Pondering Thoughts

I went to a funeral this week with my parents...Lori, Janet and I grew up as young girls - spending most Sunday afternoons at each other's homes. There we got to see what family life was like in different places, and I must say I think we all had pretty normal, happy families. All of our parents are still married and we all came from Christian homes. Lucky for us kids I think...well, Lori is the first of us to loose one of our parents. I took the day off of work so that I could go to the funeral. It was sad, yet good to see so many people that I haven't seen in a long time. Lori's mom, Ginny, really loved the Lord and the legacy that she leaves behind in her family is amazing - all 3 kids have grown up and still go to church and serve.

Being reminded of how fragile life is does make one stop and think... I had conversation with my parents as we drove to the funeral about what they wanted for their services and where they wanted to be buried (here in So. Cal or Ohio). I didn't get a whole lot of real answers from them...but my dad did comment on how Ginny's services were so nice - not without hope, not with lots of crying or wailing, not with just an empty death...but of a celebration of a life well lived and of the promise that Ginny is in Heaven - called by her name by Jesus to go there. Where people were reminded that this isn't the end, but just another step to eternity. I think that is what my dad wants - to reassure those that come to celebrate his life that it isn't as sad and horrible as people think - but a passing to a better place.

I also stopped to think - what do I want....of course I want that type of promising service...and I would like - flowers (don't know why, I just think they are lovely), and I think I need to be in more family photos in case a slide show is made (I tend to be the photographer not the photographed), and I want lots of people there (again I don't know why since I won't really be there). I guess as I stop I think...I want to know that I've made a difference in this life, that I've touched people, that people won't forget me, that people will say I was 'good and right', that patients will come, that there will be lots of baby pictures in my slide show, that people will be happy as they think of me.

It is sad to think that we spend so much time rushing around doing useless things and working so hard for things that we can't take with us. I saw people at Ginny's funeral that I had not seen in years and it does make one stop and ponder...."what is really important in this life?" I want people to be important to me and to try and live a life that will make Jesus say "well done my good and faithful servant".....

May you rest in peace Ginny and I will see you again someday!

quite a few newborns

17 Deliveries...all in one shift!

I didn't think I'd ever live to see the end of the day but that is how many babies we had yesterday. And amazingly not a bad thing happened, no nurse deliveries, it actually flowed quite smoothly and everyone got lunch! I sure got tired of hearing the phone ring..."I need Dr. so & so", "my patient is complete", " I can't take care of that other lady now can you watch her?", "My patient is going to the section room", "I need a table!". The best part of the day was seeing the night shift show up :)

So today my legs ache and so do my ankles - I think I may be getting too old for this job!

On another note...Jon and Kim called - they had another ultrasound done...they saw the face (baby is head down), the kidneys, the stomach, the placenta has a few white spots (aging) but her fluid level is 18 (very good - means the baby is healthy and the kidneys are working which means the placenta is working). But no - they still don't know the sex - we'll all find out the day the baby comes! Which is any day now... What a cute baby they are going to have!

miss my baby

I sure miss Erika when she is not around...I know that she isn't that far away but it is just different without her here at home - quieter, less energetic. When she is home the phone rings more (well her cell phone does any ways) and she bounces around the house, talks and shares what is going on in her life. Just brings a "different" feel to the place. I have to stop and remind myself that her being away at school is the best thing for her and it is really helping to shape her in to the woman that God wants her to be...but I still miss her. I get to see her Thursday for a little bit - she is flying to Colorado and I'm taking her to the airport so we get to visit during the car ride. She has lots of plans to visit all of her teammates home states so she is starting at Connie's home in Colorado. (Hope she stays warm!!) I'm not sure I like this stage of motherhood - I liked being in control and having the kids under my wings, taking them where they needed to go and just knowing more about what they were doing. Don't think I'll do 'empty nesting' very well. UGH! But I'll try to let loose and not be a meddling mom :)

Erika's dorm room

Erika at Christmas time

How do you do it?

