Thanks for the supportive comments. I'm feeling more confident we'll be fine. I guess no one said that marriage was easy. And since I keep an anonymous blog, I don't feel guilty about venting. Venting here keeps me from crossing the line when we talk later. No one I know reads my blog. Well, my sister does but that's it. Husband knows I keep it, knows the URL and could read at anytime. Nothing written is anything that I wouldn't say in our conversations. Some things I probably shouldn't,like the whole testicle thing, but nonetheless. As with any stories about work, I make things up, change facts, etc. Our issues could be anyone's issues. And I don't think Husband is a bad man. Not what I'm saying at all. And I'm not completely innocent in this either. If you know me, you'd know how hard-headed and stubborn I am. Husband said once that he found the only woman in the world more stubborn than he is. When you have to stubborn people who both think they are right, you get trouble. I also figured out a way to relieve stress at work: Saying no. That's something I have a hard time with. That in itself won't solve everything, but it's a start. Sometimes its hard to focus on all the good things instead of the bad. We have 23 beautiful, healthy children, good jobs that have flexibility, our own home and supportive family. I know it won't be a quick fix, but we'll work on it. Hopefully we can have a good chat once the kids our asleep and we'll put a new foot forward.
Changing the subject, I just paid $2.39 for gas! Odd how that seems like such a good deal, but just a few short months ago, I paid $4.39 for gas. I remember when I first started driving that gas was $.99 per gallon. Granted, that was a few years ago. And after 9-11, I walked more than a mile home because "I wasn't going to pay $1.99 for a gallon of gas". Seems so funny now. Speaking of that, in a few short weeks, I will be leaving the 20's and will be 30 years old. I remember when I thought that was so old, grown up and mature. What's funny is I feel no different than I did 5 years ago. Is that a good thing? If not, oh well.
Isaiah is also very close to walking. He has been standing for short periods of time the last few weeks, and now he is bouncing up and down and even lifted each foot once. He didn't go anywhere, but he's getting better at balance. Once he masters that, it' all over and he'll be running in no time. I guess I need to exercise anyway! On another positive note, our wheelchair ramp may be coming down this weekend. I am beyond excited. I've slipped and fallen on my butt many times: while pregnant, carrying Isaiah. The darn thing is so slick when it's wet. Plus, it's an eyesore, the kids could get hurt falling off of it and have in the past, and we don't need it. I will be glad to see it gone.

On the Rocks

I've been debating on whether or not I should talk about this here. But I decided it might help me feel better about it. I remember when we met with the pastor before we were married. He said "If you are having problems, keep them to yourself. The rest of the world should see you as the God-fearing, loving husband and wife." Basically, put on a show. Well, that just isn't working for my life right now. So, here goes. Yesterday morning, one of the dayshift charge nurses asked me when I was going to go back to school? I gave a little laugh. I remember when I really thought that I'd be able to get back to school and get my masters degree. If you've read my blog since the beginning, you may remember I had that in my profile. I wasn't always sure what I'd get it in, but I do have several options since I hold degrees in both nursing and biology. My coworker thought I should go to midwifery school. While I love labor and birth, I don't think I'd like the responsibility of being a midwife. Plus, the state I live in is not midwife-friendly. Or I could do women's health. Or kinesiology. Or exercise physiology. Or something completely different. But that's not really the main problem. It would be support from my husband That's really the kicker. That really got me thinking about the state of our union. I don't think my marriage would last if I added school into the mix. We're already on shaky ground right now. I work my butt off, work night shift and weekends to make the maximum amount of money with the least amount of time at work and most at home with the kids. I am exhausted all the time. I had to reevaluate my definition of tired since the birth of Isaiah. But everyone knows that's part of it. And in a year or two, I'll look back and long for those days when Isaiah was such a little love bug when he's coloring on my walls and terrorizing the cats. But, every weekend, there is a fight between Husband and I because he has to do what I do all week long: take care of the kids and house without my help and get up with the baby at night. To hear him talk, you'd think he was trying to hold the earth up on his shoulders while changing a diaper. Too bad he forgets I do it all week. Only difference is he has them alone at night. And he doesn't do the housework I do, or cook on the weekends. It's all just frustrating me right now. Things are stressful and I can't talk to him because he says things like "it was your choice to work nights and weekends", "go to dayshift" or "Well, think how bad it is for me". Um, okay, when was the last time you were awake, for 27-28 hours straight? I do that EVERY SATURDAY NIGHT. I can't just go to dayshift, even if I wanted to. I computed the difference in my pay if I did days instead of weekends and I would make less than half of what I make now. Not an option. Days would be a more normal life, but I don't think it would resolve any of the problems we're having. I also pay bills, buy groceries, do all steps of laundry, dust, sweep, mop, call people for house repairs, take care of the cats and those pesky fleas we had, litter box, bathrooms, and keeping track of what clothes the kids need, doctors and dentist appointments, birth control and breastfeeding. Oh, and most of Jacob's school stuff. He does work more hours than me so I don't mind doing more. But his list includes garbage, kitchen at times, and yard work (which doesn't always get done). All I want is for him to appreciate what I do without making me feel guilty. And to buck up, let his testicles descend and deal with the kids and lack of sleep for each 36 hour period he has to deal with it every week. I know we're both feeling under-appreciated and that's probably most of the problem. But it's wearing on me, you know? There are all sorts of other issues. His job is stressful, I'm frustrated with work as well, trying to make sure we do everything we should for Jacob's school and giving Clara enough time so she doesn't feel left out. We're just in a tough spot right now.

