Ok, today, I'm going to talk to you about labor.
MIND YOU...
I did not personally, myself experience the pains of labor.
I was lucky enough to endure a scheduled Cesarean Section.
Lucky. Key word.
However, I did have tons of Braxton Hix contractions.
but they did not hurt. not one bit ;)
I had a scheduled section because
a) hailee would not drop/descend at all.
b) my blood pressure wanted to keep crawling up to the point they did not like it
c) malpractice is HUGE in obstetrics and no one wants a preeclamptic/ecclamptic on their hands
d) BECAUSE of my past surgery, they opted to just have me not go through the whole pushing phases so I wouldn't mess anything up on the inside.
I cannot tell you a lie - I was not sad in the least that I had to have a C-Section.
![]()
THIS was my first glimpse at the most incredible thing to ever happen to my life.
I cried.
And laughed.
And never pushed no not once.
I did almost go into shock in the recover room.
They kept me back there for almost 4 hours because my BP was dropping as was my temp and I had this special blanket on me but was shivering the whole time.
Crazy, crazy.
Enough about me!!!!
Let me tell you about my very, very last day in my Maternal/Child clinical rotation.
Labor and delivery.
Well, I'll begin by telling you that Labor & delivery is a touch and go kind of thing.
It's totally unpredictable.
And, it can be A LOT of waiting around for something to happen.
which is why I don't think I'd want to be a L&D nurse.
Postpartum, YES!!
{this will actually be my 1st choice when I apply for a nursing job next week ;)
PRAYERS PLEASE!!!!}
I had a VERY good L&D clinical experience.
aka there were lots of mama's in labor.
I had the privilege of helping with and watching 2 births on Monday and another 2 births on Tuesday.
it was a pure miracle.
Monday, they were both regular births - one with an epidural, one without {and OH, what a difference that epidural makes}
Tuesday, it was SUPPOSED to be one C-Section and the other, a mama I was following from that morning when she started her epidural and was supposed to be a natural birth.
not. so. much.
So, for the 1st day, I was around a lot of amniotic fluid.
Even after arriving at my home away from home and showering, I could still smell the pungent aroma of that amnion from all of the pt rooms I visited.
The miracle of bringing a new life into this world was just that - amazing and beautiful, despite it's messiness.
ALL moms and labors are different.
No one progresses the same as anyone else.
it was such an honor to be allowed in to help with and watch and care for these mothers about to welcome a(nother) child into her life.
Labor can be such a fickle process.
Painstaking to say the least - the amount of agony on these women's faces (pre-epidural) is like no other pain I've ever experienced.
Yet - yet...
I've been told that this is a pain that is easily forgotten the very moment that mom holds her squirming, crying child, covered in all the things that protected it those 40 weeks {ultimately 10 months} while she nurtured it in her womb.
and it sets in -
"YOU'RE FINALLY HERE!!!!"
And I did hear the mom's utter this very phrase to those tiny bundles wrapped in their arms.
Now, we're going to transition to the second day.
The mama I followed All Day Long.
Who pushed and pushed and pushed.
I talked to her soothingly and worked her through countless excruciating contractions (pre and post epidural).
I rubbed her arms, fed her ice chips, rubbed her legs, told her she was doing GREAT!! and told her to relax her whole body through the contractions...
We did this for a while.
We did this after all but one {another who was with the the whole time} in my clinical group got to go home.
We did this while the certified nurse midwife was there, trying to deliver that sweet baby.
We did this when she had to call the Obstetrician for a consult because push as she might, that baby would not MOVE {rotate} through the birth canal.
I could see the baby's head deep in the mother.
BUT - but....
We had to prepare mama for an emergency C-Section.
Oh. My. Goodness.
From there, things just got crazier and crazier.
It seemed like time flew and stood still at the same time.
I fumbled through placing a urinary catheter in preparation for the C-Section.
