Nurse Fashion Pic Two

More then you knew?!

People keep postings these notes on facebook, about random things people may not know about them. So, I figure I will share the same :D

1. I am considering finishing my RN. Once I am done kids that is. I really see myself working in labor and delivery one day. It is my dream.
2. I have a newly pierced nose and belly. (Belly has been done a couple times before). If there was more "girly" piercings to get done, I would get them. No tattoos...yet lol. I need to be REALLY sure before that happens...and I do not know if I ever will.
3. I have lost 30 pds since last may. I stopped exercising in Sept. and only gained 3 pds back. I am 149pds now, only 9 away from my goal. There, I said my weight. As of this morning that is what it is. AND I am proud to say I am ten pounds LESS then hubby. YAY!
4. I am trying for baby number 3. No luck since we miscarried in October. I have had 2 previous c-sections and am going to do whatever I can (safely) to not have one. Once I am pregnant am going to see a midwife and find an OB that is supportive. If its not safe, then ok...but I have heard many people successful. I wont give up until told otherwise.
5. I suffer with sciatic pain daily in my left leg. Ever since being pregnant with James. I have gone to see drs. but nothing was found to help me. It's terrible to have to deal with. The pain shoots from my bum, down my leg.
6. I do not like alcohol. I drink the occasional fruity drink, but otherwise the taste I do not enjoy lol. Well, once I have a few they go down easy ;)
7. I still cook almost all meals at home. If I am not working an evening, I will be making dinner. I love to cook, and like to think I am good at it. I do not believe in recipes, I mostly get inspiration off cooking shows.
8. I love to paint, although this has not happened the last couple of years. I am determined to finish Arianna mural for the time we paint the kids room. Soon enough she will be too old for her enchanted forest mural ;)
9. I love make-up. I will not leave the house without it. And Brandon is the only one who will see me without it, and even then I am embarrassed lol.
10. I am a big flirt (did you know?). Hey, it gets me free coffee!! (right honey?!) lol...hey, at least I am honest and hubby knew what he was getting into when he married me ;)
11. I was born 4 weeks early. After a car accident, I had an xray on my back and they found one of my vertebrae had never closed all the way. I get back pain a lot from it. I use a heating pad daily.
12. I have very poor circulation in my feet. You will never catch me without socks and slippers on, or my feet freeze!!!

Something called...

catheterization. I am sure most know what this is....and some have experienced it.
Somehow, I work I do one of two things to people. lol I make there blood pressure LOW or make them retain urine so they need a catheter.
Well, I don't really cause it, but it sure happens often.

The last few shifts I have worked this has been the case. Of course things like this get reported to the dr. (called a hospitalist) who comes to see all the patients in the unit. So back and forth I go talking to Dr. H. all day.
I kinda feel like a bother.....updating her, and asking what to do and stuff....
anyways, I said to Dr H. "soon enough you are going to see me coming and say, who has low BP or needs a catheter?"
And you know what she said back?
she said "you are never bothering me. All this tells me is that you are good at your job, and pay attention to details"
Wow. that made my day!
It is true. Things like people retaining urine, are things people sometimes miss. I have caught this 3 times lately :)

So here is a term for today....

In urinary catheterization, a plastic tube known as a urinary catheter (such as a Foley) is inserted into a patient's bladder via their urethra (where you pee out of lol ;) ). A balloon located at the end of the catheter is usually inflated with sterile water to prevent the catheter from slipping out once it has reached the bladder.

I figure I may as well add this one, as it's how I determine if someone is retaining urine.

BladderScan instrument uses V-mode ultrasound technology to create a three-dimensional image of the bladder and calculate volume based on this image. . A microprocessor within the instrument automatically calculates and displays bladder volume; the operator simply applies ultrasound coupling medium (ultrasonic gel), aims the scanhead, and initiates the scan. Noninvasive bladder volume measurement via the V-mode BladderScan is quick, easy, and very specific for determining elevated PVR. (PVR measures what is left in the bladder after a patient attempts to empty the bladder)

We have a bladder scan on the unit, and we use it....it is fun :)

So there is my lesson today....not a very fun one for the person who needs the catheter, but it's necessary.

Oh, and if you had close to litre of urine in YOUR bladder, that you could not empty, would you not want relief? ;)

Want to learn about my job?

Well, if no then too bad. :)
Being a nurse is NOT a glamourous job at all. Even the patients make comments about how they don't know how we can do our jobs.
It gets dirty! lol
But, remember I chose to do this, knowing what it involved.
So, I thought I would teach you some nursing lingo, some of the things I do on a daily basis, or interesting things I come across during my shifts at the hospital.

