Does This Lab Jacket Make My Butt Look Fat?

A quick update on what I'm doing lately: finishing school requires a 360-hour practicum. This means long work weeks doing 9-10 hour days. I've worked with Ellen, ANP, Shana, CPNP-PC/AC, Dr. English and Dr. King. I've enjoyed the experience a lot, and it's challenging as well. A definite highlight: the patient who was taking her sister's amitriptyline (an antidepressant) for her high blood pressure, and it was working wonderfully! Her blood pressure had never been better!

I'd appreciate prayer for the job search, and for the record, I'm pretty sure the lab jacket does make my butt look fat, but it's a security blanket sort of thing, and it's got great pockets, so I'll keep wearing it. Also, I have decided that the whole experience would be better if I could get my hands on some amitriptyline as well, so if you have any you don't want, send it my way. ;)

Bookstore Bliss

I just did something I never do. I bought a brand new book at the bookstore. Other than textbooks, I can't remember the last time I paid full price for a book. I did not go home to see if I could get it cheaper on Amazon. I didn't look on e-Bay. I didn't wait for it to go on sale, did not pass Go, and did not collect $100. And you know what? I couldn't be happier about it. I would have paid $30 for that book, and when I got to the cash register with my exciting splurge, it was way less. On sale, and I didn't even know it. I love you, B&N.



In other exciting bookstore news, while I was there (out without the kiddos), I managed to find an empty armchair, and read this book



almost all the way through. It helps that the print is about 36 points... like you could read it from across the room if necessary. It was an excellent book, the sort of thing that new parenting classes should include, because taking beautiful pictures of your children is just as rewarding as... I don't know... having a clean living room, and much easier. When you have kids, that is.

Babywearing Project

I recently made a Moby-wrap style baby carrier, although, "made" might be stretching it a bit. I've wanted to try one of these for a while, so found some online instructions. Turns out, this is a piece of knit fabric, 20" by 5'. That's it. I cut five feet of fabric. No hemming or anything. The trick was learning to wrap it. Incidentally, the fabric piece I bought would make two more, so if you want one, comment or e-mail, and I will send you one (to the first two commenters only). :)

Reading Material for Nursing Moms

During my last postpartum period (which is a nice medical euphemism for "the emotional roller coaster of psychotic sleep deprivation mixed with incredible joy"), I occasionally wrote posts on what I was reading at the time. Currently I'm reading

The Christmas Sweaterby Glenn Beck
The Wall Street Journal
World Magazine
and I'm about to start
Scarpettaby Patricia Cornwell

I was thinking today about one of the books I read while nursing two years ago. It was a book intended, I think, to be hip and trendy and "insightful" all at once. Unfortunately, this is the sort of intention that often fails. In any case, it was set in New York City; I remembered one character who was cheating on his wife when the terrorist attacks of 9/11 happened. In that moment of clarity (or horror, or whatever the author was getting at), the man left his mistress alone in her apartment and headed home to his wife, the point being that in moments of clarity (or horror), we act out our true character. I didn't think much about it at the time, but it occurred to me today that the author got it wrong. We act out our true character every day, on a daily basis, doing the mundane and not-so-mundane things we do. It is a nice fiction, appropriate for movies and chick lit, that in moments of horror, who we really are will somehow be better than who we really have been.

Noah's Birth

Ethan's delivery a little over two years ago was a scheduled induction during the 39th week of my pregnancy. It went so well... Matt and I went out to an early breakfast (because I don't believe in being NPO for too long, and I didn't want to be hungry all day), then showed up at the hospital. I had done all the paperwork beforehand, and things got started around seven in the morning. Ethan was born at 4:18, after two doses of pain medication and 40 minutes of pushing. It went so smoothly. Cathy, my labor nurse, likes to say it was her expert titration of pitocin during the induction; I think it was just good timing overall.

