Time flies like an arrow - Fruit flies like a banana

WOW! My daughter and her 4 babies (ages 5, 3, 2, and 12 weeks) were here for 4 weeks. It was wild and wonderful. We had the opportunity to go to the ocean, go to the swimming hole, go GeoCaching, eat great food and just be together! It was crazy. I had work as I have taken too much time off this year already, but I was able to spend some wonderful time with them. My husband was able to go and play and do everyday with them. We so wish that we could live closer together. Virginia to Oregon is just too far.
I did some nice births while they were here and didn't have anything too hairy come up so it is good. I did however get really far behind in my administrivia. It was difficult to stay and do paperwork when I knew that they were all having fun without me. So I tended to leave the paperwork for later and now am paying the price tremendously. Oh well - it will all get done eventually.

Wedding wisdom and Off Call

We had our anniversary last weekend. I was on call and at the hospital for part of the weekend. While there I shared with the nurses that it was my 34th wedding anniversary. I was asked how I made it last. Further thoughts on that question brought up the following key points:
1) NEVER go to bed mad.
2) Be best friends before you become lovers.
3) Most importantly - Don't attribute to malice what can be accounted for by pure stupidity.


This weekend I'm not on call!!!! I am so happy to be off. Today I had a nice day with my husband and we just worked around the house and did a bit of shopping. It was productive and peaceful. What a pleasure. I've had some really nice births recently and have been rewarded with some less hectic times in the office as well. The biggest stress in my life is the fact that my professional licenses are up for renewal soon and I need continuing education. Thank goodness for the Internet - I can do classes there and keep up with the world at large. Our grandchildren are coming tomorrow and will be staying with us for 1 month. I'm so excited. The down side is that I have to continue to work during the day. Too bad for me, but I'll be home in the evenings.

Politics

Yes, it is hard to believe that there are politics, even in birth. Mostly it is the interpersonal stuff between the nurses and the practitioners (physicians and midwives). Sometimes it is between the family and the practitioner or the different members of the family and the patient. It is all about manipulation and spin on the situation or the information. I get really sick of it. I just want to catch babies and have nice births - not get into a pissing contest with someone over doing a job, entering a room, viewing the birth or not, holding the baby or any of a number of other inane trivialities. We need to talk nice to one another, go the next step, treat others as we want to be treated and above all remember that no one is more important than anyone else. Everyone has a purpose in life, even if it is hard to see what that might be in the moment.

Thoughts and meanderings

I love my job. I love what I do. I have decided I don't like being tired. I have done a delivery in the night every night for the last week. I have worked in the office Monday thru Thursday seeing patients and Friday doing administrivia. I am on call 24/7 as my midwife partner is out of town. I'm tired and I'm tired of calls in the middle of the night. Hum, it is hard to do midwifery care without being available. I'm also tired of not being able to get out of dodge at the drop of a hat. When I'm on call, I need to be able to get to the hospital within 15 minutes. Rarely do I get to do a delivery as soon as I get there - mostly I need to be there to labor sit. My patients are reassured having me there with them insuring that they get to do the things that they want. I'm good with this until I get really tired and then sometimes I get cranky. Mostly, I keep the cranky to myself. Occasionally it creeps out as jaded sarcasm to the answering service or the nurses with whom I work. Alas, I will probably be tired for a while. I'm on call next weekend too.

More birthing

I've had a couple of really nice births - fast, pleasant, and easy and a couple of strange things - an undiagnosed breech picked up by ultrasound for amniotic fluid volume and a cord around the neck 3 times. Go figure. Part of the excitement of this job is that it is never boring.

Punished for being good.

My partner and I are considered easy to work with. We do a nice calm birth. We labor sit with our patients, and help out the nurses as we can. Because of this we are often working with new/less experienced nurses. I love teaching. I love birthing. However, It seems unreasonable that we (the midwives) should continuously be labor training nurses. That means we have to be extra alert to see that everything we need in case of an emergency is in the room for the birth. That means we have to be planning ahead for extra help if the new nurse doesn't know what is expected. That means we check all the standard equipment and set ups to be sure that they are correct. That means we are doing our own job and our own charting plus the new nurses thinking. It is being punished for being good at what we do. This is a very frustrating experience.

Revelations

It has been a while, and I'm not sure where this is all going. I have seen two or three law suits in the newspaper which included blog sites. I've given it lots of thought and am concerned that I too might be included in that category. I initially thought that blogging would be a great way to put some of my thoughts and frustration in order and perhaps get feedback if anyone in the world read them. Now I know that although it might be therapeutic for me, it also could be harmful. I feel that I have to limit my commentary. I'm still delivering babies, and for the most part still loving it.