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Friday, March 30, 2012

10 things NOT to do at a doctor's office

There are things that happen at my job on a regular basis that drive me INSANE that I've got to get our of my system. Just a few tips on what not to do the next time you go to the doctor.

10. Do not ask a nurse for a cup. Why do you need a cup? If you have a kid, why don't you bring your OWN cup to the doctor? We don't have time to go back to the kitchen every 20 minutes to find you a cup. It's particularly annoying that I sit RIGHT by the water fountain where you are more than welcome to stand there and drink water from it for as long as you desire.

9. Don't make your kid take their shoes off for height and weight if they're wearing lace up shoes and they can't take them on or off by themselves in less than 30 seconds. It takes too long and the 5 ounces it adds to your weight and the 1/2 an inch it adds to your height does not in any way alter our course of treatment. It is not vital to your office visit that you be shoeless!! It drives me NUTS!

8. I don't need to know what medications your child USED to be on. When we ask for current meds, it truly means CURRENT meds. If they took their last dose of antibiotics 3 weeks ago, it's irrelevant to today's appointment.

7. Don't let your kid tear the table paper into a million little pieces. Although entertaining for them, it's SO aggrivating to have to vaccum a room between each patient. It's called etiquette. And if you do let them do it, have the decency to clean it up yourself.

6. If there's a sign up that says no food or drink.........well, it's self-explanitory. It means EXACTLY that. Does anyone FOLLOW the sign?!? No. I don't want to pick up a million goldfish that got crushed into the carpet or have to explain to people that the huge puddle of fluid soaked into the floor is actually someone's 32 oz QT drink that spilled and not vomit. We're nurses, not maids. Respect the signs people. They're there for a reason.

5. Do not answer your cell phone while you're being called back to a room. We don't have time to wait until you're done talking about the chicken thawing in the sink or how mad you are that some (insert cuss word here) cut you off while you were driving. It's SO rude to ignore the person who is trying to medically evaluate you while you're chit-chatting away.

4. Don't lie about your medications or your kids' medications. If you stopped giving them, we WILL find out. There are blood tests for those kind of things, folks. If you tell me you SWEAR you took your medicine but your blood level is zero, guess what. You're caught!! Hahahaha.......I love seeing people's faces when that happens.

3. Don't lie about how much caffeine you drink, whether you're sexually active or if you smoke anything. We don't really care, we have to ask for insurance and medication purposes. Why are people so embarrassed to answer those questions? Some parents act like we'll turn them in to SRS if we know they give their kid caffeine. Also, if they don't drink caffeine, I don't need to know that they drink juice, milk, water, gatorade, sprite, rootbeer, etc. A simple yes or no will do. Thanks!

2. Don't ask me if anyone is in the bathroom. I don't know. I'm a nurse, not a bathroom monitor. Just because my desk is by the bathroom (which is the worst possible location for a nurse's station) doesn't mean I sit and watch what every person who walks past my desk is doing.  I'll give you the #1 best way to find out if the bathroom is already occupied. Wiggle the handle and knock! If someone answers, don't go in. If the door is locked, wait your turn. Who would've thought, right?! So simple, yet so many people seem to not do this.

And the number 1 thing that drives me up a wall and straight to crazy town................................

1. Do not---I repeat do NOT-- show up 30 minutes early and then when it's 5 minutes past your appt time be rude and nasty to everyone and ask the receptionist how long it's going to be until you're seen and that you've been waiting for 40 minutes. You can't expect to be seen early just because you show up early. And if I find out you're complaining, I'll be sure to take my time getting you called back :) Don't be early to ANY appts. Trust me, it never pays off :) Be on time. And if you find a doctor who runs on time, let me know and I'll start going there.


Okay, now that I can rest assured you've all been taught proper doctor appointment procedures, I can relax. It's just that these things happen EVERY day and to me, they're common sense, but apparently 90 % of the world doesn't have common sense :)

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

22 weeks today

How Far Along? 22 weeks


Maternity Clothes? Yeah, but in DIRE need of new ones. Most of mine were winter maternity clothes  with Tommy so I am really struggling to find cool summer clothes.

Weight Gain? 1 lb
Stretch Marks? None that weren't already there

Gender? Girl
Sleep? Eh.....it's been okay. Not perfect, but I expected that will all the bathroom frequenting I've been doing at night.
Food Cravings? Nothing really this week.