Evening in Charge

Earlier this week, I agreed to work 3-11 shift and be in charge. I had called to let them know that if they needed another nurse, since they had 3 RN's off on maternity leave, that I was available. I ended up agreeing to work for the nurse scheduled to be in charge. It was an agreement that afterwards, I sat there wondering, "what did I just do?". Evening shift, especially on Fridays, tends to be a bit chaotic. Post partum is full of moms and babies, due in part to all the scheduled inductions and c-sections. The book is usually full of inductions/c/s on Fridays because docs want to deliver their patients before the weekend and patients want to deliver before the weekend when their doc will deliver them, instead of the on-call docs. Now I've worked some busy night shifts. And I do work the back half of 3-11 every weekend. So I kinda know what to expect. And boy, was is busy. Luckily, I had plenty of staff. We started the shift with a c/s for failure to progress. After that c/s was done, another patient was taken back for repetitive late decels. As that mom is being taken into the recovery room, our last labor patient was pushing. 10 minutes or so later, heart tones start to get crappy, so it was decided that the doc would try forceps to get the kid out, but we needed to open for a c-section, just in case. You can see where this is going, right? Forceps are donned, heart tones look like crap, and I'm just hoping this baby comes out and that we don't end up with a shoulder dystocia. One pull with the forceps, baby decides "no way", heart rate dives to the 40's and we go a-running back for our 3rd c-section of the night. Our first c/s patient is wheeled out of recovery just in time to replace her with our 3rd mom. All 3 of these deliveries happened before 5:30 pm. Finally, it settled down, and after these moms were moved out to post-partum, labor would be empty. Moms get taken out, and wouldn't you know it, but ER calls letting us know we have a 30 week mom, ruptured on her way up. She is evaluated, and she is indeed ruptured. Her doc comes in, we get her transferred out to a higher level facility to care for her preterm baby. By now it's 7pm, and pediatrics gets their 2nd admission of the shift and they need another nurse. Done. Post-partum patients are pretty needy, due to having so many post-op day/ delivery day moms. I did manage to get staffing for night shift done and get most of my paperwork done by 0030. I crawled into bed at 1:30 a.m, after feeding Isaiah. I swear he sensed my presence as I walked up the stairs. Man, I was worn out. I'm not sure how those regular 3-11 charge Rn's do it all the time. The busy patient care was no problem. I've been staff nurse on many a night where it's a revolving door of pregnant women coming in. But it was a struggle being in charge, trying to keep a handle on everything back in labor, making sure we have baby care for deliveries and that the nursery is covered, maintaining post-partum with their new deliveries and discharges AND pediatrics/infusion admits/discharges and then doing staffing for the next shift. And I get to turn around and work all weekend. Hopefully I can get in a nap.

