Lets Talk Baby Take 3

So. It’s that season of life again where we talk about expanding the family. I have been itching for another baby for way over a year now but I just knew it was something that was near impossible to get started on with everything that was going on. Last year hubby and I had a serious talk about the matter at hand and we agreed that 2018 would be the year to make a baby.

Now, I know what you are all thinking. What about nursing school? Right? Well friends. I’m officially six months away from graduation, God willing. We are definitely not trying to make a baby at this exact time, we’re just starting the process.

I had my mirena removed yesterday. Which on another note, although I was aware that 2018 would be the year and I had decided on removing it around this time way back in the fall, now that it’s officially out I’m sort of freaking out which is a whole other subject. We are planning to hopefully conceive by summer time but my reason for wanting to remove the mirena now is that I want to regulate my menstrual cycle. I haven’t had a cycle in over three years and I want to have some control on when it all happens as well as have my body have a somewhat normal and well balanced hormones levels. Kind of just allowing my body to function as normal as possibly.

This is all so exciting y’all! Although I would love love love a little girl the idea of being a mom to three boys is not as dounting as I might have imagined several years ago. I’m sure that it’s going to be big deal around these parts since we’re the only ones with just boys at this time. But believe it or not I have come to peace with the idea of being a mom of boys and the Queen of the house.

We have so many goals and plans for 2018 and I pray they all work out according to plan and God’s will of course. The boys are super excited to have another sibling. AJ more so than Steven because Steven feels that we’re “going to forget about him” hahaha that child of ours doesn’t realize that he is as special as they come or how blessed we are to call him our firstborn. Although I’m a little sad that they will all have such big gaps in ages, I wish they would of been a little closer together but at last this is the way things turned out.

I think that the hardest part of all this is accepting that this could possibly be my last pregnancy. The last time my body will do this wonderful job of stretching and growing and nurturing another human being. That is sad to come term with but I’m not going to get ahead of myself. I don’t know what the future holds. I’m just praying for a healthy and happy pregnancy and baby.

I’m considered a high risk momma so my OB referred me to Maternal Fetal Medicine and I have an appointment there in two weeks to discuss “the plan” for this pregnancy. I would really appreciate prayers and healthy pregnancy and baby wishes because my mind is already racing😩. But I have to believe that God’s plan are better than mine and he knows what he’s doing.

Ok. So here we go, on to baby number 3!

Mom/Baby Rotation

It's no secret that I am a lover of everything women. I believe that us women are amazing! we juggle so much within our home, family, career, social, and personal life etc and our bodies are just beyond amazing to say the least. The simple fact that we can grow another human life within us, stretch our bodies to its full capacity, birth an infant, and better yet contract our uterus from the size of a watermelon down to the size of a plum. I don't know about you but that's just fascinating! :) not to mention that if we so desire we can provide a well balanced diet (through our breast milk) to that tiny human for the first year of it's life. I mean come on now, God knew exactly what he was doing when he chose to give us women this type of responsibility hehehe. No offence to any men out there, of course that you are a vital part of this process too, your support is greatly appreciated ;)

Now back to the subject at hand. 

I have always been interested in women's health. That's the reason why I started my journey in the medical field and ever since then I have looked forward to this rotation like you would not believe.

On the first day of class I arrived about an hour early. I walked in the classroom and this overwhelming happiness covered my whole body. I honestly can't even begin to describe it, is like when you know it's meant to be. I kid you not, ask my professors, every day during class I had a smile from ear to ear. I'm not even exaggerating, I promise you. By the end of class my cheeks were sore, I truly enjoyed every minute of this rotation.

I have no complaints on my clinical experience. Every week had it's own excitement and I was able to experience and learn something new.

Week Two: I was put on triage. I was a bit bored at first mainly because it felt like the time was dragging but it didn't take long before things began to change. So much so that I  ended my day in an emergency C-section. My very first C-section! I was wowed. I was amazed. I was in love. This same week I went to the perinatal center for high risk expectant moms. Not too much excitement there which is a good thing. I had also previously worked in a perinatal center a couple of years ago and had seen some pretty cool yet unfortunate things. 

Week Three: I spent the day with a visiting nurse. This experience was special for me because I had been on this program when I was pregnant with my first baby and it was that nurse who inspired me to pursue a career in nursing. I remember telling myself, one day I am going to do her job. My second clinical day this week I was assigned to a patient in the delivering unit who was in labor with her first baby. She was a champ! Although I had seen multiple vaginal deliveries in the past, I had never seen a vacuum assisted delivery and boy was that interesting. This time around instead of following the nurse after the baby was delivered, I stood around by the doctor's side to wait for the delivery of the placenta and the repair that needed to be done. Again, our bodies are just out of this world!

Week Four: I had my clinical experience in the NICU. I had already been to the NICU in my Peds rotation and had a much better experience that time around but I still did find that extra tiny humans were my thing. So much so that I am considering doing my preceptorship in the NICU. This week I had the pleasure of attending the SNAP Convention (Student Nurse Association of Pennsylvania) that was held in Poconos, PA. We were there three days and everything was awesome. I had attended the 2016 convention n Lancaster, PA and it to was a great experience. I'm glad I had the opportunity to attend this event. 

Week Five: No clinical due to Thanksgiving break. 

Week Six & Seven: I was assigned to the postpartum side of the unit and was paired with a nurse to care for both moms and babies after the delivery. That was an interesting experience all on its own. Thankfully there were no major complications with any of our moms but I did get to watch several babies get circumcised. Yikes! Traumatizing a bit :-/ overall it was an amazing experience. 