What I Miss? Relaxing and napping.
Symptoms? Sleepy, a little tightening in my baby-carrying area :), occasional nausea
Movement? Absolutely. All the time.
Belly Button? In

Worst moment of the week? Thinking something was wrong with Tessa when I didn't feel her move for several hours.

Best Moment of the Week? Feeling her kick like crazy after my scare on Saturday.
Scariest Moment of the Week? See worse moment of the week answer.

Monday, March 26, 2012

Why being a mom scares the $*&# out of me

So I had a little scare on Saturday. Tessa's not even born yet and she's already giving me heart attacks. Let me start by saying she is a mover. Like, a non-stop, at least once an hour EVERY hour, hard-kicking kind of mover. I can feel her all day when I'm sitting at my desk. She even does little body rolling maneuvers and flips and whatnot. Stuff that Tommy didn't start doing until WAAAAAY further down the road :)

But I digress. I woke up Saturday morning and started getting ready for the day. I was picking up Tommy from my mom's and then we were going to El Dorado to garage sale and pick up some clothes from the Facebook swap (yes, I'm addicted. It's online garage saleing YEAR ROUND people!!!). I realized about halfway to Towanda that I hadn't felt her move yet. It was almost 10:30am and usually by then, I've felt her kicking up a storm. I started paying really close attention and immediately started worrying. For the next hour, I still didn't feel anything. Right before we left Towanda, I went to Gambino's to get a pop to see if the caffeine could get her moving. While we were in the car, me and my mom prayed (which I'd been doing on my own since I realized she hadn't moved) that I would feel movement so I could relax. She kicked one little tiny kick while we were praying and I relaxed...........for awhile. But then 2 hours later, she hadn't kicked again and I'd had a full glass of Pepsi. So of COURSE, I started worrying again. We prayed again and God made her little legs kick lightly during the prayer. It's like I KNOW He was telling me to relax and that she was okay, but human nature got the best of me. That was around 1:30pm when I felt her kick during the second prayer. I payed close attention all day and by 6:30pm or so, I started crying and got really upset because I hadn't felt her. Everyone kept telling me it was okay, not to worry, babies need to sleep too, etc, etc. But my concern wasn't compared to OTHER babies. My  concern was that for TESSA, the lack of movement was extremely abnormal. I literally feel her constantly. She's super active at night, but she moves at least once an hour if not more. So my worry was coming from the fact that it was several hours between each kick.

Then Nick suggested I drink some of my sweet tea (that has recently become my addiction). He got me a glass and I downed it and layed really still on my side. I prayed and prayed that SOMETHING would happen. And about 20 minutes later, it did! She started rolling and kicking and punching. It was the best thing I've ever felt. Ever.  I know I probably came across as silly to everyone, but being a mom is literally the scariest thing in the world. Even THINKING about something being wrong with Tessa sent me into panic mode. Tommy and Tessa (and Nick, but in a different way) are my whole world. Have you heard that saying that once you become a mother it's like having your heart walk around outside your body? It's true. They own me--I think about them every hour of every day (except when I'm sleeping, which is becoming less and less every night :). I love them in a way I know I will never love anyone else. It's indescribable, really. And scary! Scary to think about all the things that can happen to them. But I know if I dwell on those things, I'll miss the fun and joy they bring to my life.

So I'm now thanking God every time I feel her move and trying SO hard not to worry about every little thing. It's a daily work in progress and totally worth every moment :)

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Randoms

It's Thursday already! Hallelujah!! I can't wait for the weekend to get here.

*I'm loving the rain. I know everyone else is sick of it, but I enjoy it.

*I'm so very tired. I woke up at 4:30am and couldn't sleep again until around 6am. Miserable. Little girl, you are worth it, but you're wearing me out!!

*the last few weeks have been very sad at work. We've had 3 patient's die (from their diseases, not from anything we did) and 2 mom's of 2 of our regular patient's die. It's heartbreaking. One of them was a sweet little baby boy that I loved seeing come in here and his parents just absolutely adored him. I can't imagine their heartache right now.

*My arm is super sore today. Last night, I was the last one to leave work so I was trying to close the blinds and they fell down on me! They're really heavy and metal and it hurt my arm so bad! Stupid blinds.