Why I'm a bit stressed right now

1. Just because I have RN after my name instead of MD of course makes me an idiot. I deserve no respect. And because I work night shift, I obviously don't know my ass from a hole in the ground.

2. No, it is my fault that I do not have a prenatal record on your patient. Yes, I've looked in every location, and it is not here. And yes, I am in fact saying that your office staff didn't send the record over even though she's been seen over the last 40 weeks. I do not work in your office, and I work night shift so I don't receive the prenatals from the office, as offices aren't open at 2a.m. so not my fault. But go ahead, ream my ass for it. Really, it's okay.

3. Nothing happens on night shift. Patients just sleep. And weekends, man, they are really slow, so lets pull staff off weekends and schedule them during the week. We need just bare bones staffing on weekend nights because people don't deliver overnight and certainly not on the weekend nights. Really. So when someone breaks the "Rules" and, oh, goes into labor on a weekend night 'gasp', don't give me crap for staying late charting when I had 2 active labor patients , one 9cm without an epidural, the other 4cm and is wanting her epidural, AND I have to hold the hand of a new RN who is on her own but shouldn't be. And all this at once. Oh, and to see how talented at multi-tasking I can be, I'll also be charge RN. So, no, staffing was a bit heavy for your shift (What a problem to have) because I did not have time to do anything but make sure that there was enough staff, and, yes, I'll get my charting done to your satisfaction. Excuse me for putting patient care ahead of charting.


As you can tell, I had a very stressful night last night. I'm really hoping tonight is better. On a lighter note, here are a couple cute pics:

Can you believe Isaiah is 10 months old today!?!?

Isaiah, standing on his head.

The picture is a bit dark, but they are in fact feeding babies. Jacob said "Boys feed babies with bottles, but girls feed babies with their boobs" !

More random tidbits

Finally, I think we may be winning the battle against the fleas. After much $ spent, the cats are flea free and I'm not noticing fleas anymore. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. If they do reemerge, Terminix will be visiting us again, and again until they are gone. But, for now, I'm optimistic.

After only 1 quarter complete in kindergarten, Jacob is reading! Granted, it is only sentences and words like "I am Sam. This is Dan. Dan and Sam. Dan and Dad" but he's is reading. His handwriting is also improving and his pictures he draws for us are becoming more obvious as to what it is. Clara is also learning more of her letters and seems wants to do all the things Jacob is doing. It's just too bad she has to wait 2 years before she can go. She is again wanting to wear earrings and I'm again torn on whether or not to get her ears pierced. Part of me says, why not? But the other part says she is too young to take care of them and she doesn't understand what is involved. So I'll probably wait. Isaiah is almost 10 months old. I can hardly believe it. This week I taught him how to give High Fives. It's pretty darn cute. He's also decided to hell with pureed baby food. He likes the graduate foods and he really likes regular food. Finally, I may have a good eater!

