Overheard: At the Changing Table

Him: Where's the baby's USB port?

"Everyone Gets an IV"

Me: People want to know how your new job is going. What do you want to tell them?

Him: Um... thankfully most of the nursing is the same except for learning the different protocols and different gagets.

Me: What about the computers?

Him: No, the computers are easy.

Me: What about the "trauma" aspect?

Him: The trauma section is seperate from our ER area. It's basically like working the Baker ER, except with 3-4 beds at a time and a neverending supply of patients. Plus, this is the slow season for trauma anyway. I'll have to get back to you in July.

Me: What about your new coworkers?

Him: Everyone is very helpful. They do a lot in terms of teamwork which is nice because you need it. They tend to jump on new patients as they come in, get their vitals, etc. and let you get to work. But sometimes everyone is busy, so when you really, really need help there's less of it.

Me: Are they friendly? Or fun? Or just working?

Him: No, everyone is just working. If anyone has time they almost always ask around if there's anything to do to be useful. If I even look like I have a question people will ask if I need help. Nurses in other units, apparently, can be jerks, but the ones in our unit tend to be nice.

Me: Why is it called a Unit, not a Floor?

Him: I think floor nursing has always been considered for patients who stay overnight. The Units are just diagnostics and temporary places.

Me: So no socializing?

Him: Almost everyone is either working toward their masters or their NP, we got to socialize a little last night. It's not uncommon for people to be discussing research, publications, or working on policies.

Me: So no pumpkin decorating?

Him: There doesn't seem to be much of that, no. Apparently we've run out of our allotment for coffee, so now employees have to take turns bringing coffee and creamer and stuff.

Me: Was it overwhelming to start?

Him: It can still be completely overwhelming at any point. The more I'm learning the more answers I have. As I learn the protocols I'll get faster. Right now I'm just too slow.

Me: What do you miss most about Fallon Medical Complex?

Him: The people... everybody. Kodie, Dusty... all the friends I got to see everyday. It's not like I can go hunting with any of their husbands or anything.

Me: What's the most memorable thing that's happened at Loyola so far?

Him: There was a pretty rough incident this week involving a .357 magnum [I'm totally editing the details since it was FAR too gross for me to listen to].

Me: Are you excited to start working 7pm-7am this week?

Him: [LONG pause]

Me: Is "excited" the wrong word?

Him: It'll have it's good and bad sides I guess. We won't be needing babysitters... on the average I think there's a little more down-time at night. I was told it tends to fade out between 1-4am or 2-5am.

Me: So you'll be sitting on your butt?

Him: [eye roll] But all the truly weird [stuff] happens then. The bars let out at 2am, the MVA's happen and 2:30, and the shootings and crap happen after that.

Me: Anything else you think would be interesting for people to know about your job?

Him: I'm learning a ton, and, you know, that's the idea. Everyone gets an IV.

Even More Photos

I'm giving up on typing actual words. The baby is just so much more interesting than anything I could say. So... Enjoy!



"This is my not-so-little body! Look how long my legs are!"


Smile 1


Laughing.


Smile 2.


Balanced meals are very important. Pappy sits with Sawyer at the kitchen table for a nutritian lesson.


Koruba men. Lots of kisses.



Were you expecting that one? This was the last photo I took, as he was starting to seriously doubt how fun this photo session was.

Photos for Mom

Flickr has been annoying me lately, so you'll just have to see these photos here.



He LOVES his baby sling. And his cute face is just... so cute!!


Me and Sawyer, walking around the house, getting stuff done.


Sawyer and Auntie M. Melanie, that is!


Sawyer and his cousin Sahra.


Sawyer in his cowboy hat with Auntie Kathy. Kids love hats.


Sawyer in his cowboy outfit with his cousin Anina, Auntie Kathy, and Uncle Nemer.


In his baby swing with Auntie Lynnie. Very happy!!


Sawyer sleeps with his arms extended. Sometimes he smacks himself in the face while he's sleeping. Swaddling him helps this problem. Here, he is doing the mambo.


Daddy puts Sawyer in the sink before his bath so he can everything ready. The pink is my bathrobe as padding. He doesn't seem to mind this.

New Season...

poll by twiigs.com

Stay-At-Home

This morning was awesome. The baby fell asleep at 11pm last night- that's the earliest he's fallen asleep since he's been born. I slept well, and we both woke up at 9:30am. After morning smiles and conversation I straped Sawyer into his baby sling and started doing housework. I had to laugh at myself... wearing my 100% breastfed baby, folding our cotten cloth diapers, making the bed with organic sheets, eating a high protein diet and listening to Tibetian music to build Sawyer's brain.

I guess I'm turning into that mom.

Awake at 7am? (Distances)**

This new phenomenon of morning posting (the baby and I usually sleep from 3am-8am) is brought to you by a combination of the 2-month infant vaccines and a really bad nightmare about birds (specifically pterodactyls) breaking through frozen ponds and killing the people who live under the water.

Read this first. It took me a long time to put that list together, and people didn't believe it when I did. For reference sake, I'll make a kind of a chart:

From Plevna to McDonald's = 75 miles
From Here to McDonalds = 0.9 miles

From Plevna to UPS Store = 93.7 miles
From Here to UPS Store = 1.8 miles

From Plevna to Office Max = 215 miles
From Here to Office Max = 0.8 miles

From Plevna to Dairy Queen = 68.1 miles
From Here to Dairy Queen = 2.2 miles

From Plevna to Taco Bell = 127 miles
From Here to Taco Bell = 1.7 miles

From Plevna to Wal-mart = 75 miles
From Here to Wal-mart = 0.9 miles

From Plevna to ANY gas station = 13 miles
From Here to ANY gas station = 0.5 miles

From Plevna to THE grocery store (Reynolds) = 14 miles
From Here to A grocery store (Jewel/Osco) = 0.7 miles

From Plevna to THE bar = 0.4 miles
From Here to A bar = 0.5 miles

Winning the "Bar" category was enough to push Plevna into the winner's circle for this competition. That .1 mile is a big deal when you're walking home at 2am.

If you are a follower of my Nike+ progress you will note that ALL of my runs/walks are at least 1.0 mile long, with an average of about 2 miles per run/walk. So.... even if 2.5 miles from everything is a bit of an exageration, I could still easily walk there.

**This post was edited at 9:30 Saturday morning when Stephan and I realized that all of the Plevna miles were totally wrong. I put the original list together before we moved to Plevna. After living there for three years we know the distances much better and would NEVER have to look them up on line.

Hanging In Here

Stephan has been training at Loyola University Medical Center all week, and sort of enjoying it. It's a lot of review and paper work, but no time on The Floor yet. I've been home with Sawyer, battening down the immunity hatches. We've both been sick since Christmas, and this week was the worst for me. It's actually true what they say, lack of sleep does hurt your ability to fight off disease. After one 4-hour nap brought to me by my parents I thought I was cured. Things got worse after 3 nights without sleep (hello 2-month-old who hates to sleep! My name is Mommy!), then yesterday Stephan's parents showed up to allow me a nap, and... AND.... A.N.D..... the baby slept last night. Like, fell asleep at midnight, and only woke up at 3 and 6 to eat before waking up at 8:30 for real. Amazing.

Ok, ok, so I had him bundled in our bed, which is kinda like cheating. But after this sinus thing is over I promise to act like a real tough mom and make him sleep in his own bed at night.

Just not yet.