My Schedule

This is a picture of my Moleskine day planner and this weeks schedule. I love my little Moleskine. It's the thing that keeps me on track. This week was long and hard and I am pooped. Only one more day and I'll get to do it all over again. Yay for me!

The Miracle of Life!

Today I had my clinical on the Labor and Delivery floor of the hospital and got to see something I had never seen before....a birth! Well, actually I got to see three births! The first one was a cesarean and the other two happened the old fashioned way. At 7 am I met up with my first nurse of the day and she was prepping a patient for her c-section. We got all her paper work ready and then wheeled her off to the operating room. I saw the anesthesiologist give the epidural and she even pulled out the catheter a little so I could see the spinal fluid....it was crazy. I can understand why spinal taps hurt so much now. I mean this was a tiny woman about to have her baby and the needle was HUGE.

Things progressed pretty rapidly after that. The doctor and the nurses put up the sterile draping and then started cutting with the scalpel through all the layers...Yucky and kinda cool at the same time. Then all the amniotic fluid gushed out and it was kinda green (from the meconium) and definitely gross. But then the doctor reached in and pulled out the little alien head and suctioned out her nose and mouth and pulled the rest of her out and she cried and it happened! A little tiny person was born right in front of me! It was so...weird. The nurses grabbed her and put her under the warmer and started to wipe her down. I was standing off to the side with this guy from my class and I probably was annoying him because every time something happened I was yanking on his sleeve going "Did you see that!!!" and he was like, um, yeah I'm standing right here or something. I'm not exactly sure what he said because I was too busy freaking out, especially when the doctor took out the mom's uterus to stitch it up. Uh, hello, the doctor was sewing up the mom's uterus OUTSIDE her body! Doesn't anyone else think that is cool?!? The doctor didn't seem to think it was any big deal. He just kept on talking away about his kid's college picks or some random crap. I was thinking to myself how if I were having my child essentially cut out of my body, how I would not want to hear the stupid doctor talking about random crap. I would want the Beatles playing or the Hallelujah chorus or Diana Ross singing "Baby Love" or I'd even pick total silence over this doctor's annoying chatter (maybe Scientologists are on to something).

So, yeah, that's why it was so weird for me. I mean here was THE MIRACLE OF LIFE right in front of me and it was so not a big deal for everyone around. After they tagged the baby and the mom and the dad, they wheeled the baby off to the nursery and I hung around with the mom. My nurse and I eventually (when she was all sewn up) took the mom off to the recovery room and got her all cleaned up and ready for her to see the baby and try to feed her. Um, yeah, another weird experience--watching a complete stranger attempt to breast feed her hour old baby. HELLO UNCOMFORTABLE! Not that watching someone I knew would have been better, but whatever, I pretended to be okay. So, after that I did some more paper work with that nurse and she took me to go look at the placenta, which they saved especially for me to look at. ICK!!! Anyone ever see the Matrix? Yeah, that was my first thought. Anyways, that was the first half of my day.

I ran off to get some quick lunch before I got to see another wonderful event (sarcasm implied)....CIRCUMCISION. That's right! I got to see a day old baby boy get circumcised. Yeah, this is going to have to be a topic for a later post because I have a lot to say about that one.

Anyway, after the circumcision, I met up with my second nurse of the day who was with a first time mom in the delivery room. We were monitoring her and recording things every fifteen minutes. Once this particular mother got her epidural she was pretty hilarious. She had friends and family in and out and we were all just chilling. She was only progressing about a centimeter an hour, which I'm told is normal, especially for a first time mom. Because not much was happening with this mom, my nurse snuck me in to see a couple of her neighbors pop out their kids.

I walked in the next room just as this mom was putting her legs up. HELL-O. I'm sure the look on my face was just priceless. I am a face maker. I can't help it. I think it's in my genes or something (thanks Grandma Caroline). I couldn't NOT cringe. First of all, there were like TWENTY people in the room staring at this poor woman's special place...including her dad and FATHER IN LAW. NO THANK YOU!! Second of all....OUCH! I could feel my face twisting up. I was thinking to myself..."AHHHHH!!! NOOOOO!!!" I was totally crossing my legs even though I was standing up. This was not good. Everytime the mom pushed things started to stretch out a little and then she stopped pushing and things went back up a little. Man, this was painful...and I was just watching, literally with one eye open. Eventually the baby came out and the dad cut the umbilical cord and the nurse took the baby and wiped it down and it was cute. It even had some weird little toes which totally came from it's dad....(yeah, hi, I will never be wearing FLIP FLOPS in a delivery room--MAJOR GROSS).