Because we had had such a great experience in the past, I asked Dr. Lieb to schedule an induction in the 39th week again. I made plans to finish up papers and do some cooking beforehand, and left that entire week free. However, little Noah had other plans. The night I went into labor, Matt was at work, and Ethan was sound asleep, so I stayed up late working on baby announcements and watching TV. At midnight, as soon as I decided to go to bed, I started having uncomfortable contractions. I tried to sleep, but woke up at 2 am, still contracting. I tried sitting in a nice warm bath (which, contrary to what a lot of water birth proponents say, became a lot less nice when I had my first contraction in the water), took some Tylenol pm, straightened the house a little, and finished packing my bag. By the time 4 rolled around, I was still contracting, and wanted to go to the hospital to be checked. I called Matt. He said he probably couldn't get anyone up to take his place until about 6... could I wait a couple of hours? I thought so. Then I had another contraction. I called Mom, who got to the house in about 20 minutes. By the time she got to the house, I was thinking I might really truly be in labor, and after a couple of minutes of uncertainty, we packed Ethan up and headed to the hospital. The determining factor was that I realized sitting there that I was starting to feel a lot like I had at the end of labor last time. We called Matt on the way to the hospital.

Mom dropped me off at the door, and I walked straight up to the L&D desk. I said something like, "I think I'm in labor, and I'd better be 7 centimeters. If not, I want an epidural NOW." Suzanne was there; she tells me I had a look on my face that made her believe 7 cm. was a lot more likely than, say, 3-4. They put me straight in a room (the same one I was in with Ethan), and checked me (7 centimeters!). At this point, Suz asked if I had made arrangements with Dr. Lieb to come in. I asked who was on call... a fine doctor, but not one I really, really wanted at my delivery. I told Suzanne I'd rather she delivered the baby, and besides, he took so long to get into his astronaut gear and drape, that he'd never make it. Meanwhile, Angela O. started opening a delivery table, Kelly put in an IV, Suz called the MD, and gave me some Demerol and Phenergan (I believe I asked for 50 of Demerol, but she gave me a total of 25mg, in two divided doses). I rolled over to my side for a contraction or two, felt the Demerol start to work, then had to push. My water broke somewhere around this time. I pushed for another two contractions (Dr. Astronaut never would have made it!), and had Noah. Matt made it to the hospital at 5. Noah was born at 5:10. I had been at the hospital since 4:40. All in all, it was a wonderful night. Birth is so much better in retrospect, but I had been dreading labor a little, and it really was much better than I thought it would be.

Noah had the cord wrapped tightly around his neck, but was born too fast for it to be cut. He ended up with a lot of facial bruising and blood-shot eyes. The bruising wore off after a day or two, but his eyes are still a little red. Suzanne delivered the placenta, too, so by the time the MD got there, he didn't have much to do other than check for clots and tearing (none... Good job, Suzanne!) and inform me that next time, I should get checked sooner. Right. Note to self...
Later, Dr. Lieb told me that with her second, she arrived at the hospital completely dilated, and delivered within a minute of arrival. I bet her doctor wasn't there, either. Mom and Ethan came back up to the room around the time they were getting everything cleaned up, so Ethan got to see him right away.

Noah James Morrison weighed 8 lbs. 11 oz., and was 20 inches long. He's been quite a sweetie, and I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

Naptime

Now that he is in a big bed, Ethan often gets up during nap time. Today, he apparently preferred the wagon.

Ethan Helps Get Ready for Baby

After I took Ethan's cozy blankies and pillow out of "baby Noah's bed," I discovered he had also stuffed my lab jacket in there. Appropriate, as Noah and I have been wearing the lab jacket a lot lately.

Why Matt and I Watch TV Together

Watching TV together enables us to have meaningful conversations like this one:

Me: "You know what I think?"

Matt (half-asleep in bed): "What?"

Me: "I think Kate left Aaron with his real grandmother, and she just loved him so much that she was upset and defensive when Jack asked her about it. They just tried to make it look all suspenseful."

Matt: "Yeah. You're probably right; it's probably something simple like that."

Otherwise, we would have to talk about real things like the economy, what (and how) I am doing in school, which car needs an oil change, funny things Ethan said, where the stamps are, our budget, or what we are having for dinner.

Ethan Keeps Busy

while Mommy takes a shower. Why is it that he went straight for the mascara?

The Pregnant Belly (or, Noah Unseen)

Ethan is convinced the baby is hiding somewhere just under my clothes.