*I've been buying clothes for Tessa. Lots and lots of clothes. Bad Brady.

*I want to cut my hair but I'm scared. I think it would look okay but then I have to be in Brooke's wedding in August and I don't want it to be too short for that. And it takes FOR-EH-VER for my hair to grow, so I'm afraid to do anything to it now.

*I have ideas of what I want to do in Tommy and Tessa's shared bedroom. It took me forever to decide they would share but now I can't WAIT to start decorating it!!As long as it turns out like it seems in my head :)

*Something needs to be done with all of my pictures. And soon. I have too many on my camera that are just sitting there.

*I wish I was still in school and that I was on Spring Break. That would be awesome.

*I realized a blog I have been reading is about a little girl that we see in the office! She's the cutest and I love reading her story so it was neat to meet the family in person.

*My friend needs prayers. She has a lump on her neck that keeps growing--like you can see it right behind her ear. It's crazy and she's scared. They've already tried antibiotics and now they're sending her for an MRI. Pray that it's nothing serious!!

My mind is too tired for anymore randoms. Hope everyone is having a a great week!

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

21 weeks

Well, I stole this form from my friend Stacia who's due with a little baby boy about 4 days before me! I like the idea of having a weekly tracking of my pregnancy (even though I'm starting halfway through it :).

How Far Along? 21 weeks (and 1 day--but who's counting)

Maternity Clothes? Wearing maternity pants. No shirts yet. But we're getting there. I was pregnant in the winter with Tommy, so I need to buy some summer shirts.

Weight Gain? 0 lbs. Nothing so far!!

Stretch Marks? Nope

Gender? Girl :)

Sleep? Sucky. I'm tired of peeing.

Food Cravings? Barbeque sauce!! Craving it so bad I could almost drink it!

What I Miss? Loose pants.

Symptoms? Mild nausea if I get overly hungry.......been having some dizziness too

Movement? Geez. When is this kid NOTmoving? She's all over.

Belly Button? In

Worst moment of the week? Putting on a pair of scrub pants and realizing how tight they were. And drinking my glucose drink for my gestational diabetes test. Disgusting.

Best Moment of the Week? Nick being able to feel the baby! It took forever because she always stops when it's anyone's hand but mine on there, but he FINALLY felt a little kick.

Scariest Moment of the Week? Thinking about Nick still being on 3rd and me being at home with a newborn and 1 year old all night.
 
I went to the OB today and as mentioned, had my gestational diabetes test. The nurse was surprised they ordered it because it usually isn't done until 26 weeks, but the doctor wasn't there yet, so they just did it. Hopefully they won't say it's too early and make me do it again at 26 weeks. Note to self: don't drink glucose drink on a completely empty stomach. Everything was good. She measured normal and her heartbeat was 154. Loved getting to hear it!

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

14 months

Today, Tommy is 14 months going on 15 years old. Oh my. My cute little blessing sure is a bad boy sometimes :)

Tommy, at 14 months, you are:

*about 26 lbs--hasn't changed too much since you were about 10 months old :) You're in the 75% tile for weight.

*30 inches--the growing is slowing down quite a bit. You're only in the 25% tile in height! I think you just have really long legs. Your torso is kinda short but your legs....they're outgrowing your pants :)

*in size 12 month clothes for the most part. You can do some 18 month stuff but I just bought you a pair of 18 month jean shorts that slide right off your hiney. So we'll be doing a lot of trying on before we buy stuff.

*wearing size 5 diapers. They're pretty big on you but the fours were getting too short to fasten without cutting across your legs.

*on your 3rd haircut!! Your hair grows insanely fast. And when it's too long, it gets all curly and you look like a homeless child who's seen better days :) Don't get me wrong, you're still insanely adorable with long hair, but I can't stand when it curls over your collar or your ears.

Before the haircut.......
This picture doesn't quite capture the essence of your hairdo
During the haircut
You were startled the whole time :) You did NOT like Daddy cutting your hair.
And after the haircut:

Like a whole new kid!! I want it a little longer on top next time, but this time was our first to do it ourselves, so we experimented a little. You're welcome :) And get used to it as the firstborn.
*seeming to get a HUGE attitude lately. You were sick for awhile, so we thought it was related to that but you're feeling better and the fit throwing has not stopped. Is it possible for the terrible twos to hit 10 months early?!? You're 90% sweet Tommy and 10% "make mommy hide her eyes because she's afraid a demon is making an appearance" Tommy. You go from super happy to throwing a fit over the smallest things. Oh man. I'm praying for patience during those episodes.