I went back to hang out with my nurse and my patient was only dilated to a six and when I walked into the room a new friend was there and was like, "Oh good! The doctor's here!" Which made me laugh right out loud. Even though, I totally could have done what that guy just did in the other room....except for the whole staring into someone's crotch. Okay, nevermind I couldn't have done it. Whatever, it just goes to show you what wearing scrubs can do for you!

At this point, another lady was about to start pushing down the hall, so I went off to see my third birth of the day. And it made me think of an episode of FRIENDS. You know the one where Rachel is having Ross's baby and all the mom's that come in after her have their babies before her?!! You know the one I'm talking about, right???!! So, I left my patient again and snuck into another delivery room. This mom was a second time mom and in a matter of minutes the babies' head was out. And it was HUGE. Yes, I had the face AGAIN! I couldn't help it!! In fact, I can't not do it now, just writing this! The doctor had to do some wiggling because the shoulders wouldn't come out. OWW!! But then it did come out and the crowd in this room all cheered! Which was pretty cool, I'll admit. After my experiences today, I have decided that I will not be an OB or L&D nurse. Sure, everyone thinks being an OB nurse would be so much fun. Hanging out with the new moms, taking care of the little babies, being surrounded by all the excitement and happiness and love. But no one ever thinks about what a mom will push out along with the baby or the fact that you have to WATCH it all happen. Yeah, this is definately not for me. Oh and by the way, I love you all, but if I ever get the chance to have my own babies, NONE of you are invited to watch. Sorry.

Here is a picture related to my day....notice the face I'm making in this picture! HA!

I love the Discovery Channel!

Most of you already know that I love t.v., but I just wanted to let everyone know that I love the Discovery Channel. Ok, so Ben loves the discovery channel, and because I love Ben I have learned to love it too. It might have been hard at first, (I mean seriously, what girl can handle watching every single episode of Deadliest Catch!!!) but now it's not hard at all. I guess I just wasn't used to actually using my brain while watching t.v. Don't get me wrong, most of my t.v. watching pleasure is totally related to turning my brain off (see previous mention of daytime drama obsession below), but I have found, thanks to Ben and the Discovery channel, how great t.v. can be when you actually leave your brain on. It's been my own Discovery. HA, I'm hilarious. Anyways, if you ever get the chance check out some of the awesome shows on the Discovery Channel! One of my favorites is Cash Cab, and Ben likes, I'm sorry LOVES Mythbusters. The best of the Discovery Channel is when they do their special series. You may have heard of Planet Earth....if not, it is a must see. I loved it! Today (the reason for this post) they were showing a marathon of the special series "When We Left Earth: The Nasa Missions". I didn't watch all of it, like Ben did, but man the stuff I did see was very interesting. I actually feel bad for making fun of the "NASA show" now, because they have done some pretty amazing things! And also because I want to be an astronaut now. Anyways, check out the Discovery Channel some time. It's awesome!

June 20th

Yesterday was my birthday. Now I'm 28. Yay. I was dreading yesterday and even did a little countdown to say goodbye to 27 all week. It wasn't so bad I guess. I got to sleep in until 8:45 which was nice. At 10:00, I went to the dentist. Yea, I know, who goes to the dentist on their birthday!! I just got dental insurance for the first time ever and it was the first available appointment. It wasn't anything painful because it was just the first appointment and I'm happy to have a dentist! When I was filling out some paper work I accidentally dated a form 6/20/80. Oops! After that I ran some errands and tried to ignore the fact that it was 200 degrees outside. I went to the craft store and fabric store and got some supplies. When I have some more free time, I'm going to make some throw pillows and a jewelry box. Since I was close by, I stopped by Costco and picked up a chocolate cake and roses to try and trick myself in to liking my birthday. When I got home I did some cleaning and laundry and caught up on some General Hospital which made me feel very productive. I made dinner for me and Ben and it was pretty good! We had Caesar salad and I made this great recipe from Everyday Food. It was really simple and good! And then we had the chocolate cake from Costco that was super delicious. So all in all it was a pretty good birthday. The best part though, was my birthday present from Ben. After dinner he gave me these really great earrings from Etsy. They are long dragonfly wings cut out of stainless steel that move. They are so unique and beautiful. I love them and was totally surprised! I also got some cards, emails, and phone calls wishing me a Happy Birthday which made me feel very loved! So thank you everyone! I had a really good birthday, even if I'm 28.