WARNING...some of the things I share may be graphic ;)

So the first thing I have to share with you is a term called Disimpaction. Know what that means??

Removal of feces (poop lol) usually manually, in fecal impaction.

Yup, that is right. I had to do this the other day. See, a dirty job! It involves a double gloved hand (although I just use one finger lol) and some lube ;)

Now, you think it is bad for me, think of the patient!!!
Could you do my job?!

Kids and Rose

Even after Rose (our live in nanny) is done for the day, the kids can't help but go bug her lol.
She is kind enough to let them play games on yahoo on her laptop...now thats love :)

Nurse Fashion Pic One

This is one of the new tops I picked up in the USA. Love it...so girly..and frilly lol.
This is a size M and see lots of room ;)

I had a day off today. James and I went to run a couple errands then came home and made banana bread muffins. mmmmmm.
We are getting a new gas fireplace installed in the TV room right now...I cannot wait.
We have one in the living room, but we are not often in there to use it. It will be soo nice to enjoy the fireplace the rest of winter.

A day for me

This is my grow-into closet....see post below...

Thats what I did today.

I woke up with a headache, I think from sleeping wrong....and cramps (sniff sniff) :(

So having rose here with the kids, and not being called into work I decided to head across the border. I had some amercian cash left.

I decided to look for some scrub stores, and I found a couple.

I am known at work for my fabulous scrubs. I would win best dress nurse I tell ya ;)

I like to look good when I work hehe.

Once I had lost all the weight, and won the $$ back I treated myself and bought a bunch of new ones...and they were all stylish :) no cheaping out! hehe

So today, I found a couple places that sold the brands I loves AND cheaper :)

I think I will have to do a picture in every outfit I have and post them. Then you can see how cute I look hahahaha.

Then I stopped at the mall in town. There are many stores I love there, ones not in canada.

I have to say I love shopping....and I am SO good at it lol

I really just come across the best deals. It amazes me.

My favorite kids store is gymboree. I LOVE their clothes BUT they are pricey. They do have good sales when you are lucky to come across them.

I really dont mind spending the extra money, as I swear by the quality. I have never had a shirt wear out...or a stain not come out.

And of course not being done having babies, they will make good hand me downs :)

SO in the mall, I walk to the store and they have 2 racks outside marked $4.99 and under. I was in HEAVEN. The original prices of the stuff was $24 to $40 USD. wow.

So I was able to get an entire line of shirts, a dress, and shorts for Arianna in size 6. Maybe 15 pieces...(they sell there clothing in lines, everything coodinates) and one pair of jeans for james lol. it was mostly girl stuff.

I mean, I cannot get that good of deals even at walmart lol.

That was ONE DEAL I was not walking away from.

I shop a year in advance. I am going to post a picture that shows you my grow-into closet. this houses my spring, summer and fall clothes for this year...yup all year. I have size5/6 for arianna in there and 4/5 for James.

shopping off season is the best :D

SOOOO someone, someday is going to jump for joy (and be soooo lucky) when they inherit my hand-me-downs. just checkout gymboree.com and see how cute it is. almost all the kids clothes are from there...and I get them for amazing prices...deals even walmart can't beat ;)

The hour before bed

Is a very long hour...
the kids are in their room...running...and screaming....where do they get the energy?
I know its because they are tired, but still. It really makes them hard to handle lol.

Today I took them shopping. Arianna has a science experiment to prepare for. She has to create something that will keep an egg that is being dropped from a ladder from cracking. get that? lol
It has to be less then 30cm all around. The teacher will drop an egg from a ladder into it, so whatever it contains must be soft in order to keep the egg from smashing.
So today Arianna wanted to go look for some soft things. We headed to the dollar store. This is that she picked out:
bath squishy sponge things lol (no idea the name for them)
some soft foam make up applicators (the triangle ones)
some cotton balls
and some pom pom craft balls.

There we have it, we will see what she creates...and if the egg lasts ;)

After that, we headed to the movies. we have a $3 theatre close to home. Cannot beat that! And if they are good, they get the $3.99 kids popcorn combo. Today we saw the tale of despereaux. It was cute, and the kids liked it :) I love cheap, fun things to do in order to entertain the kids :)

I have been off the last 3 days, and so has Rose (nanny). It has been nice.
Rose has been with us almost a year now, and she will be done with us in december. Depending on when I get pregnant will determine how fast we move on getting another nanny. We are looking into sponsoring Roses Niece. As long as I continue to work, we will need a nanny. I am lucky my job pays well enough, that I can pay for it and my loan. phew. lol.
With James starting kindergarten we will be walking back and forth to the school 3 times a day...how is one to work around that haha. Ahhh the luxury of having a nanny to help :) The best thing we ever did for sure!!!!!!