Everyone was running around trying to get everything ready and keep it all sterile for the immediate surgery that was to follow.
It was like I was holding my breath in anticipation for what this mama had to go through, so unprepared, so skewed from her original birth plan.
I stayed by her side and usually with {the bane of my existance} THE MASK {you know, the one you wear over your mouth and nose w/ surgeries and around sick people} I get sick, it did not phase me.
Not one bit.
This emergency section turned CRAZY, quick.
Mom had to be completely sedated.
Put. Under.
All we could do was stand on our stool at the edge of the operating room, watching the doctor pull miracles out of her sleeves - literally elbow deep into this woman.
Oh, it was amazing.
and beautiful.
and scary, and messy.
But I was WITH that mama the whole time.
I held her hand.
I talked her through it.
What a privilege.
WHAT AN HONOR!!
and she had a healthy, beautiful baby girl.
and she woke up from the surgery.
and that is all I know.
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Oh, this has been long.
and the only picture is of me and my C-section baby.
But those 2 days on Labor and Delivery were amazing.
And I learned stuff I've never known before.
And I got to perform my nursing skillz like CRAZY!!!
Sorry I didn't put my postpartum experience up here.
It was a good one too!!
It was THE REASON I want to be a Postpartum nurse.
The nurses on the Postpartum section were AH.Mazing.
And made me feel welcomed, and taught me, and Made me realize THAT is what I want to do!!!
Postpartum.
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
It is officially SPRING BREAK!!!!
And I celebrated by taking my {almost} 4 year old on a date to get fingerprinted for the NCLEX-RN and then to the mall for Build-A-Bear and lunch.
By the way, the new bear's name is "Cherry".
She is pink with snowflakes on her and has a dress, panties, shoes, bows, and if Hailee had her way, ... a bed, a car, and a headband..
But we stopped at the bows.
I feel like I'm finally getting caught up!!!
More later on the transition to the halfway point in my FINAL SEMESTER of nursing school!!!!
I'm gonna be a nurse y'all ;)
MIND YOU...
I did not personally, myself experience the pains of labor.
I was lucky enough to endure a scheduled Cesarean Section.
Lucky. Key word.
However, I did have tons of Braxton Hix contractions.
but they did not hurt. not one bit ;)
I had a scheduled section because
a) hailee would not drop/descend at all.
b) my blood pressure wanted to keep crawling up to the point they did not like it
c) malpractice is HUGE in obstetrics and no one wants a preeclamptic/ecclamptic on their hands
d) BECAUSE of my past surgery, they opted to just have me not go through the whole pushing phases so I wouldn't mess anything up on the inside.
I cannot tell you a lie - I was not sad in the least that I had to have a C-Section.
THIS was my first glimpse at the most incredible thing to ever happen to my life.
I cried.
And laughed.
And never pushed no not once.
I did almost go into shock in the recover room.
They kept me back there for almost 4 hours because my BP was dropping as was my temp and I had this special blanket on me but was shivering the whole time.
Crazy, crazy.
Enough about me!!!!
Let me tell you about my very, very last day in my Maternal/Child clinical rotation.
Labor and delivery.
Well, I'll begin by telling you that Labor & delivery is a touch and go kind of thing.
It's totally unpredictable.
And, it can be A LOT of waiting around for something to happen.
which is why I don't think I'd want to be a L&D nurse.
Postpartum, YES!!
{this will actually be my 1st choice when I apply for a nursing job next week ;)
PRAYERS PLEASE!!!!}
I had a VERY good L&D clinical experience.
aka there were lots of mama's in labor.
I had the privilege of helping with and watching 2 births on Monday and another 2 births on Tuesday.
it was a pure miracle.
Monday, they were both regular births - one with an epidural, one without {and OH, what a difference that epidural makes}
Tuesday, it was SUPPOSED to be one C-Section and the other, a mama I was following from that morning when she started her epidural and was supposed to be a natural birth.
not. so. much.