Oh and also, Ben told me that June 20 is the happiest day of the year! Get this: A British Researcher using a series of calculations, added together all of the factors that improve our lives, like time spent out doors, increased socialization, recurrence of childhood memories, and anticipation of pending vacations, and decided that June 20th was going to be the happiest day of 2008. I thought this was pretty hilarious! Usually I hate my birthday, but it was a pretty good day, so maybe that guy's research was right!

A to Z getting to know me!

A-Attached or Single? I am attached to Ben....yes he's a lucky guy.
B-Best Friend? Probably Ben, he's always there when I need him!
C-Cake or pie? Chocolate Raspberry Torte and Strawberry Rhubarb Pie
D-Day of choice? Sunday, the only day that I don't have to do anything if I don't want to.
E-Essential Item? Besides my computer, I can't live without my little black moleskine day planner...um, I also can't leave the house without earrings on.
F-Favorite color? It depends, to wear: black, to decorate with: red, to paint my nails: dark red, to see out the window: green as in trees, and blue as in water.
G-Gummy bears or worms? neither, I'm trying to stay away from things made entirely of sugar.
H-Home town? I guess Vancouver, even though it feels less like home every time I go back.....I tend to tell strangers I'm from Seattle though.
I-Favorite indulgence? ABC daytime and cookies and milk.
J-January or July? January in London, July in Seattle, it's all about location.
K-Kids? are great but I don't have any of my own, but you all know that.
L-Life isn't complete without: VACATION TIME!
M-Marriage date? I don't currently have one scheduled.
N-Number of brothers and sisters? 2 of each, see the picture on the right.
O-Oranges or Apples? are fine, but I usually eat Bananas. Um, Apples to Apples is an excellent game!
P-Phobias? I get sweaty palms at high altitudes...I'm also freaked out by germs.
Q-Quote? I tend to not use quotes.....here's an okay one: "Get busy living, or get busy dying." -The Shawshank Redemption
R-Reasons to smile? I smile a lot...mostly at Ben because he's hilarious and hot.
S-Season of choice? I don't really have a favorite...they're all great for different reasons.
T-Talents: I've got many skills, yo! I have the best handwriting EVER. Seriously.
U-Unknown fact about me? I'm extremely organized and a perfectionist....I can't think of anything that you wouldn't know.
V-Vegetable? Broccoli and Spinach are good. I also enjoy asparagus, ooh and potatoes.
W-Worst habit? Procrastination is probably the worst one and contributes to all the others.
X-X-ray or Ultrasound? I've never had either.....ultrasounds are less invasive though.
Y-Your favorite food? I love me some pepperoni pizza with tomatoes on top...or chocolate.
Z-Zodiac sign: Gemini, but I'm on the cusp, I think I act like a Cancer too.

VANCOUVER, WA

I went home to Vancouver for Tandy's funeral. It was a sad sad experience. I went to a memorial service at church on Thursday and then on Friday to the grave site dedication. I saw and met all of her extended family and talked to her teenage boys. It was really hard because all I wanted to do was talk to her and see her. She was always such a presence in my life and I just can't believe she's gone.

Vancouver is completely weird now. It's not anything like it was when I lived there, and most of the people I cared about are gone. I drove around for a few hours on Sunday exploring. Here are some shots of old familiar places. I spoke to the current owner of the old Sharp house. He laughed when I told him there used to be a pink door.



I made my way to good old Pleasant Valley, where I was stopped by three different teachers and had to explain who I was and why I was walking around taking pictures. They were convinced I was casing the joint since two classrooms had been broken into just this weekend.



I then stopped off at Prairie where I ran in to my old friend Al Aldridge. There was a basketball tourney happening. He said, "of course I remember you! I always remember the good ones." It was nice of him to say even if it wasn't true.



My last stop was Tandy's house. I used to go by her house whenever I was in town and we'd sit out on her porch swing forever and talk. I'm going to miss her.

Tandy Jane

My friend Tandy died yesterday. She was an amazing person and I loved her very much. There is no way for me to fully express how much Tandy affected my life. I will miss her and love her always.This is something that she once gave to me after someone else that I loved died......

"Don't be afraid, oh my love,

I'll be watching you from above.
And I'd give all the world tonight to be with you
'Cause I'm on your side, and I still care.
I may have died, but I've gone nowhere
Just think of me, and I'll be there."