*refusing to eat meat. You spit it out all the time. Sometimes we can trick you into eating it if it's mixed in REALLY well with other stuff, but if we try to give you a bit of hamburger or chicken, it goes right back out onto the floor.

*finally getting over your illness (as mentioned above). About a week and a hal ago, we had a REALLY bad night. On a Wednesday night, you woke up from a nap and refused to stand. You wouldn't bear any weight on your legs. You cried whenever I touched your feet. You just sat in my lap all night and wouldn't let me touch your legs at all. It freaked me out because I thought something was wrong with your muscles. Then you started running a fever around 101. I gave you ibuprofen and we went to bed but you woke up every hour crying and whining. Which means we got about an hour of sleep total the whole night. I stayed home from work the next day and you kept running your fever and acted like a zombie. Totally sad. Dad took you to the doctor on Friday because you had started coughing and you had a lot of congestion. They diagnosed you with a sinus infection and started you on amoxicillin. It seems to have helped for the most part. You still have a very wet cough, but are otherwise doing well.

 *LOVING being able to play outside! You cry and scream when it's time to go inside. You would follow dad around and talk to the doggy all day if you could. We've gone down to the pond a few times and you have so much fun!





*so smart. You're not really talking yet, but you understand 95% of what we say to you. You also know what to do with most things. For example, you saw my straightener out the other day and started using it on your hair (dad wasn't too happy about that but I thought it was smart!). You love "helping" mommy. If I give you wet clothes from the washer you know to put them in the dryer. You always try to "help" when I'm loading the dishwasher. You throw things away, pick up your toys, brush your own teeth (after mommy does it good, of course), "kiss the baby" (mommy's tummy) and so many other things.

*still only saying about 4 words and that's only when you want to. Mama, Dada, nana and dog. But I SWEAR that yesterday you said, "Yub oo (love you)." It was awesome.You said it 3 or 4 times but I didn't believe you were really saying it until the last time when you gave me a BIG ole kiss and I said, "Love you, bubba!" And you looked right at me and said, "Yub oo." Wishful thinking? Maybe. But I'm pretty sure you said it.

*so funny and sweet :) You used to be really stingy with your kisses, but now you're giving them out like crazy. When I tell you I love you, you run over and give me a kiss. You've just been really snuggly and sweet (when you're not throwing a fit :) and I love it!! This is your kissy face:
You go full on, mouth open for kisses :)

*doing pretty good at learning body parts. You know your nose, ears, belly and tongue. Your tongue is the funniest because you stick it out and smile and laugh like you're the funniest person in the world. And you are :) Also, when we say, "Tommy, how big are you?" you throw your hands up in the air to show us and then you start clapping. It's the cutest  (to me, of course)!

Overall, you are one awesome little boy to be around. I'm learning a lot about parenting and trying to be patient right now with your fits and tantrums. You stretch me in ways I didn't know were possible and teach me how to love more than I ever thought I could. I get so excited to come home and see you every day. I love cuddling you until you fall asleep (although we might have to find something new when Tessa comes--maybe we can all cuddle to sleep!). I love waking up and seeing your little face, even when it's a grumpy face. We pray a lot together--for daddy, for safety, for our familes and for our attitudes. We have a lot of come-to-Jesus meetings when we're BOTH having a bad day. I love you so much, buddy. I can't imagine life without your little kisses and hugs and squeals and giggles.

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Whining.....it's what I do sometimes

This past few weeks have been exceptionally long. There's no other word but exhausting. Tommy got really sick on Wednesday night. He was super snotty-nosed, crying, drooling, etc. Right before bed, I noticed he was running a fever, so I gave him some ibuprofen. We were up every hour. I think I literally slept 45 mintues to an hour the whole night. I've expressed this before, but it infuriates me that with ALL the medications out there, there is no decongestant or cold medication for babies. WHY?!? All the allergy meds (zyrtec, benedryl, claritin) weren't fixing the problem. He had a stinkin cold, not allergies. But at least the ibuprofen helped the fever. He was sick all day Thursday and I had to stay home and take care of him. He was super whiny all day and I was beyond tired, so there were no words for the duo we made :) . I'm thinking he was teething because the drooling was beyond what I've ever seen before. I think I changed his shirt 3 times that day because it got soaked. Poor baby. He finally got better Friday. At least, his fever was gone. He's had diarrhea since Thursday but I think that's due to lack of eating much, especially solids. We've been pushing a bland diet and pedialyte and he FINALLY seems to have gotten his appetite back today.

