10 days and counting!

38 weeks and 4 days today......Dr. appt pretty uneventful. Anna I guess hit a huge growth spurt since last week, I'm now measuring 37 cm compared to last weeks 34 1/2. Dr. Mellum was impressed. Anyway, some progress has been made, I'm 3 cm and 50% effaced. He stripped my membranes so hopefully......the labor process will begin! Just hoping not on leap year (:

"Now you can go into Labor"

"Now you can go into labor" are the words of my husband today after completing our childbirth 101 prep class. He's been so worried that labor would start without going to the class first and in his mind, nothing could happen until we went to the class. He was feeling so unprepared. Following the class, he's much more comfortable with the process and almost seems like a completely different man! His mind set has changed and now he says he's ready for Anna and the labor process. It's been fun to watch him take it all in.......so, just a waiting game. I'm still working and contracting a ton at work. The minute I get home of course, they stop and then I sleep.....pretty uneventful. We'll keep you all posted!

37 weeks 4 days....

Another uneventful Dr. appt yesterday. Still, he did not check me. So, I have no clue whether or not I've had any progress! We'll see next week for sure. My belly is now measuring 3 1/2 weeks small so I had another ultrasound to make sure Anna looked good. Much to Dr. Mellum's suprise, my AFI is the highest it's been throughout the whole pregnancy! It's finally 13, where he's wanted it all along. As far as Anna goes, she looks great, her head is really low, she's growing proportionally, and now weighs 6 lbs 9 oz. We know for sure she has at least 5 fingers on one hand (: Her little hand looks so big now compared to previous ultrasounds, a clear picture, it was amazing to see. Hopefully she doesn't get much bigger in the next 16 days! Also, my GBS test came back negative which is good, I won't have to worry about getting antibiotics before delivery. Everything else looks good, total weight gain so far is 18 lbs. Dr. Mellum said he'll see me back next week "if I'm still pregnant." It was fun to finally hear that, it makes the end sound like it is actually coming not just dragging on........I'll keep you all posted!

36 weeks, 4 days.....

The official countdown is on. I just got back from my Dr. appt and everything looks good. I'll have another ultrasound next week for measurements. Anna is slowing down on her growth and Dr. Mellum just wants to make sure she's still within the normal range. I'm measuring a little over 2 weeks smaller than I should be. Geez, at first they were thinking big baby because at 32 weeks she was already 4 lbs 9 oz and now she's on the small side! Crazy how things can change. The US today looked good, my fluid is still ok. I had the group B strep swab done, not a big deal at all, it was quick. So, next week some measurements and he'll check me for dilation and effacement. He offered to check me today but I told him that if I heard I was posterior and thick, I'd be a little disapointed, he laughed and said he usually doesn't start checking until 37-38 weeks anyway. So, we agreed we'll wait another week and see if I've dialated at least a little bit! I'll keep you all posted.......

Nisseria Meningitis and Triage Nursing

Of the top ten things I would never want to be sick or exposed to, nisseria meningitis is one of them! Well, to my luck, I was exposed to a patient along with several other co-workers who had nisseria meningitis. It all started out at triage......

