I owe, I owe, so off to work I go

Many people know I've been looking for a part time job to supplement my income as a Labor and Delivery nurse. Because of budget issues, the economy, and a brand new shiny hospital opening up 3 miles away from us and taking 40% of our patients, there is no such things as overtime anymore where I work. I've had my eye out for months looking for decent part time RN jobs, which is harder than you think. I got lucky with a home health agency based out of Killeen that has clients here in Waco. I've signed up to work two 8 hour shifts every other weekend. It's very part time, but the money's very good. I've never done home health before, and it's for a pediatric patient, so I'm not sure I'll like it. The good thing is, if I still don't like it in 6 months, I can quit. I still love my full time job (most days), but I only work 3 days a week. In this season of our lives where Erik is going to school and I'm the breadwinner and we have no children, it only makes sense that I work a little more. I am very thankful that I went through 3 years of pure hell-torture (nursing school) so that I could have a good job. I would encourage anyone who is thinking about being a nurse to just do it.

I'm Still Here.. and then some

Erik and I are still alive down here in sunny Waco. The past 2 weeks have been a blur. We came back from Hot Springs while Erik was on Spring Break and then I had a crazy work schedule. This is what I worked. We came back on a Tuesday, and then I worked Thursday-Friday-Saturday, had Sunday off, went to ACLS class Monday and Tuesday, worked on the floor Wednesday, volunteered to work an extra day Thursday, then worked on the floor Friday. Friday was pretty horrible, because I had a patient who came in to deliver her 22 week baby. Babies at that gestation don't live outside the uterus. Needless to say it was a tearful, solemn day.

Currently Erik is battling sinus issues and I haven't talked to any of my family or friends in over a week! However, I think we've decompressed some this weekend and next week will be better. At least I hope so!

Being a Labor and Delivery Nurse

For the last three months I have been training as a Labor and Delivery RN. Let me just say this is the hardest thing I've done next to learning how to be married. It's been a rough three months adjusting to a new schedule that begins at 4:55 am three days a week and doesn't end til 7:30 pm. I used to have nightmares every single night that I would do something wrong and I would constantly wake up. Thankfully during this training period I've had a great preceptor with 28 years experience who's taught me so much about this field. While the birth of a child is magical, it is by no means pretty, and I have learned to be comfortable in this setting. One thing I was deathly afraid of in the beginning was catching babies, which is nurse-slang for the nurse who takes the baby from the doctor after it is born and attends to it. In the past 2 weeks I have come to love this job and often request it during assignments (usually I'm rejected and given a laboring woman instead :-) One of the toughest parts of this job was learning to fit into a group a women who have been doing this much longer than me and aren't accustomed to newbies. I tried to do this by working my tail off and rising to challenges. Hopefully I can continue to earn their respect. My absolute favorite thing about this job is meeting couples who truly desire a baby and experiencing the joy of the birth of their child with them. Whether by c-section or natural labor it's an awesome experience every day. By the way, I love having 2 days off every week!
P.S. Erik started law school this week and it's going well!