Time to unwind

After a couple of crazy, hectic weeks here in the Lochia household, things are quieting down. I think, anyway. Work this weekend was hectic, with me being in charge more often than I'd like. I swear our regular nightshift charge nurses never work anymore. My husband thinks I should be flattered that they put me in charge so often, but it's a hassle. Not worth the extra $1 an hour, I'll tell you that much! Plus, I'd rather take care of labor patient instead of worrying about staffing, etc. But, this weekend we had two co-workers deliver. Nice vag deliveries and healthy moms and babies. And 2 more nurses who have been trying for quite some time found out they are pregnant. There are so many people pregnant at work right now, it's crazy. Luckily they are all spread out due date wise, otherwise we'd be in trouble. Right now there are 6 that I know of!
I also decided that I was done screwing with trying to rid my house of fleas that I called in the big boys at Termi.nix to fix the problem. They had the best deal and will continue to come out, for free, to make sure the darn things don't come back. Well, I guess it's not free, but it's covered under the initial fee we paid. So he came and sprayed and I haven't noticed one yet. And I've been looking. He said to give it a week, and call him if we see even one. He is now my hero! My poor kitties are shut in our garage, which is good sized, for a couple days until I can get them treated again. I have to get the stuff today and I want to give it 24 hours to make sure it's in their system to kill any fleas on them. They're going to be so mad at me. But, I've got moist cat food, which they don't get except as a treat, that I'm giving them once a day, and Husband went out this a.m. before work to give them attention and I'll do the same later. My cat is still pouting, but she'll be happier once she's flea free.
This weekend Toyland opens at Fa.rm & Fl.eet this Saturday. I discovered this a couple years ago and they have the best deals on toys, especially if you can drag yourself out of bed at 6a.m. They have quite a variety on toys, and good deals of Christmas decorations, wrapping paper and cards. I'm going to try to make it, although I'm SO not a morning person.

Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day

Wednesday, October 15 is the pregnancy and infant loss remembrance day. I just wanted to take a moment to remember all the families that love and have lost babies. It's a pain I wish no one had to endure. Each year at this time, I remember all the patients that have had such a loss. I remember my niece Mirabel. A child so loved, so wanted and anticipated. So many plans were made for this little girl and my son. I remember the joy of hearing my SIL was in labor, the anticipation that finally she would give birth and our children would grow up together and play together. Man, I remember the anxiousness I felt walking into her labor room, and then...the sadness. Seeing my big, tough BIL break down in tears, the fetal monitor without a fetal heartrate tracing, the tears in the nurse's eye when she realized we didn't know yet, and the words my SIL said "She didn't make it". I remember sitting with her, holding her hand, talking to her the duration of her labor. I remember the 4-5 hours of pushing on and off, wondering how long they would let her go on. And I remember seeing this perfect little baby being born, waiting for a cry that would never come. Feeling the tears burning my eyes as my BIL falls into the chair, burying his head in his hands. Hearing my SIL's voice, hoping against all hope, asking a desperate, quiet question "Is she breathing" and the doctor's no nonsense reply "No". I remember the nurse asking them if they wanted to hold her, which they were not ready yet, but in the end would hold her for 12 hours. I remember that same nurse handing me pictures of Mirabel, which I turned over and handed to my BIL, and having him turn to me and sob on my shoulders. I remember how after all of those hours, I left that delivery room, trying to hold myself together, walking to the waiting room, telling everyone she delivered and then running the bathroom and screaming, crying, yelling at God and the world, how could this happen? I remember not being strong enough to go back into that labor room to see and hold my niece with the rest of the family. I instead remember clutching my 5 month old Jacob and crying, thankful I had my son, but angry my SIL couldn't have her daughter. Oh my God, the hurt, the heartache and pain and it wasn't even MY child. I remember the funeral, and each December 1st since. All I know is the pain I felt, I can't even imagine what it is like as the parents. So here is in remembrance of all the babies who have gone on before their parents. You are much loved. You are not forgotten.


What Makes A Mother

I thought of you and closed my eyes and prayed to God today.
I asked what makes a Mother and I know I heard him say,
"A Mother has a baby this we know is true,
But God, can you be a Mother when your baby's not with you? "
“ Yes, you can ” He replied with confidence in His voice
“ I give many women babies; when they leave is not their choice.
Some I send for a lifetime and others for a day.
And some I send to feel your womb but there's no need to stay. ”
"I just don ’ t understand this, God I want my baby here."
He took a breath and cleared His throat and then I saw a tear.
"I wish I could show you what your child is doing today.
If you could see your child smile with other children and say
"We go to earth and learn our lessons of love and life and fear.
My Mommy loved me oh so much I got to come straight here.
I feel so lucky to have a Mom who had so much love for me
I learned my lesson very quickly. My Mommy set me free.
I miss my Mommy oh so much but I visit her each day.
When she goes to sleep, on her pillow's where I lay.
I stroke her hair and kiss her cheek and whisper in her ear
"Mommy don ’ t be sad today, I ’ m your baby and I ’ m Here".
"So you see my dear sweet one your children are OK.
Your baby is here in My home and this where he'll stay.
He'll wait for you with me until your lesson is through
And on the day that you come home he'll be at the gates for you.
So now you see what makes a Mother - it's the feeling in your heart.
It's the love you had so much of right from the very start."