For one, triage is not my favorite place to work. For the past couple weeks, they have been putting me on trauma and triage mainly because only some of us are trained to work these areas, I, being one of the nurses who are. Anyway, work has been an absolute nightmare lately! I don't know what it is but the last two weekends I've worked it has been so busy! Last Thursday night I was in triage. Basically triage it is where you go after you get registered in the computer in the ER. You get registered, then you see the triage nurse. Based on the chief complaint and how sick the patient looks and depending on the "story" and their vital signs, I then decide how sick they really are and what number acuity they should be assigned a 1-5. I have to decide who are the sickest, who should be seen first, in what order they should be seen and who deserves to sit out in the lobby on the night we had 8 hour wait times. For starters, this is not a fun job because it comes with a ton of responsibility mainly because if you have 32 patients in the lobby, I as the triage nurse am responsible for all of them. Second, people get mad when they have to wait, and do they understand the triage process? NO! My theory, if you are sick enough to go outside and smoke all night and then come yell at me because you haven't been seen yet, you should just go home because if you feel well enough to do that, then you can see your own doctor in the morning. Makes sense to me! On the other hand, there are genuinely sick people that can crump at any second and you have to be watching those who have that potential, keep everyone else calm, and triage new arrivals all at the same time. Not an easy feat. Anyway, to make matters worse we were so busy, had no rooms, had ambulances coming in right and left......so, knowing I had some "stupid" complaints in the lobby, like feverish babies and kids with runny noses (not ER appropriate if you ask me. Children's tylenol is 4-6$ at the store) I told the ER docs that I could room some of them in 3 triage rooms I had and take them on as patients so they could be "treated and streeted." The docs were more than willing to do this as the whole staff was working really hard to get patients seen and in and out as fast as they could because so many were waiting! So, I was doing triage, and taking on a patient load. FUN! Anyway, this was working great. The docs were seeing patients, of course they took one look at the kids, said they "have a cold" and sent them on their way. This really helped clear out some of the waiting room.

Well, I had this one baby who actually looked great, no fever, no complaints, but the hospital had called to tell them that they had to come back to have the baby seen again because of positive blood cultures. This pt was there 2 days prior and had blood cultures drawn and sent home with the diagnosis of an ear infection. I triaged this baby and then they sat in the waiting room for 5 hours. I called one of the docs to see if I could put this pt. in one of my triage rooms to get them seen sooner because I knew they would have to be admitted to the hospital because of the blood cultures. Doc said yes, great. So, I had this pt. for 6 hours until they were admitted and went upstairs to Pediatrics. Mind you, I changed diapers, weighed the baby, got vitals at least 4 times, held the baby etc.....The next day I get to work and they say "do not pass go, do not collect 200 dollars, before you do anything, you need to go to the pharmacy and get your dose of cipro." I was a little confused as I had not gotten the full memo yet. The charge nurse then told me that the baby I had the night before ended up having nisseria meningitis and I needed to go get a dose of antibiotics to prevent me from getting it. So, I went to the pharmacy to get my dose of cipro. I get there and the pharmacist took one look at me and said I needed to call whoever was on for OB and ask what they recommended because I can't take cipro because of pregnancy. It just so happens that Dr. Mellum was on call so I called him and he said a series of rocephin shots would do the trick. So, I got a shot of rocephin in my butt and let me tell you, it still hurts! No fun. But, at least I hopefully don't get nisseria meningitis (bacterial meningitis is extremely dangerous and rarely has a good outcome). It's been 4 days now since then and I feel great so I should be in the clear. Just a scary thought! You never know what will come in through triage.....another reason, I don't like it! You get exposed to everything under the sun.

In all, Anna should be safe as long as I stay healthy. So they say, I just can't help but worry though. I'm so ready for a break from work! It's been so busy and crazy and with how big I'm getting, it's not getting any easier. Especially after a night like Thursday night in triage and then a night with 12 traumas. One right after another. It's been nuts! 25 days to the countdown and I just get more and more excited!

A crib for Anna.....

I am so proud of myself today! I finally finished all of Anna's crib bedding....it look amazing! I finished the bumper about a week ago following the original pattern, big mistake! It told me to use high loft batting, the bumper looked great, then I put it in the crib and droopy city it was! It had no form, no structure, it just fell into the crib. It made me so sad! I worked so hard on it, followed the pattern, made sure everything was perfect, and then it was just a huge disapointment. So, promising I would deal with it later, much later because I was so frustrated, I left if alone for a week. This week rolled around and I decided to fix it. So, I made the trip to Reno yesterday to go to Joann's and ask some questions about what else I could use instead of that awful batting. I've heard foam, I've heard double the batting......anyway, they actually make bumper pads! I was so excited! So, I got a package of those with a 40% off coupon, even better, and headed home to work on it. I finished it last night, put it in the crib and it looks amazing! It is exactly what I wanted. I love the fabric I found when I was in Alabama and even more, I just love the thought of putting Anna in it (: Here are some pictures of my best and most productive sewing project yet......