Early in the semester I had met with the program coordinator and we talked about my future goals in using and what my area of interest was. I mentioned how much I loved OB and how excited I was for the rotation but that I was curious to see whether I would love it as much as I thought I did or if I would have a change of heart. Well my friends I'm happy to inform you that not only do I still love OB but I think that I love it even more after that rotation. 

I look forward on starting my career in something that I feel so passionate about. My goal is to grow within this specialty. There are so many different areas that I am interest in that it'll be be interesting to see where I actually end up and the course that this journey will take me on. At this moment my biggest issue is deciding whether I want to start in OB right after graduation or if I should dedicate a couple of years to Med/Surg nursing before specializing. I don't think I can go wrong with either choice but I do want the best possible nursing experience throughout my nursing career. More than anything I want to be the best possible nurse that I can be and offer my patients the best possible care. 

:)

What a difference a year makes *vol 2

This post was meant to be published on 12.10.17 yet it seems I scheduled it and never actually clicked "publish".

 

Bittersweet.

This week has been full of mixed emotions. Last year at this exact time I was dealing with major anxiety and disappointment. I wasn't doing so good in school, and I needed a really high grade in my final exam to pass the course. Needless to say that that I didn't pass.

I remember sitting on the edge of my bed when I received the notification that grades were in. I was actually packing for our trip to Mexico. I was so nervous that I even contemplated waiting till we got back from Mexico to view my grade but a classmate that had been helping me study messaged me as I sat there starring at my phone. We went back and forth talking about grades and reasons why I should or shouldn't open up the grade book. When she finally told me her grade I just knew that I was F@$#ed! there was no way I had scored higher than her and I knew I needed my grade to be way higher then what she had passed the final with.

I finally logged in and within seconds tears filled my eyes. I got a big lump on my throat and my whole body began to shake. I sent her my grade and she called me immediately. I couldn't hold back the tears and I cried like never before. We talked for over an hour as she tried consoling me and lifting up my spirit but it wasn't helping. I remember I kept saying "It's okay. I'm okay" but deep down I was crushed. I cried a while longer and then said a prayer, after all there was nothing else I could have done besides accept the facts.

A year later and after retaking the course I am proud to say that I passed with a 90.6% and I just completed 2 out of 4 specialty rotations. We are also sitting in the airport as I type this waiting for our flight back to Mexico. Last year we traveled to Mexico to celebrate hubby's 30th birthday and we loved it so much that we decided to return and bring the kiddos along. We are convinced that our boys will love Mexico just as much.

Personally I feel that this year has brought me so much growth. I loved seeing how the year unfolded. Last December I was crushed, depressed, and disappointed. It was BAD! I tried staying focused and started the year with a positive outlook in life but I won't deny that I had my moments of despair. Overall it was a good year. A year of healing, which I truly do believe really helped me accept the facts as well as to fight for what I truly wanted.

And as I sit here, looking at my boys excitement and my hubby zoned in to his music, I can't help but to feel blessed and to be thankful for the many things that can change in just one year. I love to reflect on the moments in my life when I felt the world was crumbling down on me and to see how God's Mercy and Grace have fallen on me. To see how true is the verse Roman 8:28, how God uses everything, whether good or bad, to work together for good.

Thank You Jesus!

Word of the Year: Patience

the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset. -as stated by Google.

That's my word for 2018. 

This was actually pretty easy to decide on. All through 2017 I noticed that I had little to no patience. I wanted things to happen right away and I wanted nothing more than to just get through whatever I was working at at the moment. Whether it was with school, buying a new home, getting pregnant, working, saving more, you name it! I also noticed that my patience was very limited with my own children. I would get mad often and I would lose control faster than I should have which would then make me feel guilty and like the worse mother ever. So as 2017 ended and I gave thought to what word I wanted to embrace on the new year and patience was screaming right at me. 

Last year my word was Healing. I was emotionally crushed in so many ways and while at church early that year the message that particular Sunday convinced me that I needed spiritual healing in my life and all through the year I prayed and searched for ways to heal my soul and believe it or not by the end of 2017 I felt the change.

Ever since I started doing a word of the year I've concluded that by the end of that particular year I was able to gain a new perspective in life. It has seriously been one of the best idea ever invented. So thank you to whom ever came up with this, this has truly been a great way to grow and mature year after year. 

So here's to 2018, the year of being patience and allowing life to do its work :) 

Past Word of the Year:

2015 Grace

2016 Faith

2017 Healing

Hello 2018

Happy New Year!

I am beyond excited on starting this new year. Want to know why? Well because 2018 will be a year of lots of accomplishments, new beginnings, and lots of surprises. I just have this amazing and warm feeling that 2018 is going to be great and I'm looking forward on seeing what this year has to offer us. 2017 was a great year for sure. Personal growth, family boding, and special outings were just a few of my favorites. 

This year my goals are to continue on with some of the changes implemented last year, spend more time being present and involved and less time trying to capture a moment and uploading it to social media within seconds. I still plan on capturing the moment of course but that's where the being present and involved comes in. I've noticed that posting to social media takes away from enjoying the actual moment and that's something I want to work on this year. Like my friend Sarah over at Aloha EcoVibes says, I want to start living intentionally :)

Another big goal is to declutter this blog by removing meaningless posts from the past as well as trying to keep it up to date with special moments and thoughts that I want to remember. My goal is to post at least 4x a month which is realistic considering school still demands too many hours of my day.  That being said, I plan on writing about some of the things we did last year that I didn't have the time to either write about or post when I wanted to, as well as to continue with the My Story series I had started last year. I was reading back on some of those posts and I loved the feelings it brought on so I definitely have to continue with those memories.

There are plenty of other goals I have in mind but I plan on introducing them here as they are completed and checked of my list so make sure you come by often to see what they are.

Wishing you all a prosperous and blessed 2018!