Author Unknown

The birth plan

I'm all about a natural birth. It is a natural, beautiful process that when left alone, usually, goes great. Labor progresses, a baby is born, cries and we have a happy family. But something that can strike a nerve with many people is a birth plan. No, I'm not opposed to a birth plan at all, and neither are the nurses I work with. I actually think it's a very good idea to think about how you want to labor and deliver, and to visualize that labor. Do you want intermittent monitoring, do you want to use the tub for labor and/or delivering? Do you want pain meds?, etc. I am a firm believer for intermittent monitoring, ambulating in labor, using the tub to help ease the pain of contractions, allowing mom to hold her baby skin to skin immediately after birth and breastfeeding exclusively for 6 months. I think continuous monitoring leads to more interventions that cascade down to an operative birth, whether that be forceps, vacuum, or c-section. And research says it does not lead to better birth outcomes, it just increases incidence of operative births. But, here are just a few things I think you should consider when writing your birth plan. We are all working in OB because we love childbirth and when you have a great experience, we have a great experience. First, be open to letting things happen that will lead to a safe delivery. Sometimes, interventions are necessary, and no nurse I work with would intervene just for fun. Second don't just print one off the internet. Most of the things I've seen on those we don't do anyway, like enemas and pubic shaving. And at least where I work, no baby is given formula or a pacifier unless the parents request it. We are all for helping you get the best start to breastfeeding. But if you are breastfeeding, and you send your baby to the nursery to sleep but won't let us give it a paci, and it screams, we have to bring you're baby back to you to feed it. If you don't want pain medication, etc, then stay home until you absolutely have to come in. That way you are in active labor, if not in transition and it will be only a matter of time before you deliver after arrival. Probably most importantly, TALK TO YOUR DOCTOR!!!! I can't say this enough. I'm perfectly fine with no IV, drinking fluids, and ambulating and using different birth positions other than lithotomy, but if your doctor hears about all this for the first time when I call them at 3:00 a.m., they won't be happy and I can't guarantee that they will agree with your plan. Which when this happens, all involved will be unhappy. I am your biggest advocate and will do everything I can to ensure that you have the birth experience that you want. One thing to keep in mind is I am not the one who decides whether or not things are done or not. I get orders from your physician. We also do not like doing bloodwork and IV's and tests on your baby. We don't enjoy causing a baby pain and discomfort. We do these things to ensure the health of your baby and under the direction of the physician. I'm a little testy right now, I guess. I have a house infested with fleas, those damn yellow and black lady bugs and I've spent a lot of money to rid my home of these pests, to no avail. Several people I work with have the same problem right now. And work was a wee bit stressful. We had a couple who came in with an extensive birth plan that they hadn't discussed with their doctor. Biggest problem: they wouldn't let us do ANYTHING. No vag exams during the course of her 2 day labor, no doppling of heart tones at all, no newborn resuscitation of their blue, floppy, baby. I guess it was ugly in the delivery room for quite awhile. No vaccines, no tests at all, no assessments, and that baby never left their sight. And they treated everyone who came in contact with them like we were out to cause harm to them and their baby. Fine, you don't want interventions, but if you won't let us do anything, why deliver at the hospital? The state I'm in sucks because there are NO birth clinics and it is very midwife unfriendly, especially midwives who do home deliveries. There aren't too many done, but there is a midwife that will do homebirth around here. They were obviously miserable the entire time they were there and wanted to be at home. We were miserable because nothing we did could make them happy. Again, I'm not anti-birth plan, and I'm all for an all natural birth, and keeping your baby with you. I'm so hoping tonight will be less stressful.

