post NRP brain dump
Thursday:
* I wake up to a trail of barf through Julia's bedroom carpet to the bathroom. She stays home all day.
* Spend all day getting ready for our weekend away, overwhelmed by my To Do list.
* Errands done at lightning speed after Kim gets home from school
* Swiss cheese memory enables me to forget to pick up Julia's homework for Thurs & Fri.
* Mommy meltdown in the evening
Friday:
* Jack up at the ass crack of dawn to drive his work truck to Saskatoon for repairs.
* I get Kim and Julia up and on time for the bus.
* Pack, get Charlotte ready for the loooong road trip.
* head outdoors - hella cold outside
* Pick up Julia at her school, along with hours and hours of homework for her to do
* Pick up Kim at her school, leave for the in-laws to drop off the dog.
* 30 min drive to in-laws, drop off dog, get back on the highway
* Julia begins a day of emergency bathroom stops - yay, diarrhea on a road trip
* 2 hour drive from in-laws to Saskatoon, pick up Jack at repair shop
* decision made to eat lunch at Burger King so Julia could play indoors for a few minutes. She feels too sick to eat, and plays for about a minute and a half before running for the bathroom. Yay....fast food.
* Charlotte is nursed, changed, chases puffed rice across the table and drinks water from Jack's cup.
* Drive across the city and pick up my midwife, who was coming to Regina with us for the hellish NRP course.
* I settle in the third row seat with Julia, studying NRP and watching "Over the Hedge" with Julia
* Begin 3 hour drive to Regina, snow and blowing snow make highway travel risky, limited visibility for most of the trip.
* Emergency bathroom trips for Julia all the way, about every 20-30 minutes
* Give Julia children's kaeopectate each time, praying it will kick in eventually
* Last 40 minutes of the trip are spent driving 40 km/hr (on a 110 km/hr highway) with hazard lights blinking in 0 visibility snow storm.
* Arrive at hotel at 7:30 p.m. Dump bags, head out for a late supper.
* Supper at Boston Pizza while Charlotte eats my spagetti and chicken faster than *I* can.
* Back to hotel, Julia to bed in the bottom bunk (temporarily), Kim settled in with the portable DVD player on the top bunk
* Regina midwife/friend arrives with her NRP practice setup. We three midwives go through scenarios on the floor of the hotel room ( Abby flashbacks too, since her resus began on my bedroom floor)
* Jack watches tv and amuses Charlotte on Julia's bed while she sleeps
* 11 o'clock at night, everyone heads to bed; Kim and R (my midwife) in bunk beds, Julia moved to a cot beside our bed, Charlotte between Jack and I in the King bed.
* 12:30 a.m., I have a pounding headache and still can't sleep. I get about 3 hours all night.
Saturday:
* 6:30 a.m. I give up trying to sleep, have a shower and get dressed
* R gets up and gets ready to leave for NRP, Jack starts the van to warm it up.
* Kim left in charge of the Littles while Jack drives us to the hospital for NRP.
* Even colder this morning; into the -40's with wind chill.
* Arrive at hospital, meet up with three other midwives I know, force myself to begin shutting down as I walk in the room.
* A nurse and neonatologist are teaching the course. A nurse-practitioner, pediatrician, and family doctor are the other participants.
* Three stations set up for practical scenarios ("mega codes"). Baby dolls everywhere I look, all of them with 'cracks' in their heads across the top from ear to ear since the back panel of their heads come off (??). More Abby flashbacks, stuff it down, shut it off, drink more water.
* write the written test, and pass.
* review mega code procedure, practice using PEEP valves, laryngoscopes, stopcocks, and self inflating bags.
* perform and assist with several practice scenarios with other midwives
* watch my midwives from Abby's birth, do chest compressions and PPV on a dummy doll
* do my mega code evaluation, find out I passed, go to the bathroom, gag and cry
* back to the room with red eyes and sniffly nose, gather certificate and books, and finally leave
* drive to far end of city to a public library where arrangments for a midwifery meeting were made
* meet up with Jack and the girls who were touring the mall
* quick lunch at the food court - yummy....chinese food :-)
* informative, two-hour midwifery meeting while Charlotte nurses and sleeps in my arms
* meet up with Jack and the girls again, admire Kim's three new piercings o-O
* head out on freezing cold, snow blowing highway for another three hour drive back to Saskatoon
* drop off R at home in Saskatoon, grab supper at Subway
* change Charlotte's diaper on a bench seat in the restaurant, feed her supper, nurse her
* drive to repair shop, pick up Jack's work truck, realize that Charlotte is pooping again
* lay Charlotte across my knees in the back seat of the van and change her diaper
* begin 2 hour drive home on the dark highway while Jack drives his work truck home
* One emergency bathroom stop for Julia, no bathroom for miles and miles so utilize empty ice cream pail in the back seat
* Last 45 minutes of the trip are spent with Charlotte screaming and crying while I sing "My Little Buttercup" over and over again until I'm hoarse, Charlotte is quiet as long as I sing
* I see flashing blue and red lights in my rearview mirror, repent of curse words when the police car turns off the highway away from me
* Kim finally joins in singing "99 bottles of beer on the wall" when my voice starts to fail me
* Home. 9:30 p.m. Quickly unpack dirty clothes, wet bag stuffed full of dirty diapers, get Charlotte ready for bed.
I want to crawl into bed and cry myself to sleep.