This weekend was supposed to be fun and relaxing because Nick had Friday night off of work. I was so excited!! And then he got sick. He slept almost all day Saturday and Sunday because he caught the cold and fever Tommy had. So needless to say, we didn't get to spend a ton of quality time together. Oh well. Hopefully some other time. It gets so hard not to see him for more than an hour or two at a time. I feel bad for him that his one full weekend off got ruined by illness. I did get a chance for a little fun though. I took some "save the date" pictures of Brooke and Michael and they turned out great. Then Michael's mom cooked a fabulous and tasty dinner, so that was nice since nothing else turned out the way we planned for that weekend.

I had a dream on Saturday night that was awesome and sad, all at the same time. We were at a family function that was being held in some kind of community building. My grandma yelled at all of us to go out in the courtyard because Mitt Romney was there :) Don't ask. I have no idea what he's about or why he was in my dream, but he was. She wanted us to all go out there and hug him. So we did. When I came back in, my aunt Becky was standing in the room. She passed away almost a year ago (it'll be a year in a week or so). But there she was, in the flesh! Twirling her hair and laughing. I saw her and immediately started hugging her and crying. She held me for awhile and then said, "Okay, okay, now you're just embarrassing me with all this crying!" She patted my back and then said, "I know it's sad, but I'm okay now!" And she was smiling and so happy. She told me to quit crying and go take care of my babes :) I woke up crying and cried for the next hour and a half because I was happy that it seemed like she was letting me know she was better off in Heaven, but it's so terribly sad not to have her here. The dream was bittersweet, that's for sure. But she IS better off. No pain, no illness, no problems of the world. Just her and Jesus and my grampy, living in eternity.

I've missed church the last few weeks because of various reasons and I think it's really starting to wear on me. I NEED to go to get my weekly fuel and I can definitely tell when I don't. Satan gets a foot hold here and there and does what he can to add to my stress and tiredness. Stupid devil.

Here's to hoping this week is better than the last few. It's been good so far. Fingers crossed!!

And just because I love him.........a picture of the boy doing the double binky. That's right, folks. Two binkies in one mouth! Now that's talent :)

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Lame

I feel lame because I have absolutely nothing interesting to blog about. Nothing. Our weekend was a normal boring weekend. Nothing super exciting is going on right now. I AM enjoying this warmer weather we've been having FINALLY! It's a little windy for my taste, but nice.

I haven't been sleeping well at all. The peeing has taken over my nights and for some reason, I've been waking up at 5:30 or 6am and can't go back to sleep. SUPER sucky.

So today I will give you pictures of my awesome kid because he's the best thing going on in my life right now :)

We had a great Valentine's day with him :) His first one was last year, but he was less than a month old, so of course, he had no idea what was going on. This year he got to open his love presents and fully enjoyed it. He got a balloon from Nana that will NOT deflate. Seriously, it lasted like 3 weeks. And I HATE balloons. Something about them drives me nuts.

He's the funniest kid. Truly. I know, I know, you probably think your kid is funnier than mine and that's okay. But really, I laugh at him all the time! I love all the faces he makes when I pull my camera out.


I could just kiss his little face all day! Ladies, look out. He's gonna be a heart breaker! I mean, who wouldn't fall for a sweet blond with blue eyes in Thomas the Train jammies?!?




Trying out his "smart look" so he can impress Mallory with his knowledge and worldly travels :)



And are you ready for the big kicker? The picture of all pictures? Just to give you a little back ground--we picked up these rain boots from a lady my mom cleans for $1 (a steal since they're almost brand new and osh kosh!!) and he LOVES them. Like, every time he sees them he screams until we put them on. So one night, he got out of the bath tub, saw the boots and this was the result :)


I will SO use this as blackmail some day :)