I'm Free for a Few Hours

Since I didn't work last night and the kids were scheduled to go to daycare anyway, I decided to take them and use today to get some stuff done. I only feel a little guilty, but we have to pay for the day whether they are there or not. Plus, I slept like crap because of this cold I have. I just couldn't quit coughing. I've coughed so much, all the muscles in my torso are sore and I swear I strained a muscle in my stomach. So I need a nap. And Clara would be upset because she wants to go play with her friends. And I had thawed out 2 bottle of breastmilk for Isaiah, and I didn't want them to go to waste. So I took them. Every once in a while, a mom's just gotta have a day to herself, whether to relax, or to get things. done. I'm cleaning and plan on either bombing for bugs one more time today, or I might do that tomorrow. We'll see. I've gotten a lot done already. I've cleaned every room on the mail lever from top to bottom, except the kitchen, cleaned the basement, which was nasty and took an hour. I haven't mopped, but I'll do that after the bug bomb. And I finally got my letter to Isaiah written. I know it's not a new idea, but I decided to do this after Jacob was born when I was planning my SIL baby shower. I had passed out cards for everyone to write a letter to her unborn baby, with the idea that she could open a card on every birthday and see how excited everyone was before she was born. Unfortunately, she was stillborn, but her parents have those cards and notes as memories. So I decided that should something happen to me before my children are grown, and even if I live to be 100, I wanted them to have a glimpse of what their mom was like as a new mom. I just hadn't gotten the time until today, but I have typed up all I want to say. Now I just have to write it all. I want it to be in my own handwriting, for a more personal touch. After I get that done, I have a card I'll put the letter in and seal it in an envelope and put it in his baby box. I haven't decided when I'll give the kids these letters I've written for them (Jacob and Clara also have one), but since they are still young and can't read yet, I figure I have some time to decide. So I'm enjoying my free day, even though I'm cleaning. Right now, though, I think I'll eat some lunch, uninterrupted, take a bath, uninterrupted and then take a nap before I pick Jacob up from school and Clara and Isaiah from daycare.

Babies, babies, everywhere

I got my wish this weekend, and it was busy enough I got a few nice deliveries/labors in. Saturday wasn't real busy, but I admitted someone for a labor check at about 5a.m., but she wasn't in labor yet so she went home. She came back in last night, in good labor. She was 41+ weeks, which we don't see too much of because the docs her do quite a few inductions. She didn't really have a great contraction pattern, but she was making change in her cervix. Luckily, the doc on call isn't one to mess with something that works, so I didn't have to start pitocin. We just let her labor, and she was 8 cm when I left this a.m. About 5a.m. this a.m., we had 2 moms come in within 20 minutes of each other, ready to deliver. The first went to the bathroom down in ER, and they had to beg her to come out because she kept saying "I have to poop". Um, lets get you up to L&D to make sure you don't deliver your baby in the toilet. Sure enough, she was complete with the head right there by the time she got to us. She was in great control, doc made it (barely) and she had a beautiful baby boy. Twenty minutes, I'm in my labor patients room, attending to a mild decel. I come out after awhile to find that someone had come in by ambulance and was moaning in the next room. I head in there and another nurse and I assess this girl, multip, 7 cm, water broken, and she had a history of fast labor. Not too much later, she delivers. As this is going on, our morning c-section is waiting to be admitted. Now this might not seem like too much commotion, but there were only 2 of us working labor to start with. Luckily, another labor nurse was able to come from postpartum to help. Our poor scrub tech, who was also the secretary, couldn't keep up with getting things orders, assisting with the deliveries, getting the a.m. section room set up, etc. (A sore spot with us because people who don't work nights seem to think we don't need a secretary AND a scrub tech. It's a bunch of bull) But, we did manage to get the patients taken care of. I also had a nice delivery with a very young mom of 15. Her family was very supportive, and she had been in and out frequently with preterm labor. She manage to get to 37 weeks. She labor and delivered quickly and was very happy to see her baby. Another young mom, 16, was coming in for a c-section due to a breech baby. She also had a very supportive family and the baby's dad was over in Iraq. While both of these moms were very positive about having a baby sooner than they would have planned and were set up with all the resources they would need, you still worry about them. How will they deal with a newborn and all the issues of being a teenager? I just remember how immature I was at that age. But, sometimes these young moms handle the baby better than some moms who are older and married. I just hope these 2 moms do continue on with school and go to college like they both said they would like to do. Good luck to them.