Often times people will say to me, "you have the coolest job", "watching babies be born all day", "that would be the best place to work in the hospital!" - and often times it is. Like when you get to care for someone you know and stick to their birth plan. Like when you get to see birth at its finest - with no pitocin, no epidural, no IV - nothing - just plain ole' birth how God intended it be.
Or you see your neighbor and arrange for her to be in with her daughter during her C/Section and then get to see the child as it grows since the family lives right by you...
but the place also has its down side...
Say you need to deliver preterm twins - so you get the C/section organized and get everyone there who needs to be there. You know the babies will need some assistance for they are going to be born early. But hey - St Joseph is connected to a children's hospital by an underground tunnel so the babies get good care and the mom is close and can visit. Nothing to worry about - Right? That's what I thought - until the twins didn't come out so good and the next thing you know we are doing full on resuscitations on both babies. I happen to go in with Baby "A" - see that they are putting a tube down to help the baby breath when I hear "No heart beat - start compressions". Whoa - wait a minute...this isn't supposed to be happening. I have to stay and help, I start drawing up the medications that I think the doctor will ask for - sure enough he does and we continue...when someone from the other room (people working on baby "B") come in and say - "Dr. we need your help next door - the baby is coding". Oh God - what else can go wrong?!?!? How do I get more staff when there are already so many people here? So - I do the first thing that comes to mind and call for any neonatologist stat to L&D...people show up, the resuscitations continue. Both babies survive to get transferred then I looked around the rooms...boy, what a mess I have to clean up - papers, syringes, medications, tubes, bags, blankets, just stuff all over the floor. But that will get cleaned up in a minute - for now I have another patient to get on the section table...
Oh and don't forget to smile at the next patient who knows nothing about the drama you've just lived through.
Later someone commented to me how calm I was during the resuscitation - how I knew the medications and how to draw it up. Was I calm?? NO! My heart was beating so fast and I was so scared that I wouldn't be able to get what the doctors needed. So I thought about it afterwards. How can I do it?? I guess I just get in my zone - and never, never look at the babies face...just do what I have to do - for if I look at the baby and think about the fact that we are doing compressions on a little 3 pound baby then I may just sit there and cry. So don't look! Do your job, stay focused..then crash later.
We talked about it yesterday - after it was all said and done - to see what we could have done better, what we did well. General consensus - "We need a drink!" It is times like these where I wonder what am I doing?? and is this job worth it?? The amazing thing is, is that we always go back. But I sure am learning to take time out too - to say I need a day off to regroup and to value the health of my own kids and family. It really puts things in to perspective....

I'm pretty tired today. I spent most of yesterday going back and forth to the hospital. One of the girls from my church was having a baby and since I am friends with her parents I wanted to be there for her. I wasn't able to care for her since it was my day off but I went to just be supportive and hang out with the family. This is actually one of the fun parts of my job - to just "be" there and do the little things like take pictures and help arrange rooms,etc. So I visited in the waiting room with the soon to be grandparents,hand picked a good nurse to give patient care, then went back later in the evening for the delivery. I was able to take care of the baby and hopefully give the parents a good experience. So - welcome baby Matthew!

Then I had to be back this morning for a BFHI (Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative) meeting...we at St. Joseph are trying to go "baby friendly" (see http://www.babyfriendlyusa.org/) We have been working on this committee for over two years and have our letter of intent sent in and now we are working on education our staff. Our goal is to support breast feeding as the best way to care for infants. We have worked hard to make changes but it seems like we still have so far to go...below are the guidelines that we work off of.

The Ten Steps To Successful BreastfeedingThe BFHI promotes, protects, and supports breastfeeding through The Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding for Hospitals, as outlined by UNICEF/WHO. The steps for the United States are:
1 -
Maintain a written breastfeeding policy that is routinely communicated to all health care staff.
2 -
Train all health care staff in skills necessary to implement this policy.
3 -
Inform all pregnant women about the benefits and management of breastfeeding.
4 -
Help mothers initiate breastfeeding within one hour of birth.
5 -
Show mothers how to breastfeed and how to maintain lactation, even if they are separated from their infants.
6 -
Give infants no food or drink other than breastmilk, unless medically indicated.
7 -
Practice “rooming in”-- allow mothers and infants to remain together 24 hours a day.
8 -
Encourage unrestricted breastfeeding.
9 -
Give no pacifiers or artificial nipples to breastfeeding infants.
10 -
Foster the establishment of breastfeeding support groups and refer mothers to them on discharge from the hospital or clinic.

Aren't babies just the cutest things??

Things that are important to me

Family:

Friends:

Babies:

Work and helping to get new families off to a good start:

So this is my first attempt at posting pictures...not too hard but I'll have to keep practicing it :)

Time to Blog

I've been wanting to set up a blog site for some...since I am a frequent blog reader...but I'm not sure I have much to share or I think "who would want to read about my life". Yet - since I enjoy other sites I decided that I am going to give this a shot. To share a glimpse of my personal life and my life as a nurse. We will see how it goes :)