So, for the 1st day, I was around a lot of amniotic fluid.
Even after arriving at my home away from home and showering, I could still smell the pungent aroma of that amnion from all of the pt rooms I visited.
The miracle of bringing a new life into this world was just that - amazing and beautiful, despite it's messiness.
ALL moms and labors are different.
No one progresses the same as anyone else.
it was such an honor to be allowed in to help with and watch and care for these mothers about to welcome a(nother) child into her life.
Labor can be such a fickle process.
Painstaking to say the least - the amount of agony on these women's faces (pre-epidural) is like no other pain I've ever experienced.
Yet - yet...
I've been told that this is a pain that is easily forgotten the very moment that mom holds her squirming, crying child, covered in all the things that protected it those 40 weeks {ultimately 10 months} while she nurtured it in her womb.
and it sets in -
"YOU'RE FINALLY HERE!!!!"
And I did hear the mom's utter this very phrase to those tiny bundles wrapped in their arms.
Now, we're going to transition to the second day.
The mama I followed All Day Long.
Who pushed and pushed and pushed.
I talked to her soothingly and worked her through countless excruciating contractions (pre and post epidural).
I rubbed her arms, fed her ice chips, rubbed her legs, told her she was doing GREAT!! and told her to relax her whole body through the contractions...
We did this for a while.
We did this after all but one {another who was with the the whole time} in my clinical group got to go home.
We did this while the certified nurse midwife was there, trying to deliver that sweet baby.
We did this when she had to call the Obstetrician for a consult because push as she might, that baby would not MOVE {rotate} through the birth canal.
I could see the baby's head deep in the mother.
BUT - but....
We had to prepare mama for an emergency C-Section.
Oh. My. Goodness.
From there, things just got crazier and crazier.
It seemed like time flew and stood still at the same time.
I fumbled through placing a urinary catheter in preparation for the C-Section.
Everyone was running around trying to get everything ready and keep it all sterile for the immediate surgery that was to follow.
It was like I was holding my breath in anticipation for what this mama had to go through, so unprepared, so skewed from her original birth plan.
I stayed by her side and usually with {the bane of my existance} THE MASK {you know, the one you wear over your mouth and nose w/ surgeries and around sick people} I get sick, it did not phase me.
Not one bit.
This emergency section turned CRAZY, quick.
Mom had to be completely sedated.
Put. Under.
All we could do was stand on our stool at the edge of the operating room, watching the doctor pull miracles out of her sleeves - literally elbow deep into this woman.
Oh, it was amazing.
and beautiful.
and scary, and messy.
But I was WITH that mama the whole time.
I held her hand.
I talked her through it.
What a privilege.
WHAT AN HONOR!!
and she had a healthy, beautiful baby girl.
and she woke up from the surgery.
and that is all I know.
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Oh, this has been long.
and the only picture is of me and my C-section baby.
But those 2 days on Labor and Delivery were amazing.
And I learned stuff I've never known before.
And I got to perform my nursing skillz like CRAZY!!!
Sorry I didn't put my postpartum experience up here.
It was a good one too!!
It was THE REASON I want to be a Postpartum nurse.
The nurses on the Postpartum section were AH.Mazing.
And made me feel welcomed, and taught me, and Made me realize THAT is what I want to do!!!
Postpartum.
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
It is officially SPRING BREAK!!!!
And I celebrated by taking my {almost} 4 year old on a date to get fingerprinted for the NCLEX-RN and then to the mall for Build-A-Bear and lunch.
By the way, the new bear's name is "Cherry".
She is pink with snowflakes on her and has a dress, panties, shoes, bows, and if Hailee had her way, ... a bed, a car, and a headband..
But we stopped at the bows.
I feel like I'm finally getting caught up!!!
More later on the transition to the halfway point in my FINAL SEMESTER of nursing school!!!!
I'm gonna be a nurse y'all ;)