Crap, crap, crap. Work just called and put me on call. Normally, I wouldn't mind, but I missed last Monday night of work because Isaiah was sick, so that's 16 hours I'll be missing this next check. Oh well, I am sick myself, and maybe they'll call me in at some point tonight. That's the bad/good thing about a working in a hospital. If they aren't busy, they flex staffing down to save money. What other jobs are you not guaranteed your hours? While it's nice to get a night off here and there, it also sucks if you want/need those hours.

Random Tidbits

This week has been a long one. So much has been going on, and so little sleep, that instead of making coherent post, I'll just hit the highlights.

* I'm finding myself more interested in politics as of late, and I'm sure I'm not the only one. The economy, bailout plan, etc., has gotten my attention and so I've been following the news more. I even watched both the presidential and VP debates. I know I should have been more interested before, but I wasn't. I knew who I want to be the next president based on just skimming the surface of his ideals, but after researching, I'm finding I'm hoping even more that he is elected. I won't get into my choice for the next president, as this isn't a political blog, but I'll be following election coverage this November with high hopes.

* Had noticed the charge for daycare (that comes out of my paycheck) was higher now that Jacob isn't going than it was before. They had increased their rates, as they do every September, but it didn't go up that much. Checked with daycare, and they'd been charging us for Jacob for the last month. This last paycheck was nice without that charge.

* Was in charge Sunday night at work, and staffing dayshift was a pain in my butt. We were dead slow, and we have to staff pediatrics/infusion/outpatient procedures. As far as I knew, our pediatric nurses could hang antibiotics on adult patients. Apparently not, as I flexed off the infusion nurses, thinking the peds nurses could do this. They threw a fit. Good God, people, doesn't it just go through the IV? Seriously.

* In the a.m.s after work, I go and feed Isaiah at daycare before going home. I knew he had a little cold over the weekend, but I wasn't prepared for how pitiful he looked Monday a.m. The poor little guy looked so sad and miserable. I took his temp, and he had a fever. So I took him home, hoping that I could get some sleep in. Alas, sleep didn't happen. I was supposed to work Monday night, but after working all night Sunday, being awake all day Monday, there was no way I could work Monday night.

* Sleep was sporadic all week long. Baby was up more than he was as a newborn: every 1-2 hours, tops. We're all a bit tired.

* Isaiah had a temp on and off all week. Finally took him in Friday afternoon. Verdict: pink eye and an ear infection. Had noticed that morning my eye was crusty and Clara's eyes were pink. So full round of eye drops for all three of us.

* Jacob had his first field trip to a local cheese farm and pumpkin patch. Packed a good lunch for him, put it in his backpack, dropped him off at the sitters where he catches the bus. Pick him up after the doctors appointments and found out that another mom said the kindergartners didn't need their backpack, so he left it at the sitters...with his lunch inside. Thankfully someone gave him a sandwich and a drink that day so he didn't starve. A bit irritated because I look like I just didn't pack him a lunch. Oh well. I'm probably more worried about it than I should be.

* Woke up this a.m. with a raging migraine, a cough and very little voice. Fabulous, because I work the next 3 nights. Migraine is thankfully gone, but I sound like a 85 year old woman who chain smoked her whole life. I encourage my children to share, but I'd rather not share colds.

Hopefully this weekend is a good one. I'm hoping for middle of the road busy nights. I'd like to have a couple deliveries and not have to be charge RN.