another day another birth
Attended another birth here this afternoon - a VERY cute little baby. And it was another overwhelming and informative day of orientation. We reviewed and/or learned how to do PKU's (poking baby's heel for blood test), finger sticks (poking mom's finger), and lots of "little" things like how to properly package the birth instruments for sterilization, how much betadine to put in a peri-bottle, how to do an initial prenatal ("registration"), and what the tasks are for coming on and leaving shift. I've had moments of absolute panic and terror and will feel nauseous and wobbly and then it will pass and I'll just DO whatever it is that makes me nervous. The Rescue Remedy and Immodium help too!
Tomorrow Dina and I will probably practice drawing blood on each other (yikes) and then we'll be able to do it on clients. That's scary too. But it's all been good so far. Just being around all the interesting women and being immersed in all things birth, it's been great. It feels like I've been here for weeks already and I can't believe it's just been three days.
May is supposed to be getting VERY busy for births which is great because we'll get a lot in. I'm nervous about being "1st on" by myself, but by the time I go home, I'll be an old pro. A few things to do before heading to bed, laundry to fold etc, and then tomorrow is another day! Should be at least two more moms to birth in the next couple of days so that's something to look forward to as well.
Tomorrow Dina and I will probably practice drawing blood on each other (yikes) and then we'll be able to do it on clients. That's scary too. But it's all been good so far. Just being around all the interesting women and being immersed in all things birth, it's been great. It feels like I've been here for weeks already and I can't believe it's just been three days.
May is supposed to be getting VERY busy for births which is great because we'll get a lot in. I'm nervous about being "1st on" by myself, but by the time I go home, I'll be an old pro. A few things to do before heading to bed, laundry to fold etc, and then tomorrow is another day! Should be at least two more moms to birth in the next couple of days so that's something to look forward to as well.