I am back to work tomorrow. I work 2 days then have a couple off. We are getting a new gas fireplace this week. I am excited. It is in our TV room, cant wait to be cozy!!!!

Well its about bed time for one little monster ;)

back to my roots

well, not really, but it's how I feel...aand that is blonde :)

I am slowly making my way back to lighter hair. After that black incident it has taken a long time. I figure it will be around a year later that I will be back to "normal".

Summer just brings out the blonde in me...

I got some blonde put in yesterday. Its a process thats for sure :)

I figure one more set of highlights and I will be surely sunkissed :)

I registered James for kindergarten. I cannot believe in a few months both my kids will be in school. wow.

He is excited to go. And he is on par with Arianna. He can do everything she can. I guess thats the bonus is having kids 14 months apart. He learns everything from her, and wants to do things just like her.

Work is going great. I still LOVE it. this 8 hr part time line has be wonderful. If I stay any extra time, its overtime. which I love. I am banking it for days OFF. yay.

I will soon get my benefits, which when needed, will give me mat pay at 78% for some of the time. cant beat that!!!!

still trying yes. no luck with that so far. I guess it takes time after a miscarriage to get your body back. I would love for it to happen soon (only for the huge age gap) but I am also happy to just let it happen and not TRY ( no calculations or temps lol)

A friend from work is coming over tonight for a movie night. kids will be pooped as they were up late last night and early today. We will go have some dinner then watch something girly I am sure :)

Hope you have a good weekend

Coffee

Coffee is a must have for me these days. For one thing I am NOT a morning person, never have been. If I have to wake up before 7am I need something to help get me going.
As most my shifts are 7-3, this has me waking up at 6am. Yuck. I always swing through the timmys on my way for a hot cup of coffee.
The hospital has a tiny little coffee shop. It has a good creme caramel coffee.
One of my buddies at work always buys me coffee. He is so nice.
So, the other day he left 5 mins ahead of me for break. Asks me if I want coffee. I say sure!
When I am about to go to break my other friend Les asks me to go to the coffee shop with him for a coffee. I say oh, actually my personal assistant has already gone to get me one :)
I love the people I work with!
And I love my coffee :o)

Queen of the...

Catheters. Yes, that is me.
I am so good at the female one, I tell ya, I always get it on the first shot...hehe
Something to be proud of in the nursing world.
As you know, the female anatomy is quite complex ;)

I am really enjoying my 8 hr line.
Its so busy the day goes so fast.
I love going to work. It is a chance for me to socialize with coworkers (I have made GREAT friends), have some me time doing something I am passionate about, and being able to make a difference.

Nursing may be a dirty job...literally...but it is rewarding.

I have seen many deaths since starting at Delta, I am really shocked at the number actually, but it is no longer something that leaves me an emotional wreck.
I had a HARD time the first few...I mean I would cry just as much as the family.
But now, I have learned to deal with the emotions in a different way.
It will always be sad, but my job more importantly is to support the family. And I feel I have grown in a way that I am able to do that. I am stronger.
I always say a prayer for the person who has passed....
What makes it easier, is most the time the person is reaching the 90s or older! And I grew to know them over the time at the hospital. And most lead fulfilling lives. I am happy knowing life was good to them, and they no longer need to be here and suffer.

Ok enough on that....I just wanted to share that this is one area I have really grown in as a nurse.

I love my job and would not trade it for the world....
But, being a mother comes first. And if my family needs me I am here.
When a coworker called in sick today as he daughter was injured at school. She felt bad, and I just said to her. Family comes first. And she said OK. She knew it too, but its nice to hear it from someone else.

I have been thinking more and more about one day finishing my RN. Maybe its been the praise I get at work from other RNs telling my how good I would be lol....
But, I think if I do, it would be to work in maternity.
We will think about that once all the babies are done.

I know a few other friends who are pregnant.
Due around the time I was.
More lately, my heart is aching. I really wish it didnt happen.
I really want to be pregnant.
The age gap is big already...and getting bigger :( sigh.

Well, time to get the kids ready for bed.
I have a few days off now.
And Alyson, Brandon and I are headed to the Vault friday evening. Thank you :o)

bored....

SO I thought I would share my nightly style of bangs...and my belly ring hehe..oh and the nose which is harder to see. Do I look younger with the bangs? Its nice to know I can have them if I need a change ;) AND yes...I have stretch marks...ahhh the marks of motherhood ;)